Maximizing Lead Generation Potential for Your Website

Most traffic to any website, whether it is a marketing site or a company information site, is generated through three primary sources: 

• Direct traffic: when a person types the website URL into their browser

• Organic traffic: when a search term is entered into a search engine and the website is provided in the search results 

• Referral traffic: where the website is provided on a third-party site via a click-through link

These three methods constitute passive online lead generation, as none of them require active marketing efforts to attract visitors and prospects on the part of your website.

When properly applied, there are three other ways to achieve online lead generation, and these do require active effort as part of your marketing strategy. These three methods are: e-mail, pay-per-click, and social referrals. Without leveraging the potential of these three sources of online lead generation, companies are losing out on significantly more traffic than could possibly be produced by the primary methods combined. Why are companies not using these options? Most likely it is because they don't really understand how to make the marketing strategies work for them to drive traffic to their websites.

E-mail marketing is incredibly useful because it reaches out to your target audience in a more personal way and provides them with a valuable experience through divulging information, offering education, and establishing more solid brand recognition. When you utilize e-mail marketing throughout the entire customer life-cycle as part of your online lead generation strategies, you can also position your company as an authority or expert in your niche or industry.

Pay-per-click marketing is perhaps the easiest and fastest way to drive traffic to your website. You can get a pay-per-click (PPC) online lead generation campaign set up and operational within a few hours, and it can drive high quality leads to your website through marketing avenues and channels that you may not otherwise have had immediate or hassle-free access to. The drawback to PPC is that it can be costly to a marketing budget and the expense-to-revenue ratio may not provide a true ROI or one that can deliver high-yield, short-term results.

Qualified social referrals is different from passive referral marketing in that you choose where your content is placed. This can be on industry-specific sites, sister company sites, or on websites that offer products or services that add to the value of your own. By locating referral links on sites that provide value to your company, products, or services through their own offerings, you are reaching a target audience that will already have some level of interest in what your company is marketing.

Through the use of your marketing and online lead generation strategies, you have the opportunity to position your company as a respected leader and trusted expert in your field, industry, or niche. This establishment of your authority regarding your company's products or services is critical to positioning your brand ideally and giving it global exposure and visibility. Creating brand awareness ensures that your company is the go-to when it comes to tapping a source for valuable information in a particular area.

Use your marketing strategies in such a way as to avoid a shotgun approach and create very specific messages for specific audiences. This enables you to connect with your intended audience in a way that achieves greater interest and engagement, and it goes a long way toward establishing a more personal connection between your company and the customer demographic it is trying to reach.

 Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti via FreeDigitalPhotos.net