A recent report by e-consultancy suggests that reality is setting in for web marketers. 94% of those surveyed see online lead generation as a growth area (this number up from 82% last year). In addition the proportion of company respondents who believe that their organizations are effectively exploiting online lead generation as a way of growing their B2C business has decreased from 44% to 41%.

I see this as a good sign that marketers are realizing how poorly the web is being leveraged overall. With typical conversion rates in the single digits, we still have a long way to go.

I just returned from presenting at the Software Marketing Perspectives Conference in Santa Clara, CA. My topic was Online Lead Generation Best Practices for Software Companies.

I covered some best practices for Home Pages, Structure, Navigation & Flow, Offers, Forms, and Split Testing. Since it was only an hour long, my presentation didn’t go into vast detail about these topics, but I think I presented some genuine nuggets, as well as prompting more serious thought by the attendees about the effectiveness of their websites.

Feel free to contact me for a review of your website based on these criteria.

When it comes to B2B lead generation, remember that the most compelling offers are those which provide value to the visitor whether they make a purchase or not. In other words, offers like ‘Sign-up for a discount’ tend not to be very compelling.

Here are a few ideas for compelling offers for B2B lead generation:

• Offer a guide to selecting the right
• Top tips, or a checklist for accomplishing
• An essential guide to
• A free audit or consultation
• Webinars relating the the hottest topics in the field/industry

A great example is the Free Website Conversion Analysis offered by Conversion Results.

For a moment, I’d like for you to reflect on your experience of driving along the freeway.  Have you ever seen a new billboard, but before you could understand what it was, you were past it? 

Your web site home page, and other landing pages, aren’t so different.  The visitor’s mouse hovers over the ‘back button’, just waiting for a reason to click.  So, your goal is to provide a reason for the visitor to stick around and delve deeper into your site.

One of the problems with many homepages is the sheer amount of everything.  Ideally, viewing your entire homepage wouldn’t require any scrolling.  In addition, in a split second it should be pretty clear what you offer, and to whom you offer it (remember the billboard drive-by).  There should also be a few very specific places to click next.  Any extraneous information is likely to be a distraction.

 
To-do list:

• Identify any information that really doesn’t need to be there (your goal is to reduce the overall page length to eliminate scrolling).
• Reduce the overall number of possible links, and make sure that the main items visitors are looking for are more visually prominent than other navigation options.
• Replace any detailed text with a ‘positioning statement’ that describes your main value in less than 25 words.  Use effective graphic design to make this positioning statement stand out.