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Small Business: The Importance Of Lead Capture

Guest post by: Charly Leetham

Article Overview: If you're putting together your website, you've probably come across the term "lead capture page" and wondered what on earth it's all about. A Lead Capture Page is often called a squeeze page and it performs a vital function. This page grabs a visitor's attention and provides fast, easily-understood benefits to encourage that person to subscribe to your email marketing list. Over time your lead capture page will provide a prospect list that you can use to market your business. This page must be designed to attract and appeal to your Target Audience. This is not only includes the graphics and layout of the page, it also includes the words and language used... Your Lead Capture page is critical - if you don't hook the reader within a few seconds, they'll move on and they general won't come back.

Small Business: The Importance Of Lead Capture

If you're putting together your website, you've probably come across the term "lead capture page" and wondered what on earth it's all about. A Lead Capture Page is often called a squeeze page and it performs a vital function. This page grabs a visitor's attention and provides fast, easily-understood benefits to encourage that person to subscribe to your email marketing list. Over time your lead capture page will provide a prospect list that you can use to market your business. This page must be designed to attract and appeal to your Target Audience. This is not only includes the graphics and layout of the page, it also includes the words and language used...

Your Lead Capture page is critical - if you don't hook the reader within a few seconds, they'll move on and they general won't come back.

Just what are the key elements to a Lead Capture Page that will get people to sign up to receive special notifications and marketing material? Here are some basic considerations:

1. Simplicity: Keep it clean and simple! This page cannot be cluttered or busy. If you page looks messy, too busy or if it has contains too much information, you increase the risk the reader will go elsewhere. Think in terms of balance - white space, information, and possibly a SHORT video (some people are more motivated by a visual than words).
2. Use Search Savvy Headings: Search engines "see" your heading first, so your heading needs to be keyword rich, make sense and ultimately, "talk" to the potential reader... Overall, the heading will be encouraging your visitor to read on and start prepping them to take action. Your heading should use active language, with a hint of drama or emotion, promise a specific reward/benefit to the reader (and be ready to make good on that!), make your visitor curious (or hungry to know more). You may have to try a couple of different headings to see which ones really get the hits. Once you talk directly to your target audience, the leads will follow.
3. Give A Clear Call To Action: Move the reader to take the next step. Be clear and literally tell your reader what to do next. There is nothing worse than reading a page on a website and not knowing how to take action. You can encourage your reader to take action by offering a bonus or something that is of value to them to get them to act NOW.
4. Solve A Problem, Fulfill A Yearning: Remember, most searches on the Internet are about finding solutions to problems - your lead capture page should speak directly to that and when it does - watch out! You're in business.
5. Be A Real Person: People do business with people - not machines. Unfortunately, the Internet makes people feel mechanical (and by association unappreciated or unloved). Include a picture of yourself, share 'something' of who you are, include contact details - your lead capture page is the start of the journey to help your 'suspect' get to Know You, Like You, Trust You....
6. Make The Sign up Box Easy To Find: Let's face it - when someone comes to your landing page, you really have no idea when they make the decision to just ‘Do It'. If you're anything like me - you're either ready to go, or you need more information. I certainly don't want to have scroll down (and down and down) to be able to Take Action - so make sure you make it easy for your visitors to Take Action as soon as they make that decision.Placing the sign up box at the top of the page is one technique that works very well and using links that jump to the sign up box are also a great idea. Remember to re-state what your visitor will be receiving when they sign up, near the sign up box...
7. Offer An Alternative: Remember, this is about building trust and developing a relationship. Not everyone will be comfortable enough to give you their email address from that one interaction and many people are sick to death of spam, even if its something they asked to receive.Give your visitors the opportunity to learn more about your goods or services without having to subscribe by allowing them to ‘bypass' the squeeze page to get to pages where your marketing and branding are strongest.

You can also include a lead capture form within your site to grab those visitors who don't sign up on the squeeze page... Place the lead capture form on the page - not as a link to another page - you want to make it as easy as possible for your visitor to sign up, when they make the decision to.

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Article Tags: email marketing, list building, small business, squeeze page, target audience
Referred by: http://www.outrageouslyhealthy.com



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