Your website is a powerful marketing tool that can be used to educate visitors about your products and services. Whether it’s a business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C) website, the focus is similar – to generate highly qualified leads or inquiries that convert into customers. Below are ten optimization tips for your website that can be implemented right away to generate more quality leads.

1.    Place Download Forms in Front of White Papers and Other Valuable Marketing Assets

A lot of time and energy is invested in creating white papers and other marketing assets. For that reason, most web visitors won’t mind providing their contact information to download a white paper or other marketing asset. Whenever you create a valuable marketing asset for your website like a white paper, include a form that must be filled out in order to download the item.

Limit the number of form fields so visitors can quickly fill it out. For example, collecting a name and email address should be sufficient. These fields should be required; meaning the visitor cannot download the file unless they fill out the fields. Additional fields that that could be used to collect information include a title, company name or phone number but should not be required. It’s always recommended to test the number of fields for the greatest success. Examples of marketing assets that could contain a form include webinars, research reports, presentations, podcasts, e-books and videos.

2.    Include a Newsletter Subscription Form in the Website Footer

Place a newsletter subscription form in the footer of your website. Provide a brief description of what the subscriber will receive and how often they will receive it. The form can be a simple email collection field with a “subscribe” button. It’s important to have a newsletter strategy in place, including a content calendar with topics and delivery dates so visitors receive frequent newsletters from your organization. These newsletters can be emailed monthly or quarterly depending on the internal resources that are dedicated to writing the content, setting up the newsletter in the email platform and deploying it.

3.    Add a “Special Promotions” or “Weekly Specials” Sign-up Form

Our B2C clients have a sign-up field on their websites where visitors can sign up to receive weekly emails. These emails are brief and can be automated based on weekly product specials or special promotions. Consumers receiving these weekly specials are most likely to make on-going purchases of your products. The same can be done for B2B always keeping in mind that what you are offering is valuable to visitors.

4.    Place Social Media ‘Share’ Buttons on Key Pages of Your Website

Include social media ‘share’ buttons on your product pages, blog posts and resources (white papers, videos, etc.) so that visitors can share the information on their social networks. This increases your audience and the chances for more inquiries on your website.

5.    Create Product Demos or Free Trial Forms

Very popular with technology companies, visitors are always curious to try new products or learn more about how products work. Include a simple sign-up form that must be filled out in order to try your product or service. Create a limited time offer (i.e., 30 days) to try and convert visitors who downloaded and tried your product into paying customers. Chances to convert a visitor increase when they have had the opportunity to try your product or service.

6.    Include Sign-ups to Exclusive Events

Whether you will be speaking at an event or organizing one, be sure to include a form for web visitors to sign up for the event. You can then send pre- and post-event communications via email to educate those who sign up not only on your event, but more information about your company, products or services.

7.    Create a Form for Referrals in Exchange for Discounted or Free Products or Services

DropBox has been very successful with this strategy. Set up a referral form for existing or new web visitors to refer their friends and colleagues in exchange for a discount or free additional product features. DropBox currently offers additional file space to users who successfully have a friend sign up for an account.

8.    Host Customer or Partner Co-sponsored Events

If you’re hosting a webinar or event with a customer or partner, be sure to publicize the event on both your website and your co-sponsor’s and include a sign-up form. Additionally, you gain access to your sponsor’s web visitors and database for promotional mailings.

9.    Add a Chat Feature to Your Website

Add a chat feature on your website for instant answers to questions or inquiries. Be sure there is someone qualified on hand to answer inquiries from web visitors. Our clients currently use chat solutions for product inquiries and customer support. Some chat solutions we have seen our clients successfully use include Olark, LivePerson, and LiveChat.

10. Test All of the Above for the Best Success

The above items may not always work for every website. That’s why it’s important to test for the greatest success. Testing elements include:

• Number and types form fields
• Short forms vs. long forms
• Placement of elements on website (i.e., top, bottom, every page)
• Design colors and images
• Copy variations
• Calls to action

We have had great success implementing the above items for our clients, and they’ve seen great results. We hope these tips also work for you!