The best way to increase your online sales is simply to get more eyes to your website. The more traffic that’s flowing through your website, the higher your sales will generally be. But it’s not simply a matter of getting people to visit your website – you’ve got to attract the right people, who will most likely be driven to become customers.
Here are 12 of the most effective ways to get qualified leads to your website and increase your online sales:
1. Provide Outstanding Content
Content is going to be the key driving source of much of your traffic, with keywords linking your search information to your customers through search engines. But it’s not just about filling your pages with copy – it needs to be informative and provide your users with something of value. Including a variety of copy, images, video and other content can help boost shares and engagement with your leads.
2. Quiz Time
Getting information from your leads is as simple as just asking them! Adding a quiz to your content instantly makes your content more engaging, allows customers to provide you with their feedback and gives you great insight into what they’re thinking. And, when you honestly thank them for taking the time to give their feedback and respond to their questions directly, it helps build a higher level of trust.
3. Get Commenting
It’s not always about providing content on your own website – a great way to generate leads is to comment on other people’s content. Providing helpful information demonstrates that you are more than willing to share what your readers are in search of. If they aren’t finding what they’re looking for on the website they’re on, or they want to keep reading more of what you’ve got to say, a link to your website under your helpful comments can help guide them over.
4. Be A Guest
Along the same lines as commenting on other blogger’s content, another great idea is to actually write content for other bloggers, as a guest blogger. If these other bloggers have high readership, providing these readers with valuable content can be a highly effective lead generating technique. But, just like the content you’re posting to your own website, it’s got to be unique, relevant and valuable to readers if you’re expecting them to visit your site.
5. Speak Up in Forums
If you’re looking for an online spot where likeminded people are going to in order to find information about a specific topic, forums are that spot. “Whether it’s parenting forums or low-carb diet forums, these places are filled with nearly every single question you could possibly ask on a topic, asked by real people. When you engage with them and actually provide valuable information, they’re more likely to take interest in what you’ve got to say,” outlines Jessica Ramsey, a Marketer at BritStudent.com.
These forums give you the perfect look into your customers’ minds, what kind of questions they’re asking and the things they are most interested in. Not only can you engage with them directly on the forums, but you can use the discussed topics to help generate content ideas for your site.
6. Free Software Tools
Depending on your business, you may be able to offer a simple tool on your website to provide helpful information and guidance to your leads. If you’re a kitchen cabinet installer, an easy to use design software tool will help leads see what you’re able to do for them. If you’re a mortgage broker, offering a concise mortgage calculator is handy for those looking to see what they can be expecting to pay.
Giving away these free tools helps to show leads that you’re looking out for them and are willing to provide them with whatever information they need.
7. Engage directly with any leads
Many online businesses provide customers with an FAQ to answer their questions. Not only is this impersonal, but unless their exact questions are there, they will not find the answers they are looking for. Additionally, there is no ability to ask follow-up questions.
Rather than giving them a list of questions and answers, a more effective method is directly engaging with customers, through things like live chats and forums. Live people answering questions means that a customer can be more specific with what they’re asking, and also has the ability to ask multiple questions, ask follow-up questions and get clarification if needed.
Finding the answers to their specific questions makes it more likely that they’ll convert into paying customers.
8. Email Marketing Done Right
Email marketing is sometimes perceived as impersonal, but if done right, it can in fact be quite personalized and be a great lead generator. There are a few components that need to be included within an email in order to optimize effectiveness.
The first thing readers see will be the subject line, which will determine whether or not each will click to read or not. Once they click, you’ve only got a few seconds to grab and keep their attention long enough to get your message across, so keep it short and right to the point. Social media links within your email can help direct readers directly to your pages, making it easier for them to like, follow and share you. Including an effective call to action can help turn that reader into a customer.
9. Get in the Game
Stats show that people are spending lots of time on their phones playing game apps. Use this information to your advantage by creating your own gaming app to draw in leads. Creatively structured apps can help bring a unique element to your marketing and can help shift traffic from the game right to your website.
10. Get Influencers Influencing
This new phenomenon of social media influencers is a great opportunity for online marketers to reach their audience in an entirely different way – through those who your customers respect and admire. Those who follow influencers listen to what they have to say and put their trust in them. A positive endorsement from a popular influencer in your area of business can have a serious boost in leads coming to your website.
“Your credibility can, in an instant, be skyrocketed by the positive backing of a social media influencer. The right influencer, whose audience is your target can bring in leads that have a better chance of converting, simply because of that endorsement,” Marketing Professional at Australia2Write.com, Mary Rosier explains.
11. Focus on Mobile
Studies have shown that more and more, people are doing more on their mobile devices. Investing the time to make your website compatible with these devices to make it easier for leads to find and navigate through your website, no matter how they’re searching. Not doing this means you’re instantly cutting out a large number of potential customers.
12. Share Content Through YouTube Videos
YouTube is filled with videos about pretty much any topic out there. If you ever want to learn more about something or about how to do something, you’re likely to find information in video form on YouTube. Content posted to YouTube stays on the site for a long time, meaning you won’t have to keep monitoring to see what’s expired and what should replace it – you can simply keep adding to and building on your content.
Videos are a great way to get information out, because they are generally short and don’t involve reading. A customer can simply watch and learn about something.
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