Telemarketing Software Featured Article

Sales organizations today are under continual pressure to move forward and refine their lead-generation processes. They must continue to use tried-and-true methods such as cold-calling along with newer channels such as social media. It’s important, though, that these sales efforts not neglect the company Web site.

Web sites should never be static places. They are a great sales tool, and should always reflect the company and its products and services in the most up-to-date way possible. Business-to-business customers today use Web searches as one of the primary tools of the buying process, so it’s critical that sales organizations be prepared to receive these customers, according to a recent article for Business2Community by Lucy Hardaker, Senior Content Marketing Executive at Lead Forensics. Customized landing pages are important, and a way to “welcome” customers searching for relevant information.

“Think about including industry-relevant content like testimonial snippets and client reviews – and make sure your content is consistent with the ad or link clicked. Or even include an informational video, which can increase conversion rates by up to 86 percent,” writes Hardaker. “But remember to keep it simple; your landing pages need to communicate a clear message to your website visitors about what they need to do. And don’t get data-greedy either -- eliminate just one field from your data capture form and you’ll increase conversion rates by up to 50 percent.”

But a Web site should never be a static thing. It should be continually analyzed, tested and refined to improve lead generation further. According to Hardaker, A/B testing, or testing two versions of the same Web page to test which generates better conversion rates, is very important. Even simple changes in language can make a big difference in how visitors respond to the Web site.

“Your approach to improving conversion needs to be an ongoing process, not a one-off project,” she writes. “Econsultancy found that businesses using a ‘structured approach’ to improving conversion rates (that’s A/B testing to you and me) were twice as likely to see a large increase in sales.”

Finally, it’s critical to analyze how the site is working for prospects and customers by “mapping” their journey across your website. This will help you understand what’s attracting them, what’s not holding their attention, and where there might be confusion.  According to Hardaker, lead generation software can help in this respect.

“Not only will a lead generation tool uncover which businesses are visiting your site, it offers a huge wealth of information about their browsing and searching activities too,” she writes. “Gather as much data as possible regarding how businesses found your website – whether that’s through search engines, social media, email or any other source! Investigate the search terms used to reach your website, the referring links, pages viewed and visitor journey.”

Your website is an important tool in lead generation. Ensure you’re making the most of it.