Most people visiting your site aren’t ready to become customers right away, so you need a way to turn convert them from strangers into people willing to give up their contact details.
If you followed the Attract phase of the inbound methodology, and optimized your website to attract the right people, once they get to your content they’re one step closer to qualifying as a lead.
To get them to take that next step and fork over their name and email address, you should have something to offer them equal in value. Many times this is an ebook, a checklist, or some other top-of-funnel content that solves a problem related to how they found you.
It sounds simple, but it actually includes several thoughtful steps (all relating back to your buyer personas, of course):
Call to Action —> Landing Page/Form —> Thank You Page (to download the offer) —> Follow-up Email
This is called a conversion path. If done right, it will feel effortless to the visitor. They’ll walk away with something of value, and you’ll get their details into your CRM so you can contact them later.
To see a conversion path in action, click on the ebook offer in the sidebar >>
To turn website visitors into leads you should use relevant conversion paths throughout your marketing — your blog, products/services pages, email newsletters, and even in your email signature.