Every aspect of your B2B business is important and your website is no exception. Many customers prefer to go to a website before even attempting to call a company directly. So, why not utilise this important part of your business to create a powerful lead generation system that works for you and not against you?
1. Make contact details visible
Websites sometimes (purposefully or not) hide their contact details and one has to go on a treasure hunt to find them. Make sure that yours are easily accessible. Put them front and centre on every page of your site. They don’t need to be garish or large but a subtle, easily-spotted number or email at the top of the page goes a long way.
Often a site will only include a contact form on their site which may chase those who don’t like this method away. Some prefer a more personal way to communicate with a company so cite numbers and email addresses also. If at all possible include an employee’s email address as this makes the company feel more personal.
2. Be transparent with your information
Rambling on about how you’ve grown a lot the past few years or how you improve other business’ revenue will not keep your audience captivated. Get to the point immediately. Visitors to your site need to be able to figure out what your products or services are about as soon as they start reading. Stay away from buzzwords, use bullet points for easier reading and, only mention benefits and features after you’ve told the visitor what your company does. Information about your achievements and how your products improve other businesses can be added on another, more focused page.
3. Provide social media links
Social media links are just as important as having visible contact details. Make them stand out with colourful iconography and, if you have a blog, make sure people know they can share the post on their personal social media sites directly from the site. However, if your company is not that active on social media rather avoid providing the links. It will look unprofessional if your last post on Facebook was made a year ago. What does the lack of interest on such an easy-to-use social site say about the way the company does business?
4. Use trust signals
Trust seals are seals granted by an entity to a website or business for them to display. These seals are often aimed at showing customers that the business is concerned with security and values the customer’s privacy. Often, the best trust seals are the ones that provide customers with a guarantee of some sort.
Another way to communicate trust to your customers is by showing what type of industry awards you have received. Show any ratings you might be getting or if you are currently part of any associations. These things are a great way to verify your legitimacy as a company.
Last way to increase trust even more is to include a privacy policy of some sort underneath (just before the CTA button) any kind of signup form where personal details need to be exchanged. Apparently, the one sentence that has been proven to build trust the most is “Your information will not be shared with anyone.”
5. Have forms on every page
The forms you need to focus on are signup forms. Make sure they are on every page, in varying shapes and sizes. These serve as “calls to action” and will make it even easier for customers that go on the site to become involved with your company.
Also, make sure that these forms do not ask for too many details. Not everyone is comfortable with giving away their personal details because of privacy concerns. Only ask for the absolutely necessary details (like email address and name). The rest of the details you can gather as you establish a more comfortable relationship with the client.
6. Add visuals to your testimonials
You probably already have testimonials on your website (if you don’t, it is recommended that you do so). To further increase the trust factor of these testimonials, try to get a photo of the person giving the testimony. Even better, add some audio and videos to further show that these people are legitimate customers and that the testimonials are trustworthy.
7. Have a purpose for each page
Whether you are designing your site’s layout or reevaluating your current content, you need to ask yourself a very important question when it comes to each page. “What do I want the customer to do on this page?” In other words, what is the purpose of each page? Is it to inform, persuade or attract? Do you want clients to use the sign up form on that page? Or do you want them to find out more about your company so that it generates more interest in signing up?
8. Create a “thank you” page
The main aim of a lead generation website is to get people to use your business. So, if a person signs up for information on your products or ask for you to contact them via a form on your site, make sure they feel good about doing this. Don’t just create a generic “thank you” page but think about what feeling or information you want to convey to the customer after the fact.
You can even send them a “thank you” email after the fact that will show them that you care about their business. This email or page can also include links to more useful information about your business or special offers you are currently running.
