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.

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• The 12-Step Landing Page Rehab Program [Infographic] (seomoz.org)
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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!

How to Use Twitter Hashtags to Gain Visibility and Contractor Leads

With more than 105 million subscribers on twitter, it is easy to lose your businesses social media identity in all the chaos. Watch to find out how to use Twitter’s Hashtags to boost your social media visibility and increase your online contractor leads.

Are you a contractor that needs help optimizing your Search Engine Optimization?

In this video you will learn…

• How one keyword can add over $100k PER MONTH of new revenue
• The secret financial equation for online marketing that will explode your business
• How your business leads and conversions compare with other businesses in your market

Ok…ready?

This list is a mix of things for beginners to advanced Internet oriented marketing folks that want to experiment with ways to increase user interaction and leads for your contracting business. Maybe you’ve checked off a few on this list already. Pick ones that interest you and give them a try (or get the geek on your staff to do it for you).

Let us know how they work for your business.

1. Test the color of the “submit” button on your contact form.
2. Test the name on the “submit” button (like “Yes, I want a Quote”)
3. Test the number of fields on the Request a Quote  form.
4. Test the number of required fields on the Request a Quote form.
5. Test a home page that looks as much like Google as possible (all “business,” no distraction, just one link).
6. Test a home page that looks as much like Apple as possible (big visuals, minimal text, a primary navigation choice with several smaller navigation options).
7. Test a home page that looks as much like Yahoo as possible (lots and lots of links and text and pictures).
8. Test prominent links to your social media profiles.
9. Test no links to your social media profiles.
10. Test paid advertising on Yahoo search.
11. Test paid advertising on Google search.
12. Test paid advertising on Bing.
13. Test paid advertising with your local daily newspaper’s online edition.
14. Test paid advertising on Facebook just for zip codes in your market area.
15. Test paid advertising with your local arts/alternative newsweekly’s online edition.
16. Try to take a panorama photo of your next job.
17. Try to shoot and edit 20 seconds of video you’re happy with.
18. Try to shoot and edit 20 seconds of video without taking a week to do it.
19. Try to write a blog post that contains only two paragraphs.
20. Try to write a blog post that is just a photograph and one sentence caption/description.
21. Try to write a blog post that is mostly a bullet-point or unordered list.
22. Try to write a blog post that is mostly a numbered or ordered list.
23. Link a new blog post to a related post you wrote a long time ago.
24. Use your analytics to find out what site people were on the moment before they came to your site.
25. Use your analytics to find out what search phrases people typed into search engines before coming to your site.
26. Use your analytics to learn what pages are the first pages on your site that a visitor sees.
27. Use your analytics to learn which pages are the last pages on your site that a visitor sees.
28. Schedule a Twitter post.
29. Schedule a Facebook post.
30. Schedule a blog post.
31. Read some blog posts by people in your town who are not in the contracting business or journalists.

Don’t get overwhelmed. Just do a few of these ideas and see how it goes. Tackle more as you feel comfortable.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

One of the most common questions we get from clients is, “how do we get more leads?” Leads are the lifeblood for any business, and they are harder to come by in a tough economic environment.

The first thing we do is analyze where leads are currently being sourced? We also look at the number of leads by channel. Even better, what is the ROI of each lead as well as conversion by channel. Without tracking you will never know where your business should continue to invest and focus time. As important as tracking is, this post is not about tracking. We want to focus on making sure you are making use of all the possible lead sources online.

Funny thing is, in this new “distributed web” we have a lot more channels to explore. Let’s quickly look at the online channels your business will want to test and use:

• Natural Web Search (SEO)- SEO is the ante for any business. The key here is in today’s distributed, social web, all the content you are going to publish around the web will help your SEO rankings in a big way if you do it right strategically.
• Pay Per Click (PPC)- PPC costs are going up in a big way for competitive categories. But with the right buying strategy and optimized landing pages you still can make this an effective channel.
• Social Media Marketing- We are most excited about Social media because it is free and offers both huge reach and targeted marketing opportunities. Doing social media right takes a comprehensive strategy (not one off Facebook Fan Page or Twitter) and consistent presence but the payoff can be huge.
• Banner Ads- The online advertising stalwart, it is being renewed with new, niche ad networks and banners in some new social communities.
• Article Links- Article marketing is the new “black” in online business marketing. The reason is content is king for marketers in this new distributed web. Getting attention in the attention economy is done through content. And it’s viral!
• Directories- Directories play a great role in organizing the distributed web and are important for your website marketing plan. Don’t forget the vertical market directories that are targeted for your market.
• Partners- Find partners to promote your business, who are in related markets, have a valuable list of potential buyers. Social media can help here because you can meet more potential partners when you are involved in the online communities.

Offline channels are also effective and should be tested as well. For best results, offline and online channels should work together. Drive target customers from offline media like TV, Radio or print to your online owned media like your website, Facebook Fan page and other places around the web. Use your “link bait” as the reason for them to go there. Also, take your online conversations and relationships offline via phone meeting, seminar or conferences to bring your relationship to another level.

Anything I missed? What works for your business…