In our previous article, we explained how the sales funnel works in each of its stages. In this article, we’ll share tips on how to get website leads and how you can move them down the sales funnel to increase the probability of closing a sale.

The first step in generating website leads is creating pieces of content —content offers — that help your buyer personas solve their issues. Content offers include blog articles, e-books, webinars, checklists and other useful content pieces. For example, let’s say your prospect wants to learn how to select a garden hose. You, as a garden hose seller, would want to provide how-to articles, checklists and so forth to help guide your prospect to find the perfect garden hose for his or her need.

Your content offers should be of value to your buyer personas. If your buyer personas feel that your information is helpful, they might subscribe to your blog and download the checklist. In return, you will get their contact information. This transaction of giving free content to get your prospect’s contact information is how you will gain website leads. Let’s talk about this transaction in more detail.

The Conversion Path

The conversion path is the process by which a website visitor becomes a known lead. A conversion path consists of a content offer, a call to action, a landing page and a thank-you page.

As shown in the image above, once your buyer personas find your helpful article in the search results, they read on. They may then decide to click on the call to action, which prompts them to download an e-book that will provide further details on how to solve their current problem. Once they click on the call to action, they are taken to a landing page. On that landing page, your website visitors provide their information on a form in exchange for access to the offer itself. Upon submitting that form, the new leads are taken to a thank-you page where they receive the offer.

Next Steps

We don’t want to overwhelm you with knowledge; we want you to take action that will lead to increased website leads and return on your marketing investment. So here are your next steps.

As discussed in our previous article, keep in mind that not every website visitor will be ready to buy from you on the first, second or even third visit. You must provide content offers that match the sales funnel stage that visitors are in when they visit your website. There are two ways of approaching your content creation: by buyer persona or by product.

You can use the following chart to guide your content offer creation and modify it as needed:

When done right, your conversion paths can go beyond the first conversion to help move your new leads through the sales funnel to become customers.

At Xzito, we work with clients to understand their buyers’ journeys through the sales funnel, and we develop effective conversion paths to increase web conversion. Schedule a free one-on-one consultation to find out more about how conversion paths can help you improve your return on investment.