5 Ways to Increase Leads from Your Web Site

So here’s the story…You have built a beautiful web site, but your site does not bring in as many leads as you would like.  Isn’t that what we have been told?  Make sure your business has a web presence? 

More and more business owners are finding out that simply having a beautiful web site is not enough to bring in leads.  One of the most important questions you need to answer is – can potential customers find your web site to begin with?  What do they type into Google when they are searching for a solution to their problem?  If they don’t know who you are to begin with, obviously they won’t type your business name into Google.  If you are a real estate agent, maybe your customers will type “real estate Seattle” into Google.  Is your web site going to appear first on the Google search results, or is your competitor’s web site going to be? 

Remember, potential customers look for products and services online all the time – they are either going onto your competitor’s web site, or they are going to your web site.  Most customers click on the organic search results and not the paid advertising.  Most customers look at results on the first page and rarely go to the second or third page. 

So where is your web site ranked on Google, Yahoo, and MSN?  How many leads came from your web site last month?  Would you like to increase it?  Here are 5 ways to increase the number of leads generated from your web site…

1. Use the right keywords.  Do you know what your customers type into Google when they are searching for a solution to their problem?  Your web site needs to be optimized for those specific keywords.
2. Put lots of original articles on your site.  Search engines love original content.  Imagine having 100 original articles or more on your web site!  It will improve your ranking on search engines and help customers find your web site first.
3. Optimize the underlying structure of your web site.  To search engines, a web site is more than a collection of pages.  Do you know your keyword density?  Are you using the right meta title and description tags?  What are your keyword semantics?  These things can have a big influence on whether your web site appears before your competitor’s web site on Google.
4. Have the right links.  This is probably the most important thing for your web site to appear on the first page of Google search results.  Having the right links will help your ranking, but having the wrong ones can hurt your ranking.  A web designer is not necessarily a search engine expert.  Make sure your ranking is not hurt by having a beautiful web site but poor search engine design.
5. Include a call to action.  Once your customers find your web site, you need to give them a reason to contact you.  It can be a free analysis, free estimate, free newsletter, free consultation, or free demo.  Invite them to give you their contact info!