1. Use CTAs to your advantage

For the uninitiated, a CTA (call to action) is a request for a website user to “do something,” whether that’s download gated content, fill out a contact form, or schedule an appointment. Using CTAs on your website is a great way to move your users through the sales funnel, and ultimately, become a qualified lead who makes a conversion.

CTAs can be leveraged throughout your website to empower users to take next steps. What’s important is making sure your CTAs are effective. Here are a few tips to help guide your CTA design:

• Provide context clues with a few lines of copy so that users know where the CTA will lead them. And don’t forget to explain what’s in it for them. For example, “Sign up now for your free content” or “Get a complimentary quote when you sign up today” all show the user why they should click and where the button will take them—to a sign up form.  
• Use action verbs like, “subscribe”, “shop”, and “get quote” to encourage users to click.
• Optimize your CTAs for mobile and desktop to ensure they’re functional and just as enticing on every platform.
• Make sure your CTA copy and design reflect your brand and resonate with your target audience.
• Tailor CTAs to suit different pages on your website. For example, a blog reader may not be as warm of a lead as someone who’s looking at service prices. So, you may not use a CTA that says “Buy Now”, but instead opt for something softer, like “Learn More”.

In the example above, TransUnion ShareAble for Hires demonstrates effective CTAs. These buttons give context with the phrases “Immediate Access” and “Pay As You Go” and share the benefit with the users.

2. Include contact forms throughout

It should never be hard for your website users to get in contact with you to learn more about your brand or make a purchase. To make it as easy as possible for them to do so, consider adding contact forms throughout your website.

If your target audience is less likely to use a contact form, consider installing a chatbot instead. These days, chatbots rely on constantly-evolving AI that communicates with users naturally and effectively. You can even customize responses to reflect your brand voice and customer service patterns.

3. Organize your site intuitively

User experience plays an important role in how often and when users decide to engage with your site. Put simply, the easier your site is to use, the more likely users will engage.

• Use a floating menu bar so that it’s easy for users to jump from one page to the next 
• Make sure navigation labels are accurate 
• If you have a blog, categorize content into topics to make it easy to find content
• Break up location-based content into separate pages or redirect to sister sites

Undergrads utilizes separate pages for each location to offer specific information on each of the areas that they service. 

4. Leverage testimonials, videos, images for credibility

They say that your customers are your best advertisers and the adage certainly rings true today. So, why not use positive customer sentiments to your advantage? By leveraging good reviews through a widget or filming testimonials with happy customers, you can signal to new and prospective leads that your product and service are reputable.

If you decide to go the testimonial route, use these tips to help you film an effective, authentic video:

• Ask the interviewee open-ended questions that leave room for elaboration.
• Don’t worry about going over the allotted time during your initial interview, answers can always be cut down in post-production. Plus, you can use these segments as soundbites on other projects.
• Make the set comfortable but not too formal—users want to watch a video that they can relate to.
• If you have footage of the project the interviewee is discussing, go ahead and use it! These can be great examples of your work and help provide context. 

5. Utilize explainer videos to increase conversion rates

Video marketing is one of the most effective marketing forms because it tells a story that people can often relate to which in turn persuades people into becoming a customer. Explainer videos take it one step further by showing an idea, explaining a process, and outlining a product in a concise way with both audio and images. 

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Keep your video around 90 seconds, point out key details about your product, and really get to the root of the message you’re trying to portray to your audience. Viewers enjoy content that is short, sweet, and to the point but also content that educates and informs. 

Consider adding text, graphics, and images to the video to help deepen the narration of the story and add further insight for your audience. 

A study found that people who view videos on the web are 64% more likely to make a purchase, so if you want to reshape your website into a lead generation machine, explainer videos are a must have on your marketing list.

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To learn more about explainer videos and ones that Yans Media can create, click here. 

Thinking of getting an explainer video?
Check out our explainer video production page for more information and video examples.
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6. Display certifications, seals to assert trust

If your industry uses certifications or awards to distinguish excellence, make sure to highlight your accolades on your website. When displaying certifications, make sure that they’re relevant and that you have a high-resolution logo to display on your site—no one likes a blurry trophy. 

7. Test and revise your strategy

Like all marketing endeavors, testing is key to developing a strong strategy. As you experiment with website revisions, make sure to track your progress, otherwise, you’ll never know what’s effective and what isn’t. To help make testing approachable and contextual, we’re breaking down a few of the top UX tools:

• HotJar: Features heatmaps to help you track user behavior and gauge what parts of your site have traction and where you might need to invest in some extra improvements. 
• Optimizely: Makes A/B testing more approachable for small and medium sized businesses.
• TryMyUI: Allows you to test wireframes on study participants to determine what may be best received by a general audience.

8. Consider the components of trust

It is always a key thing to win customers’ trust when it comes to lead generation. To build trust, you need to provide website security, because that’s a fundamental thing. The reason is that if your website is not secured, chances are they will click away and click on your competitors' sites.

As a part of that, you need to show visitors that your site is secured and has no errors. You can use an SSL certificate to authenticate your identity and ensure encrypted communications. Google also recommends security and prior HTTPS sites.

If a site doesn’t have a trust indicator like HTTPS, chances are that prospective buyers will click away and choose secured sites.

Final notes

Your website is a reflection of your brand, so it deserves your attention from that standpoint alone. That is why you need to consider it as an investment. And there are many factors on how much it will cost to make a lead generation website. But with the tactics we explored in this post, you can improve the functionality and aesthetic of your website and simultaneously boost your lead generation.

As you design your first website or start to make improvements to your existing one, keep these tips in mind:

1. Be strategic about CTA design
2. Make it easy for customers to contact you with forms and chatbots
3. Organize your website intuitively
4. Build trust with customer reviews and testimonials
5. Display accolades with pride
6. Test and revise your strategy regularly

About the Author

Matt Casadona has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing and a minor in Psychology. He is currently a contributing editor for 365 Business Tips. Matt is passionate about marketing and business strategy and enjoys the San Diego life, traveling and music.

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