You spent plenty of money and everyone tells you that you have a great website. But, you’re not getting many leads. What’s wrong?
It sickens me to talk with business owners who just spent a lot of money redesigning their website. It looks great, but after a few months, they’re still wondering when the leads will show up.
You decided to jump into digital marketing because you thought it was the future, and wanted a Sales Robot that would work 24/7 and not run up an expense account bill. Cool.
Then, you thought, “The first thing I need is a killer website.” This sounds sensible, but it’s wrong—the first thing you need is a Digital Strategy.
If you think about it, every business has it’s own unique market. Sure, you share a category with your competitors, but you work a bit differently. You need a strategy that’s specific to your business and your customers. Don’t fall into the trap of copying tactics from a friend or competitor—They may be wrong for your business.
Your strategy must answer all these questions:
Who is your ideal customer? When you can precisely describe your ideal prospects, you can build your website and all your marketing to appeal to them.
What is your market’s buying process? What problems do your ideal prospects think they have? How do they think about their problems and where do they go for solutions? What steps occur in a typical sales process and when would a salesperson get involved?
Do you have a remarkable product or service? How do you (or how can you) stand apart from the competition? How is your company positioned?
What human and technology assets do you have that could support your digital marketing initiative? Where are you weak or missing key pieces?
What are the best digital conduits for attracting your ideal prospects? Are they searching for solutions? What are the triggers that cause them to search?
What information do your prospects want at each stage of the buying process? It’s a common mistake to offer first-time visitors an option that only actual buyers would be ready to accept.
What’s your implementation plan to align all these elements to achieve your business goals?
How will you measure results and make improvements?
With this deep understanding of your market, your website can become a productive sales robot—a robot that’s correctly programmed to grow your business.
Even with a good digital strategy, I still see too many companies that don’t create enough clarity in their website.
Muddy message. From your strategy, you know your prospect and what they want. Give it to them! And, invest in well-written, clear web text.
Missing differentiation. Why should your ideal prospect buy from you? Don’t make them figure it out. Tell them!
Too many product or service options. I know, you’ve got something for everyone. This may be true, but it kills your website.
Have absolutely no more than three types of prospects and three product or service categories.
At Inbound Team, our site is for Business Owners or Presidents who want more Leads to grow their business. That’s one prospect and one service.
Beautiful but confusing. Beauty is always nice, but make sure everything is readable and it’s clear what visitors can do and should do next. Don’t let creative design get in the way of marketing effectiveness.
Missing call-to-action. Make it easy. People are distracted. Give them a clear, compelling call-to-action. They’ll provide their name and email and you just got a lead!
A great website is still not enough. You need visitors. Not just any visitors, but qualified visitors who might buy your products or services.
How can you ensure your website gets qualified visitors?
Focus on your prospects. It’s not about you and your business. Keep your pages focused on your story and benefits for the prospect.
Blog. For most businesses, there’s no better way to attract visitors than blogging. Write about your prospects and their problems. Add value. Show you care.
Premium content. Create interesting special report PDFs, Infographic diagrams, or videos. The purpose is to add even more value and entice your visitor to give you their name and email.
Social Publishing. In some markets, prospects actively gather on social websites. Meet them where they are. Publish your content. As long as it’s valuable, everyone will appreciate your contribution.
Targeted Outreach. Don’t miss the opportunity to directly target and reach out to prospects. Send them your content or a link to your website. They’ll appreciate you and you can create some micro-rapport.
A client we worked with sold computer support, but only to attorneys and other specialized professionals. Many visitors came to their website to learn the latest on Microsoft Exchange. Only, almost none of these visitors were qualified or would ever buy.
Targeted Outreach is ideal for this situation. Connect directly with the prospects who will buy from you.
For clarity on your specific business situation, schedule a Free Lead Boost Review.
Don’t let a web designer sell you a beautiful website that won’t generate leads. Instead, start with a complete digital strategy. Then, build the website to fit your market.
Ensure your site is so clear, a 5-year old could figure it out. Be direct, and show the visitor exactly what to do next.
Get qualified visitors to your site. Use blogging and search engines like Google to attract visitors. Or, use Social Publishing and Targeted Outreach.