How Do I Use My Web Site to Generate Leads?

The purpose of lead generation is to turn web site and blog visitors into clients. It's tricky these days. The threat of identity theft has made people paranoid about giving out personal information on the internet. On average, only 4% of site visitors will provide information that generates a lead. The trick is "to pick up leads, not deter response by over-stepping the visitor's comfort zone," says Jim Cronin on The Real Estate Tomato, a marketing blog for the real estate industry.

You walk a fine line between enticing visitors with promises of greater value and alienating them by being too pushy. The soft sell approach is often more effective. Try these proven methods for generating leads from site visitors:

• Short forms. Use an online form that asks for as little personal information as possible. The more you ask for, the less likely a site visitor is to fill out your form. Name and email required is all you need to produce an effective email marketing program.
• Offer value. Offer value in exchange for information. Visitors won't provide contact information unless you offer something they want in exchange. A subscription to a monthly email newsletter is a typical offering. Pump it up by promising subscription-only coupons and discounts to make the offer more enticing to visitors.
• Blog blast. On your blog, offer sign up for an email blog blast which sends out a RSS feed to subscribers each time a new blog article is posted. If your blog is well-written, informative or entertaining, readers won't want to miss new postings. Providing their email address to read your newest nuggets of wisdom is considered a fair trade.
• Expert advice. Downloadable articles, white papers and eBooks appeal to visitors and increase their confidence in you as an authority in the field. Reorganize archived blog articles into short hints, tips and how-to eBooks. Focus each booklet on a single topic to encourage repeat visitors and make each download email required.