Lead Generation Best Practices
Wine & Web No. 135
Lessons learned from 500+ website redesigns
Presentation Title
Subtitle
Month, #, Year
Traffic Source
Thank You Page
Lead Generation Best Practices
LEAD
Lead Generation Best Practices
Traffic x Conversion Rate = $
image source: Marco Verch, Flickr
Lead Generation Best Practices
Blog Design Best Practices
Goals…
So personal!�
The author, the editor and �the peer reviewer
Is this current?
The published date and last updated
How to hold attention on long posts
Add something visual at every scroll depth!
75%
50%
75%
50%
source: HotJar
How to Grow Your List
Our content is where…
[audience x] gets
[information y] that offers
[benefit z].
Our content
[audience x]
[information y]
[benefit z]
Where digital marketers find practical advice on content, analytics and web design
to get better results from their websites.
The 3 P’s of Signup Boxes
source: Email Signup Forms, Orbit Media
Lead Generation Best Practices
Homepage Best Practices
Goals…
Most homepage visitors don’t scroll
Composite scroll heat maps for 10 lead gen
website homepages (desktop only).
On average 73% of homepage visitors
do not see any below-the-fold content.
Lead Generation Best Practices
The Backyard BBQ Test
“So, what do you do for a living?”
This headline doesn’t clearly describe the service
This headline says exactly what they do
Homepage header is a tag line
Homepage header is descriptive
Lead Generation Best Practices
Descriptive navigation labels
Generic navigation labels, common to millions of websites.
Lead Generation Best Practices
Descriptive labels that indicate relevance
to search engines and visitors
Lead Generation Best Practices
What about slideshows?
Slideshow with 10 slides
Slideshow with 10 slides
The 8th slide has strong evidence.
Does anyone see this?
Two slides on a timer
The award is hidden on the second slide
Slideshows were invented to prevent stabbings in conference rooms
How are visitors using �our navigation?
This is what they’re clicking on
Questions to ask your navigation summary
Service Page Best Practices
Goals…
Why don’t visitors convert?
Website Usability Study, 2004 vs 2016
source: NN Group
Lead Generation Best Practices
source: NN Group
Causes of User Failure
Lead Generation Best Practices
Getting to know your audience
Questions to ask your �clients/customers…
Take me back to that moment when you first realized you needed help.
What else did you try?�What didn’t you love about it?
What almost kept you �from buying from us?
Starting out, what was the biggest challenge you were hoping to solve?
Can you give me an example of when this made a difference for you?
If you couldn’t work with us ever again, �what would you miss the most?
What’s the #1 thing you would tell a friend if you wanted to convince them to hire [company]?
Questions to ask �your top salesperson…
What questions are you just sick and tired of answering?
What should people ask you,�but they usually don’t?
What is the A-ha moment �prospects have during sales calls?
What analogies do you use to explain what we do?
Fill in this blank: people can work with us even if they ______.
When evaluating options, what was most important to you?
Security was
the top priority,
then scalability.
Security
Marketing
Client
Scalability
Give me an example of when this helped you?
You guys really saved my bacon that one time…
“You guys really saved my bacon…”
Marketing
Client
What was the biggest challenge you were hoping to solve?
I wanted better insights, not just dashboards
You already have dashboards, but you’re still not getting insights.
Marketing
Client
What can you do now that you couldn’t do before?
Now I don’t have to run that report every time
Stop running the same reports again and again
Marketing
Client
What analogies do you use to explain what we do?
On-site installation is like owning your own home
It’s like your house. You should own your own home.
Marketing
Sales
What is the biggest number you can get up to?
We have 14,000 total end users
Trusted by 14,000 professionals
Marketing
Sales
What questions are you sick and tired of answering?
“What if I want to cancel my contract?”
Cancel anytime.
Marketing
Sales
Add supportive evidence
EVIDENCE
UNCERTAINTY
Lead Generation Best Practices
“Spend less on healthcare”
“Our technology makes it easy”
“Exclusive features help you prosper”
“Know more. Feel great. Spend less”
“Like a GPS for your health”
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Types of evidence
Add evidence to the top of the homepage
Awards add credibility…
…but they’re better when presented visually.
Lead Generation Best Practices
Data makes the claims more credible
Lead Generation Best Practices
Testimonials make the audience
the messenger
Logo
Headline
Face, name, title, company
Target keyphrase
Elements of a great testimonial
Lead Generation Best Practices
Doesn’t actually say anything
Most compelling thing is the smallest, lowest thing
All but the first testimonial are hidden in the carousel
Quick note about subheads
Adds pixels and visual noise without adding value
Our products
Our baking and pastry products
Subheads can be meaningful (and keyword-focused) too
Ideas & Insights
New Ideas from Inside Our Bakery
Our Customers
100 Years of Quality Baking Ingredients
Calls to Action and Specificity
source: Michael Aagard
source: Michael Aagard
BENEFITS
COSTS
Lead Generation Best Practices
RETURN
INVESTMENT
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Sounds boring…
Sounds easy…
Sounds valuable…
Lead Generation Best Practices
About Page Best Practices
Goals…
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Time to fail ”The French Test”
we… us… our…
Boring, typical web copy
Personal expression of purpose
“Food waste is a huge problem.
That’s why we started this company. We’re 100% focused on cutting waste through predictive ordering."
Reduce Food Waste
Powerful predictive dashboards for smarter ordering for the food service industry
Lead Generation Best Practices
Elements of an effective About Us section
Contact Page Best Practices
Goals…
Lead Generation Best Practices
Lead Generation Best Practices
Tens of thousands of people use our products every day. If you're considering moving to the cloud�or just want more information, we're here to help.
You are about to learn how 20,000+ CPG pros manage $10B in trade spend.
Just share a bit about yourself and we’ll be in touch within 24 hours.
BEFORE
AFTER
Tens of thousands of people
20,000+ CPG pros
use our products every day.
manage $10B in trade spend.
We can't wait to chat with you.
Shelley Fow
You'll be hearing from us soon.
will be in touch within 24 hours
Lead Generation Best Practices
Working? Check the Funnel Visualization Report
Lead Generation Best Practices
Thank You Page Best Practices
One final tip!
Lead Generation Best Practices
Deconstructing a website visit
The interaction between the content and the visitor
“I need some help.”
“Take a look at this company.”
(search results page)
The Zero-Moment of Truth
Lead Generation Best Practices
“What does this company do?”
“How do they do it?”
“Can they do it for me specifically?”
“Am I in the right place?”
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
…
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
Service Name
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“We’re number one.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
“Not sure if they
can do it for me”
…
Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
Service Name
Service Name
Long, blocky paragraph with some keywords in it.
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“We’re number one.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
“Not sure if they
can do it for me”
“I don’t really have time to read all this.””
…
Let’s try that again…
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
“Ah. Their approach looks interesting / thoughtful.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
Clever subhead
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
Detailed answers to top questions
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
“Looks like they could help with my specific needs.”
“Ah. Their approach looks interesting / thoughtful.”
Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
Wow, this team is super helpful
Clever subhead
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
Detailed answers to top questions
“Clearly, they do it for real companies.”
“Looks like they could help with my specific needs.”
“People like them! �Maybe I should get in touch…”
“Ah. Their approach looks interesting / thoughtful.”
H1 Header
H3 Subhead text
Call to action
H2 Subhead
Body text
logos
Video
H2 Subhead
H2 Subhead
Testimonial
Body text
Body text
What do they do?
How do they do it?
Are then legit?
Have then done it for people like me?
Can they do it for me?
source: Google UX Playbooks
Lead Generation Best Practices
source: Google UX Playbooks
Lead Generation Best Practices
THANK YOU!