Just a short (but important) one from me today.
I was chatting to pro blogger Lynn Terry a couple of years ago and she gave me a single piece of advice that has lead me to engage more visitors and generate more leads.
I’ll tell you what it is in a moment, but first let me ask you something:
Have you ever been driving somewhere, only to find that the signs run out and your GPS throws a wobbly halfway through your journey?
Frustrating, isn’t it?
Just for a second, imagine how that feels…
You probably feel lost, annoyed and like you don’t really want to continue the journey without a sense of direction.
Now, what if I told you that most people reading this are making their website visitors feel this way every day?
The fact is, when someone finishes reading a piece of content on your site, they’re looking for what to do next. Most ‘business’ content I see ends rather abruptly, without telling the visitor what to do next.
And that’s where Lynn comes back in:
‘Always give your visitors their next logical step.‘
If you’re not telling your visitors what to do next, the chances are that they’re leaving your site in droves. They reach the end of the content, don’t get a logical next step, and leave.
Instead, all you have to do is place a call-to-action at the end of everything you create from now on.
Here’s some potential call-to-actions you can use:
- ‘Subscribe to our newsletter for more tips’ (weakest)
- ‘Leave a comment below or share this on social media’ (good when there’s nothing obvious to offer)
- ‘Buy this product to help you achieve your goals’ (good, but unlikely to convert as highly as an offer that builds your subscriber base)
- ‘Subscribe to get something for free that helps you achieve your goals’ (strongest)
Makes sense?
Remember, this applies to all the content you create, not just landing pages. If you want some specific pointers on your landing pages, Neil wrote about that here.
The Only Point Of Contention
The only real question now is:
‘Should I use an opt-in form at the bottom of my content, or should I take people to a separate opt-in page?’
My answer?
Neither! 😉
I’m currently doing some testing on the Roar site using LeadBoxes, a genius product that you get when you become a LeadPages customer.
Basically, LeadBoxes allow you to create an opt-in form that appears on your page only when someone clicks a link. It’s like allowing your audience to decide when a pop-up appears for them to subscribe to.
The most interesting thing about this is that it plays on a very interesting psychological principle, whereby people want to appear consistent, even to themselves.
As a result, when a prospect clicks on the link they’ve already said ‘yes’ to something (the appearance of the opt-in box), so they’re far more likely to say yes to the next small step of opting in.
It’s early days, but I’m already seeing far better opt-in rates on the pages where we have LeadBoxes, than on pages where the opt-in form is obvious. This is probably due to something that happens subconsciously in the minds of everyone who visits your pages.
‘Is this page a giving page or a taking page?’
If they see an opt-in form immediately upon landing on the page, they could be forgiven for thinking that it’s a taking page, even if you’re offering the most amazing lead magnet in exchange for their e-mail.
So, try using the LeadPages suite in your business (especially the LeadBoxes) and see what happens to your opt-in rates. If you combine that with the strategy of giving every visitor a clearly defined next action, then you’ll be well on your way to increasing your leads.
I’ll report back on my own findings with this strategy in next week’s blog post.
In the meantime, I’ve created something that will give you the edge when it comes to creating world-class content for your website, podcast and/or videos.
There are 5 questions that you need to ask yourself every time you create something for your market. You can download the cheatsheet, complete with all 5 questions by clicking below:
Click Here To Download Your Copy Of The 5 Crucial Content Creation Questions Cheatsheet
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