If you want to learn how to increase leads for your business there’s no magic wand to wave – but we think we’ve got the next best thing.
And we think we can prove it.
We were recently approached by a new client – a damp-proofing company who were paying a well-known online directory a set fee every month to drive leads.
In the interests of discretion it’s probably best we keep the exact number quiet but we can say the client estimated they were getting roughly one or two good leads a month for their hard-earned cash.
Let’s be kind and call it two. Either way it was borderline not worth it.
They came to us and we thought we’d have a stab at bumping that number up. Without bumping the spend up.
It’s still early days so we aren’t counting our chickens but in the first month in they’ve received 33 good leads – on precisely the same budget. So what have we done?
Firstly, our client’s old provider were using Google search ads to drive enquiries. There is nothing wrong with that – as a fully-fledged PPC agency London who work hand in hand with Google on our campaigns we’re big fans. But only when it’s done right.
And that means scrutinising the entire user journey from the moment they tap in a keyword to the moment they convert on your site. Or not as the case may be.
With that in mind, before you start any PPC campaign it’s worth keeping an incredibly beady eye on your landing pages – and indeed your whole site – to get a feel for what potential customers are going to be confronted with.
Building a successful landing page: Start with the content
In our opinion, our client’s old site was a bit of a mess. It looked dated and visitors were given very little reason to get in touch with our client. Here’s the key landing page:-
Not only did visitors see a mass of words – in essay form – the content was all about the cause and nature of rising damp.
There is nothing – and I mean nothing – to suggest why visitors should opt for our client as the best available supplier to combat that damp.
In our opinion, a large number of people who tap in phrases like “damp proofing London” already know they have a damp problem. Indeed, they are showing intent to get it fixed.
Certainly not everyone – but a high proportion.
The question, in most instances, is not “is my damp a problem?”, it is “who is the best person to fix it?”
With that in mind, we greatly reduced the number of words on the page – stripping away the background information about capilliary action, sulphates, nitrates or the fissures in bricks.
That can be used for blog material. Any takers? No, us neither.
Instead we focused on why they are a safe pair of hands for anyone with a damp problem.
We included key information like their 30 years of experience, their insurance-backed guarantee, their qualifications and the fact their salesmen aren’t incentivized to recommend jobs that aren’t necessary.
We included these short, sharp snippets in bold and in bullet points with accompanying ticks so the reader’s eye is drawn to the value as quickly as possible.
Then we stripped away everything unnecessary to give us the best chance of keeping the reader’s concentration for as long as possible.
Other landing page changes that will increase conversions
Content that will convert is worth its weight in gold. But it’s only one piece of the puzzle.
Our client is fully accredited and knowing that is reassuring for anyone landing on the page. So having those badges clear and visible – and above the fold – has got to be a good thing.
It’s also important to make the process as easy as possible for potential customers to get in touch.
There are now two phone numbers available on all pages and a contact us form on every landing page that is simple and can be filled out in 30 seconds or less.
Adding in unnecessary fields or making the visitor travel from page to page just gives them another excuse to click away and use a competitor’s site.
There were another number of changes we made and we are still improving as we speak – the site still looks pretty cheap and cheerful and we could do with some better pics to play with for a start.
But those are the key changes we’ve made at the time of writing.
We didn’t even charge the client for this work because we were confident it would improve things in the long run, which is in everyone’s interest.
As a result there were no bells and whistles and it’s not an all-singing, all-dancing site – we’ve certainly built prettier when we’ve had budgets to play with.
However it is a highly functional site that does what it says on the tin. As if by magic, here’s that landing page now:-
So did we manage to increase leads for our client’s business?
So “what’s the result?” you may well ask.
Average session duration has gone up and the bounce rate throughout the site has improved by over 15%. But that’s not the number that really excites us.
One month into the project the AdWords conversion rate – the number of people landing on the site who either ring or email our client – is sitting proudly at 23.4%.
In other words, 33 out of the first 141 people who clicked on one of our ads and landed on the site actually got in touch with our client for a quote.
That’s a high conversion rate in any industry – and it means we’ve won one key battle.
So next time you are wondering how to increase leads for your business, your website is a good place to start – assuming you have one. And sometimes the little changes can make a big difference.
Our client’s – while far from perfect – is working far better than it was. So if you need any damp proofing you know where to go.
But that’s only the start. We haven’t talked about the AdWords campaign itself yet. So that’s the topic of the second part of this blog. We’ll be in touch.