Sometimes life is not as hard as we make it out to be. Following some simple, but highly effective principles for web traffic conversion will get you more contractor leads than anyone in your market. The hard part is not making this too complicated…and of course, just doing them.

SECRET #1 – Use a landing page, PLEASE

Your homepage is not the best destination for social media traffic because your message will be much broader on your homepage that you have on your social media site.

In social media, you are publishing regularly through micro blogging, article writing and videos on specific topics. You should have landing pages within your site structure that you can drive this very targeted traffic to that will be and exact match to the social media subject your viewer/prospect is reading.

Think of it this way. If you are on a social media site learning about energy efficiency and how windows can help make your home more energy efficient, how would you feel if you clicked on a link and were dumped on a page that talked very broadly about window replacement and tried to sell you a deal or request a quote?

SECRET #2 – Match your Social Media Message to your Landing Page

The primary message on your landing page should be the same (or reflective of) what you said in your social media channel. Like positive reinforcement for dogs, seeing a familiar message adds to the feeling that you made a “good” click. Conversely, not having a matched message can make your visitors feel lost – at which point they head for the comfort of the back button.

SECRET #3 – Social proof via social media widgets

There is a new buzzword in the social media marketing world…wisdom of the crowd. This is based on the fact that most people are a bit like sheep. They have no idea where they are going, and in most cases, just wander around until they find something interesting. Our herd mentality makes us want constant validation that our choices are sound. We do this by seeking reviews of products and services and we observe the reactions of others as they experience the goods before us. The great thing is, with social media, we can make this concept work for us.

SECRET #4 – Make it easy to share with social media widgets

Having viewers of your social media content be able to easily share and spread your ideas will benefit your business in several ways. Sharing your content can come across as a “referral” to someone looking for a contracting service like yours. The cool thing about viral sharing is that it will also add to your “authority” as and expert. Great way to differentiate your business from the pack!

You can find tons of social media sharing widgets that make it easy to integrate sharing capabilities into your website, Facebook Fan Page and other social media/web 2.0 sites.

SECRET #5 – Keep Your Lead Gen Form Short

Traffic conversion to a qualified lead is a dynamic tension between enticement and resistance (barriers to entry). If you are collecting leads (personal data such as name, email, phone number, company, website etc.) then your lead gen form is a barrier to entry and the size of the barrier is directly correlated to the size of the form (number of fields).

When collecting personal data, you need to offer something back to the customer in exchange, such as a whitepaper, webinar registration, eBook and so on. The more relevant and interesting your giveaway is, the larger you can make the hurdle. Another important aspect here it to make your offer something that will only engage people truly interested in your service. Offering a discounted cruise if someone gives their contact info and sets up a sales call may get you lots of leads, but you might be attracting a very unqualified lead. Better, offer something that only someone who would want to buy your product or service would want.

SECRET #6 – Have Multiple Calls To Action

Sadly, not everyone that comes to your landing page is ready to convert “right now”. They may be more upper funnel, trying to get educated, window-shopping, browsing or just curious about what you have to say. By offering several calls to action (we recommend at least 3 per landing page) you can sometimes persuade the visitor to maintain a connection with you wherever they may be in the purchase decision.

The simplest ways to do this are to provide a method to:

• A visible phone number to call for immediate help.
• Download a free handbook/ebook
• Request a quote button

Other simple ways to get the contact using social media are:

• Like your Facebook page or group
• Follow you on Twitter
• Join a LinkedIn group
• Bookmark you on Delicious

SECRET #7 – Post-Conversion Sales

Post-conversion sales strategy is a completely overlooked part of the sales funnel. You got your conversion and you got your lead so everything’s good right? Wrong. You need a sale!

There are several ways we use to optimize your post-conversion opportunities:

• Use an autorepsonder to move your new lead to a sale. Use social proof (testimonials) and education materials to build trust and authority in your sales process.
• Follow up with a call immediately to arrange an in-home demo. Make sure you have a script and your people know it and keep track of demo set up rates so you can optimize that script.
• Place additional call-to-actions on your confirmation or thank you page (after they complete your lead gen form). This can help to reduce clutter on your landing page. And you can also suggest a page on your website as their next step – knowing that they have a qualified level of interest.
• Turn the email into a complete social profile using a service like Flowtown. This gives your leads an identity and sets you up for more targeted follow-up marketing. Your first contact with the prospect is critical, and the more you know about them the better. By connecting based on real profile data you look like someone who’s made the effort to do some research before making contact. This is a massive conversion advantage.

In Summary

Don’t get overwhelmed by the possibilities. Bookmark this post and do one thing at a time and come back and continue till you have implemented everything.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The 12-Step Landing Page Rehab Program [Infographic] (seomoz.org)
• Social Media Marketing Tips – The Big Picture (Day 2 – Part 1) (businesscasualblog.com)

How to Create Lasting Wealth with Your Own Lead Platform

Learn about coordinated strategies, structure, how to have branded landing pages, keyword searches and social media integration! Giving your website SEO “juice” using the right anchor text and ongoing locally focused SEO.

All of these components combined with Chris’ attention to successful contractor leads generation is a recipe for excellence! Take your business to the next level today!

In this competitive business you know how many contractor leads you need to make a single sale. Each phase of the sales process has a success rate associated with it; not every lead is a sale. Maximizing the top of the funnel is the first step.

There’s no question that the purpose of advertising is to fill the top of the funnel with qualified contractor leads. Traditional methods, the big four of TV, newspaper, yellow pages and radio all have a place in your budget. No one will deny that you will get some portion of your sales from them. However, less people are using these outlets as their first place to look. No sense in spending your normal allocation on these declining media. Why not reallocate some or most of your print and yellow page budget to where the eyes are?

Many now turn to the internet, buying contractor leads lists from various outlets. This is a variation on the traditional cold calling method, where in addition to calling out of the blue, you can mass email. There are many services available and leads are gathered throughout the country. Contractor leads lists can be expensive, and you may have some question about the quality of the leads. In any case, for these methods to be effective, you must have compelling content in the email and have a great destination for these recipients to go to if they click through. Knowing your niche, what your specialty is, and what your vision for your company will be essential to building a strong home base.

Don’t discount the value of a good seminar or trade fair. There is no replacement for making that personal connection. These are high quality contractor leads that have a high probably of translating into contracts. Your existing infrastructure of website and advertisement will reinforce that good impression you made in person.

Some conservative estimates show that there is a 1% conversion of web site traffic to customers. Therefore you must maximize your attractiveness and constantly drive new customers to the site. Ideally, you want to have optimization around keywords, and continue to be the first search result for new keywords or phrases. The good news is that the advent of localized searches has made it easier for local contractors to dominate key phrases in their areas, and maximize lead generation. One of every 3 searches is local and over 1 billion local searches will be performed every month.

A professional well laid-out site, with glowing praise from existing customers on the work that you’ve done will help drive that conversion rate upwards. But generating contractor leads is just a start; you’ll still need to do a great job. Delighting your customers with your quality products and service is essential. Then give your loyal customers a place on your site to brag about what a good job you did, how happy they are and how they’d use you on their next job. That kind of praise will give new customers the confidence to close the deal with you.

Chris Marentis is the Founder of GenNext Media and Marketing, and is an expert in online lead generation for contractors. His Surefire Social system is becoming a well-established system for contractor lead generation and increased profits.