Today, in the world of constant technological advancement and ubiquitous information technology, having a functional website for a business is not a choice but a necessity. However, having just any site is not enough. Your company needs a website that provides a positive appearance, meets your target audience’s needs, generates quality leads, and converts them into loyal clients.
Even though companies differ in needs and goals, there are some universal things one can do when launching, updating, or completely redesigning a website to help improve user experience, get more quality leads, improve conversion rates, and, thus, have a higher ROI. Of course, if you don’t deal with web design and development as a company or don’t have a special department for that, you will require professional assistance. Luckily, there are top web design agencies on the market nowadays, with experience in a range of different niches. You have to find the one that provides the services you need. Once you do, discuss your needs with the agency, and let its team take care of your site. You can always influence lead generation during your website’s evolution – when it’s only being designed, right after launch, during updates, etc. So, let’s take a closer look at some of the most useful lead generation tips for your site.
Website Lead Generation Tip #1. Center Your Target Audience
As obvious as it may sound, a good website is the one that’s built with its target audience in mind. Many web designers get caught up in creating great designs and forget, for whom they are doing it. The bottom line is: your site isn’t about your business. It’s about the people you want to reach out to.
In a nutshell, the best sites have more than just great features and designs – they attract their target audiences. Such websites provide people with the information they need in order to continue on their buyer’s journey.
That doesn’t mean that design is not important. Moreover, a website with poor design will most certainly be a major turn-off for any visitor. But, when you discuss your site with your web design agency, you should focus on what your audience needs and not insist on getting the fanciest website on the market. You need to put the information front and center that will convert your visitors into leads and eventually into clients.
Website Lead Generation Tip #2. Choosing the Right Theme Is Crucial
It is critically important that you choose the right theme at the initial stages of your website’s design process. Even if you decide to go for a customizable template, you should choose the one that will provide you and your audience with all the necessary features.
What does this mean? The theme you choose for your site has to elicit an emotional response from your website visitors. The thing is that users feel it in their gut – so to speak – if your site makes sense. If your website is stuffed with basic icons or stock photographs, visitors will conclude that your company is likely unable to provide them with the solutions they need.
It’s best to use unique images (either custom-made graphics or custom photographs), minimalistic color patterns, and personalized calls-to-action. These dimensions will show your audience that you care about what they think, feel, and need. It will help you build a personal connection with your visitors and improve your chances of converting them into leads.
Website Lead Generation Tip #3. Consistent Design is Good Design
This tip may sound all too obvious. Each page of your site should be coherent and consistent with each other in terms of appearance and content. You want to make sure that all of your website pages look like they come from one firm. Although the design of the service page will most likely look different than your website’s blog, they still must have the same style and look – like brothers.
Some of the ways to achieve this consistency include the following:
- Buttons and CTAs should be of the same color, style, and size throughout the website;
- Headings and body copy have to have their respective font sizes on each page;
- Website’s color pattern has to match that of your brand;
- The typography must remain the same throughout the site;
- Page titles have to be consistent in format (for example, use “|” for each page, but don’t use “-”).
Website Lead Generation Tip #4. Remember Case Studies and Testimonials
As your audience moves through its buyer’s journey, each visitor will get deeper into researching solutions and providers. It is when people will want to find out more about you and your cause. You should be prepared that they will not trust you with all their heart on the very first visit. If you want to gain your audience’s trust, you should let your clients do the talking for you.
It would help if you showed how your audience could benefit from your product or service by adding client testimonials, quotes, and case studies to your site. A page featuring case studies or testimonials is a very effective tool when it comes to building trust and prompting prospective clients to make their next step towards dealing with you.
Some websites have entire pages dedicated to client testimonials, while others add client quotes on their feature pages. Both ways are quite effective in building a stronger bond with potential customers.
Website Lead Generation Tip #5. Run UX Testing
When your website is being designed and developed, it’s necessary to focus on creating the best experience for the end-user possible. Your company site must have simple navigation. Features should be clear and helpful, and it should help your brand gain the trust of every prospective client.
To make sure a website achieves what is mentioned above, web design companies conduct user experience testing. The design team asks its members to use the site at different stages of its design and development to reveal any bottlenecks or other issues that may stand in the user’s way. At some point, they will ask you and your team to try your site out as well. The best tool at this stage is honest feedback. If you notice something that doesn’t feel right, you should let the web design team know. It may take more time to finish if they have to fix or re-do something, but it is ultimately worth the cost.
User experience testing allows web design teams to get valuable feedback on a website in development. It is a very efficient way of finding out what can be fixed, what can be improved, and what works well.
Conclusion
A good website will become your 24/7 assistant that never gets tired, weary, or discouraged. But you have to make sure it functions properly and provides your target audience with all the features and information that will guide them from browser to customer. That is why it’s necessary that the web design agency you hire understands your needs and audience and can provide you with proper services within your budget limitations.
There’s no sense in launching a site that will sit idly on the web. It has to work for you and provide a return on your investment. Hence, work closely with your web design agency to spot out any issues and learn new things about using your online presence for your company’s good. The best websites always emerge from successful collaborations between web designers and business owners.