Your website should be your top Sales Person.
And just like a good sales person, your site should be prospecting, closing deals, and bringing you business. Constantly.
If your site isn’t helping you, it’s hurting you.
Here’s two ways of turning it into a lead gen machine using some simple testing…
The Easy but More Expensive Way…
Step 1: Look at the Keywords Driving Your Traffic
If you haven’t already, set up Google Search Console with your website.
Then have a look at your search traffic (can set it to last 90 days or last 6 months) by clicking on “Search Analytics” in left nav.
Identify your homepage (will just be a “/”) and click on it, then select “Queries” (see image below) and check the box that says “clicks”.
This will give you a list of all the keywords that drive traffic to your homepage like so…
That’s the easy part.
Now, take a list of, say, 8-15 of those keywords and…
Step 2: Create a Google AdWords Campaign
Yes, you’re gonna take those 8-15 keywords and build a Google campaign.
Why pay to acquire traffic from keywords that you’re you’re already getting for FREE, you ask?
Simple.
Because you’re going to create landing pages for these 8-15 keywords, test and optimize them for conversion, and then use those findings to drastically improve your homepage conversion.
The great thing about AdWords is that you can work within a set budget and get results and valuable data…fast.
I’m not going to cover all the steps involved with setting up a Google AdWords campaign and accompanying landing pages, but you can take some tips from this Google AdWords eBook written by yours truly…
Step 3: Build and Test Your Landing Pages
Head on over to Unbounce and start a free-trial. You can start building landing pages using the many pre-designed templates they have, or design your own.
At the very least, your landing page(s) should include:
- A headline that’s relevant to those 8-15 keywords
- A clear CTA (call-to-action) that instructs visitors what to do, such as complete a form, make a call, or start a free trial.
- Little or no distractions – eliminate links to pages on your site, social media accounts, or pretty much any link that can take a visitor off the conversion path
- Answers to the questions: What are the benefits of your product or service? How will it help solve your prospect’s problems or pain points? How it different than competitors? Who else is using this product or services?
- An irresistible or time limited offer that compels people to act, such as a sale, promo, discount, limited time offer.
For more info on building landing pages that convert, check out some previous posts:
- Why are Landing Pages So Important?
- 20 Minute Makeover of PeopleFluent’s Landing Page
- 5 of Our Best Landing Pages Designed to Convert
- 5 Tips for Writing Landing Page Copy that Converts
- Let’s Redesign Your Landing Page in 20 Minutes…NetSuite
TESTING your landing page(s) is really the key to our project.
You want to try testing things like:
- Headlines, copy and messaging
- Colours and images
- Forms, form fields, and what info to ask of prospects
- Offers and discounts
- Pricing, including different pricing structures (e.g. monthly, annual, by use, etc.)
- CTAs
Step 4: Take Your Findings and Apply to Your Website or Homepage
After taking steps 1-3, you should now have a better understanding of what your prospects respond to.
Was it different messaging, a different offer, or simply a better optimized form?
Whatever your findings, it time to apply them to your homepage, and maybe even throughout your site.
The Long but Less Expensive Way…
Another way to optimize your website’s conversion is to simply install a website testing tool like Optimizely.
This way you don’t have to worry about the costs of Google AdWords. However, setting up split tests and experiments can be tricky, and results will likely take longer as you can only rely upon existing traffic to your site.
As well, if you’re current site isn’t generating leads, it’s not likely that changing a headline or button colour is going to give you a big lift.
But if this is the route you’re gonna take, Optimizely does offer a useful learning Academy.
If you need help with AdWords or landing pages, please let us know.