Web traffic is always nice. But you might have a tough time if you can’t convert your traffic into quality leads. So how do you maximize your conversion rate online, especially as a B2B venture?
Years of doing business to business has taught me that one must go above and beyond to educate and provide valuable content to the right audience. If you can’t first narrow down your target audience, you’re wasting valuable time and marketing dollars.
After you’ve locked down your target audience, you have to get them to your site, make them want to stay and ultimately come back for more. The higher your Customer Lifetime Value – or the net profit you can generate from your entire future relationship with a customer, the more successful your online venture will be long-term.
Now let’s assume you have a respectable website up and running and are ready for some serious Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – but don’t know where to start. Don’t fret. Follow these 5 simple tips and you will be well on your way to successfully driving in, converting, and retaining leads.
1) Learn from the best, takeaway from the rest
See what your competition is doing right in the online marketplace, how they present themselves and what opportunities exist for you to make what they’re doing better. You’re likely going to be sharing the market with your competition for a while, so you may as well make the most of it.
Perform a detailed audit of their website, conduct a usability test, and use your competitors’ sites as a benchmark for your own to make it as easy as possible for your target audience to find what they are looking for. This is also a great opportunity to look at industry leaders’ sites and leverage key success points from the best.
2) Create great content – and do it regularly
You may have heard the old saying “content is king.” As cheesy as that sounds, it’s entirely true. The key to building your reputation online lies in the quality of the content you produce. In order to present yourself as an expert in your industry, you must look and act the part.
The best content on the web normally shares three common traits. Nail all of these consistently, and you won’t go wrong:
- Great content has a positive outlook;
- Great content evokes high emotions; and
- Most importantly, the best content is practical and useful.
I am amazed at how many companies out there are producing mediocre or even poor content. If you have the money, it pays to hire a good content writer or technical writer. If not, there are plenty of sites where you can hire experienced freelance writers for your short-term projects.
A good first impression stems from quality content that is both unique and informative. Helpful content will not only drive more shares and quality backlinks, but it will also earn you valuable referral traffic. And the more consistently you post quality content, the better your reputation will be.
3) Leverage testimonials & case studies
As humans, we tend to conform to the successful actions of others with the expectation that we can achieve equal or greater success. This is why the inclusion of testimonials and case studies as social proof can add to your reputation and conversion chances.
If you’re a start-up or are relatively new in your industry, try asking for referrals from past business partners or clients that you’ve worked with in the past. It’s better to have something tangible on your site from a trustworthy source than to forego it and lose prospective leads over a lack of visible reputation. When prospects are out shopping for something they have to commit to, they want to see results.
4) Be so good they can’t ignore you
Regardless of what you do, be amazing at it. Provide an outstanding product or service experience that make people want to buy from you. Because let’s face it – there is too much competition out there from companies that all sell basically the same thing.
As much as I hate to say it, people are lazy and don’t want to constantly be switching from one brand or company to another. Oftentimes, they will pick someone they can trust and stay with them for the long haul.
By standing out and inspiring mutual trust with both current and prospective clients, you will leave them with no better option than to choose your product or service. The best part is, by earning their trust, they will make your job easier because you won’t need to go out and find new business – business will come to you.
5) Put the “lead” in thought leadership – become an influencer
This is easier said than done (and it takes some time) but here’s a quick tip: narrow down your niche and become a specialist. It’s a lot easier to drive conversation in something that you live, breathe and die for than it is to become a jack-of-all-trades and only be able to offer a shallow opinion in industry conversations. By becoming an influencer you will instill trust with other professionals in your industry and ultimately, you will be sought out as an expert. In the words of the great Neil Patel, you’re driving leads through thought leadership.
Conclusion
In order to be successful in a competitive online marketplace, you must put yourself in front of your audience and show that you can be trusted to deliver powerful, positive and practical content consistently. If you already have a great product or service and a respectable web presence, you’re halfway there. The other half lies in your ability to promote yourself to the right audience by participating and leading the way in industry conversations.
Use these tips in ways that are appropriate to your business and you will be well on your way to converting more traffic into reputable leads that will be the foundation of your business for years to come.