Without this you are leaving money on the table

We’ve all got a website.

It is the main pillar by which we gain new business online, and gives potential clients a way to get to know us better.

Websites vary in so many ways depending on what industry you are in and what you want the website to achieve. However there are a few things that almost every website should have.

One example is an prominent, easy way to contact you. That might be a phone number in the top right hand corner and a contact page that lists several ways to get in touch.

Giving your visitors the ability to contact you is pretty obvious, right?

Sure. But consider this…

“63% of people requesting information on your company today will not purchase for at least three months – and 20% will take more than 12 months to buy” Source: Marketing Donut

In 6 months time, when they are ready to make a purchase, will they remember you? After they have been to 9000 other websites, 100 networking events and spent most of their waking hours looking at funny cats on Facebook?

Let’s just say it’s unlikely.

Unless you’ve kept in contact with them since they visited your site, how would they ever remember you?

“Wait… but how do you keep in contact with someone who just visited your website” I hear you say.

Well…

Capturing the lead

You simple need to *somehow* get their email address.

I guarantee you’ve already seen hundreds of other websites doing exactly this. The question is… are you doing it on yours?

This is one of the single most important parts of a website, yet only a small fraction of local busines websites have it.

And the most important part of capturing their email is giving them a good reason to give it to you.

A small box in the bottom corner that says “subscribe to our newsletter” isn’t going to cut it.

Sorry, but the average visitor doesn’t know you from a bar of soap. Why would they care about your newsletter.

They do however care about what yo ucan do for them, or how you can make their life easier/better/fun/etc.

Ask yourself:

What can I afford to give away in exchange for an email address?

This should be the absolutle best possible thing you can give away and not lose money.

Something that your ideal client really cares about.

Something that can be consumed quickly (10 minutes or under) and gives them something they can take away and implement, or think about.

When you give them something of real value, that’s when a website visitor will give you their email and become a real lead.

Not just for online business

A common objection to all of this is that it only works for online businesses who sell information.

Nope.

You have a lot of knowledge in your head that can be turned into something valuable to your audience.

  • An architect could provide some amazing ideas for renovations.
  • A travel agent could provide a list of must see destinations in [insert target country]
  • A store could send a 10% discount voucher
  • A free trial
  • A book chapter
  • An audit
  • A 15 minute strategy call / phone consultation

It might take a bit of creativity, so don’t rush into the first idea you have.

Take the time to come up with something that is really valuable for your target audience.

Once you have the visitors contact info, a whole new world of possibilities arise. This is what we call the automated sales funnel.

More on this to come…