How Do I Create a Lead Generation Website?

What does a ‘lead generation website’ do?

It’s your business’s website. The only difference is that it’s optimized and crafted specifically for lead generation.

It’s similar to your lead generation landing pages, but the websites work a little differently.

A landing page’s primary goal is lead generation and conversion.

A website’s primary goal is to inform. It provides information to the visitor about the brand’s message and offerings.

But that doesn’t mean your website has to be static! Websites inherently offer multiple avenues for you to connect with site visitors, capture that traffic, and generate new leads

One or two well-placed lead capture forms on high-traffic areas of your website can be a total game-changer. It’ll stop prospects from falling through the cracks and help ensure that anyone who comes to your website is “yours” for the long-haul.

So how do we optimize lead generation website design to grab more visitors and boost revenue?

Why use a lead generation website?

We’re big believers that if you’re spending money and energy on something (like a website or bringing traffic to that website), you should be leveraging it to get you leads and customers. Don’t you agree?

Your website shouldn’t be static, especially if your site is bringing in a lot of traffic. Webpages are a great opportunity to capture visitors and generate leads who have already shown an interest in your business.

You can include lead capture forms on your homepage, about page, blog, and on main pages with pop-ups or banners. A few well-placed capture methods around your website can ensure you don’t lose website visitors to the vastness of the world wide web.

How to build a lead generation website

Remember that your website isn’t designed primarily for lead generation. Lead generation should ‘seem’ secondary to your reader.

That means your lead generation techniques should effortlessly and seamlessly integrate with what your website already looks like.

The goal is to take your everyday, ‘average’ website functions and turn them into lead generation machines… without your customer even realizing it.

So, before you start, create a website map. What pages do you currently have? Some common website pages include:

• Homepage
• About
• Contact
• Blog/resources
• Products page(s)
• Checkout
• 404 error
• Coming soon

We usually recommend that each page has only one CTA or lead generating action. This minimizes confusion and distraction while streamlining the lead generation process. Even though you want your website to be generating leads, don’t forget that you want to add value first and foremost.

Providing value inherently promotes lead generation. People want to connect with brands that add something to their lives.

Now, we’ll go through and figure out how we can leverage each page as an opportunity to generate leads.

Homepage: simple but effective CTA

Although you shouldn’t be directing your paid traffic to your homepage (paid traffic should go to a landing page), organic traffic often ends up here. So the homepage is the front of the marketing journey and the first impression of your brand.

That means you want to have a CTA on your website so it catches the visitor’s attention. Customers are expecting to see a CTA on your home page that’s related to your business. Maybe it’s a “Try us free” button for a free trial or an offer to download your new ebook.

The CTA you use should be your “primary” goal of your site. What’s your greatest or most popular offering? Put that on the homepage.

But make sure you don’t bombard the visitor with opt-in opportunities if they haven’t yet explored your brand. Keep it simple.

About: another opportunity for leads

The About page isn’t our favorite page for lead generation, because you want to focus heavily on educating about your business. This is where you include your brand story, message, and mission.

Still, you don’t have to make this page entirely static. The lead magnet you use should be directly correlated to the information you’re sharing about your business.

For example, let’s say your brand emphasizes eco-friendly home products. The lead magnet might be a guide about the 10 most toxic housekeeping products on the market. Or it can be a checklist of ways to make your home healthier and safer.

This isn’t just in alignment with your brand message (that you’re sharing on the About page), but it also encourages them to delve even deeper into your brand message.

Have a testimonials section on your about page or as a separate web page? Same rules apply.

Contact: self-selected leads

The “Contact” page lead is arguably the most qualified lead you’ll get. Someone is directly contacting your business with a question or comment. If they’re not already a customer, they’re telling you they’re interested and you’re on their mind.

Keep your contact page clean. If someone’s on your contact page, they’re already interested in reaching out to you for some reason. You don’t need to convince them anymore.

Still, you should address the two obstacles you may face on the contact page:

• Friction: Require as few form fields as possible. Just their email and message could be enough to respond to their inquiry (and add them to your email marketing list). This minimizes friction to speed up conversion.
• Privacy: Assure them that you’ll never sell their info or spam them. People want to know their information is safe in your hands. (And don’t betray that promise.)

Blog: the gold mine for subscribers and content upgrades

Blogs are arguably the best natural lead generators. A reader is already showing interest in your business and industry. They’re investing time to read your content, which means they already have some sort of relationship with your business. This makes them super qualified as a lead.

There are two key sorts of lead generation tools that work well with blogs.

1. “Subscribe to our newsletter/blog” is the most popular lead capture form. If the visitor likes what they’re reading, they won’t hesitate to subscribe to your blog to get more quality content from you.
2. Content upgrades work well if you have a more basic blog or guide (that’s packed with great value), and then you offer a lead magnet with even more information. This “gated content” is a slight upgrade from a blog. It could be a resource guide, case study, downloadable, or infographic. This related content expands upon what they’re reading about in the blog. If the gated content provides even more awesome value, they’ll be willing to trade their email address for access.

Let’s say you own a fair-trade coffee brand. A visitor is reading your blog, “Why Coffee Is Good For Brain Health.” You might include a content upgrade that’s a recipe book, “11 Unique Coffee Recipes To Try At Home” or an industry report, “How Fair Trade Coffee Is Saving The Planet.”

Remember to add value with the blog, then keep adding even more value. If you provide legitimate value that people love, they’ll be willing to give you their email address in exchange.

Use a pop-up  screen that appears when they’ve scrolled to a certain part of the blog. This can present the content upgrade front and center, so they know that there’s more available to learn.

Product pages: discounts and offers galore

Someone’s exploring your product pages? Sounds like a sale is coming, right?

Not always. Lots of people are just “window shopping” from the comfort of their homes. And even if they are interested in your products, they might still have some questions or obstacles they need to be addressed before they can take the plunge.

That makes product pages a great place to generate leads. The visitor is interested enough to give you their information, but they might need a little more convincing to make the sale.

Offering discounts or deals work the best on product pages. Some ideas for offers that you can email to your new leads:

• % off or $x for new customers
• Free gift with purchase

If you have customized retail marketing tech  applied to your website, this is the perfect place to deploy it. For example, the AI will track that someone was looking at a specific graphic tee shirt. You can offer them a discount on that specific shirt if they input their email address. This kind of customization instills a sense of exclusivity and urgency that can seriously ramp up your product page lead generation.

Checkout: keep it frictionless

If someone is getting ready to checkout, they’re about to become a customer. That is, unless something gets in the way. Abandoned carts are the enemy and can cost you both a missed sale and a lost lead. (Learn more about how to reduce cart abandonment.)

So you want to focus on keeping the checkout page as minimalistic, focused, and smooth as possible, minimizing the number of form fields a new customer has to fill out.

Also, give them the option to checkout as a guest. This speeds up the buying process. They can then “create an account” after they’ve checked out.

404 error: whoopsies turned leads

Every site has a “404 page” in case a visitor accidentally happens upon a page that doesn’t exist. Rather than just tell the visitor that they were wrong (which instantly puts up a wall between business and visitor), you can use the 404 page as an opportunity to engage them further and grab their information.

Some ways to turn a 404 into a blessing in disguise:

• Redirect the visitor to landing pages or pages optimized for lead generation. Push them towards your ‘best’ pages.
• Put the lead magnet right on the page. Add value when they expect not to have any.
• Offer other helpful links that they might be looking for on your site.
• Include a contact form in case they need help finding what they’re looking for. (Remember: someone who contacts you is a lead)
• Insert your brand voice, so they feel more connected with you. Stay on-brand and use it as a moment to further deepen the relationship.
• Make a sale. Use the page to show off your products.

Check out these ingenious ways to use your 404 pages to capture your visitors in a fun, engaging way.

Coming Soon: grab ‘em before you’re even in business

Is your website or product getting ready to launch? You can use your website’s “coming soon” page to not only gain traction and excitement, but to also capture leads. If they’ve already found your website, they’re probably eager and interested to connect with your brand. And you don’t want to lose customers who have that level of interest. Don’t let them forget about you.

This is one of the best methods of lead generation because you’ll already have a list of prospects you can market to when your product or site goes live.

Encourage the visitor to stay in touch by email. This is an easy “in” because you can request their information to alert them when your site or product goes live. You’ll also want to consider offering some sort of downloadable or ‘early access’ discount, so you’re providing value in exchange for their information.

Learn how to use a “coming soon” landing page to generate leads here.

BONUS: Pop up screens

You want to grab people when they first come to your site…and when they’re about to leave. Do this with pop up screens on your website that push your lead magnets a little harder.

Splash screens

Splash screens are pop-ups that occur right when someone lands on your website. The visitor either has to opt-in and give you their info or choose to click out before they can see the rest of the site.

They might not opt-in right away, especially if they’ve never been to your site before. And that’s okay. At least you got the CTA in front of them so they know what kind of stuff you’re offering in exchange for their information.

The best kind of pop-up screens for new visitors: discounts. A lot of retail sites will offer a discount for new customers. The visitor inputs their email address to get an email with their discount code. Now the business has a new lead, and they’re already implanting the idea and desire for a purchase down the line.

Exit pop-ups

Exit pop-ups work similarly. When the visitor’s mouse leaves the page or screen, a pop up will appear with some sort of offering. It’s your last-ditch effort to engage that lead.

For example, the exit pop up might say: “Leaving already? Don’t leave without your free recipe book, delivered to your inbox in seconds!”

Discounts and upgraded content both work well for exit pop up screens.

Learn how to utilize exit pop-ups to convert bouncing traffic  with CrazyEgg.

What about B2B lead generation websites?

Most websites, both B2B and B2C, have similar web pages. You have a homepage, about, blog, and contact page (probably). So all of the above advice still applies.

There’s one major difference with B2B lead generation. You’re not selling a product as much as you’re selling your brand itself.

So, lead magnets offering discounts or deals aren’t going to be super effective. (In fact, they might even diminish the perceived value of your brand.)

Instead, you want to focus on high-level lead magnets that introduce people to your business.

What kinds of B2B lead generation opportunities work well?

• Ebooks and ultimate guides
• Case studies
• Free trial
• Free consultation

If you’re looking for partnerships, make sure you have a lot of contact forms sprinkled throughout your website. They should be able to contact you with questions or ideas in mere seconds.

Lead generation website design

Websites can be used to inform, to educate, to sell… and to generate leads! Every page of your lead generation site is designed to capture traffic, so you can continuously grow your customer list at every turn, on every page.

With lead generation website design, the goal is to piggyback off of the content you already have. You don’t need to change your entire website. Offer CTAs that allow visitors to further engage with your brand.

Provide value, focus on design, test out different features, and make it easy to opt-in, and you’ll see your website’s lead generation take off.

Want some help designing your lead generation website? In the next chapter, we give you our ultimate list of tools and resources that will streamline and automate lead generation strategies from start to finish.

Review:

Introduction

Guide to Lead Generation