Optimise These 6 Underused Pages for Higher On-Page Conversions
You already have a website, so why not focus on optimising what’s already working for you? Your website is the best place to collect high-quality leads, and with the right tools and advice, you’ll turn your website into the ultimate list building platform
Email marketing is the most effective marketing channel by a long shot, so you need to capture high-quality leads that you can convert into lifetime customers.
Sounds good, right?
It get’s better.
Many marketers spend a lot of time researching and implementing new tactics to increase conversion rates, but what if I told you that wasn’t necessary?
You already have a website, so why not focus on optimizing what’s already working for you?
Your website is the best place to collect high-quality leads, and with the right tools and advice, you’ll turn your website into the ultimate list building platform in no time.
In this post, I’ll show you all the places on your website that can be optimized for lead generation and how to do it (I bet there’s one or two in there you haven’t thought of).
Let’s dive right in.
1. Turn your blog and product pages into effective lead generators
The one thing that your blog and product pages have in common is they’re great pages to collect leads.
Let’s have a closer look at how.
Content upgrades
Content upgrades have gotten more attention over the past year, and many marketers are now using them on their blog.
Yet, so few e-commerce sites are using them.
Content upgrades are highly effective lead generators and should be part of every e-commerce manager’s lead generation strategy.
I won’t go into detail on what content upgrades are as Emil’s written about it before, but I will tell you the best ways to use them as lead generators.
When you’ve created a lead magnet for your content upgrade you need to present it in the right way and at the right time.
The content upgrade should always be presented within the relevant content, and tell your reader why they should download it.
A content upgrade can be anything as long as it offers value to your visitors.
It can be a guide on how to string a tennis racket presented on your tennis racket product pages. It can be a recipe presented on your pasta machine product page. Or, it can be historical bonus information on your newest model train.
Here are our best bets for content upgrades for both e-commerce sites and blogs.
To learn more about best practices for content upgrades, read 19 Proven Content Upgrade Ideas to Grow Your Email List.
Optins
Including optin forms on your blog and your product pages is a must if you want to grow your email list exponentially.
Also, the optin is the perfect tool to present the lead magnet you created for your content upgrade.
With an optin, you can present any visitor with your lead magnet and get them to sign up in less than 10 seconds.
This is how we present one of our lead magnets with an optin:
You don’t have to create a lead magnet for all your optins, as long as you have something valuable to offer your visitors in exchange for their email address.
Check out how Refuga uses their email newsletter to offer value:
Don’t be afraid to ask your visitors for their email address. You won’t get any unless you try (and make sure you offer them something they can’t say no to).
Republish old content
Any content marketer knows just how annoying it is to watch conversion rates decline over time on one of your old but precious blog posts.
Fear no more—I’ve got the solution.
Now, you might be wondering how republishing old content can help you generate more leads, but in fact, it’s quite simple:
Your content is out of date, so people have lost interest.
Updating old content and bringing new life to it will undoubtedly get you more leads.
Brian Dean is the master of relaunching old content in an updated version:
He makes sure the headline includes “Updated” and then the post is re-launched.
You can even include a short sentence at the top of your post to let people know when the last update was:
However, VWO didn’t relaunch their post as evident by the publish date, but simply added this sentence to the blog post.
That won’t work. You need to do a full re-launch, otherwise, your updated content won’t get the attention it deserves.
2. 404 error page
We’ve all encountered this annoying page at some point in our online lives.
I can’t tell you how frustrated I feel when this page pops up. I can only imagine what this page would say if it were a person:
Now, I wouldn’t tell you how much I hate this page unless there was a way to make it all better.
I can’t tell you how to never encounter this page again (because we all know it will happen again), but I can tell you how to make the experience less frustrating—at least on your own site.
Your 404 page is just like any other page on your website, and it can be edited and optimized for lead generation.
Let’s be honest: It can’t get any worse than it already is, so why not have some fun with it, and put a smile on people’s face when they see a 404 page on your website?
One of my personal favorites is this one from Dutch Studio Gewoon:
It’s fun, and I’m interested in learning more about this company because their 404 error page was so unique.
However, they should have added an optin along with a compelling offer to collect leads through this page (I know I would have opted in no matter what).
There are two ways in which you can use your 404 page to collect leads.
The first is through a contact form like the below dating site has done:
They use a simple design to catch people’s attention so visitors don’t exit immediately, they use humor to put a smile on your face and they give you an opportunity to get in touch so they can make sure it doesn’t happen with this link again.
Another option is to offer them a lead magnet in exchange for their email address.
Here’s another one of my favorites, this time from Meera Kothand:
She uses her lead magnet to “apologize” for the error, and when you click the link, all you have to do is enter your email address, and the guide is yours.
Being creative with your 404 error page will not only give people a much better experience on your site, it will also help grow your email list.
3. About Us page
Your About Us page is one of the most visited pages on websites, yet many marketers don’t give it anywhere near the attention it deserves.
Your About Us page holds great potential for lead generation, and I’ve got a great little hack for you that can increase lead generation through this page.
The people who visit your About Us page typically want to learn more about you and your business.
Offering them value in the form of your newsletter gives people a chance to learn much more about your business, while you get a high-quality lead in the process.
At Copyblogger they’ve optimized their About Us page for highest conversion:
They tell visitors all about how Copyblogger provides value to countless businesses, and then at the bottom, they have a strong call-to-action where they encourage people to sign up for their newsletter:
You can also create an optin where you offer new signups an eBook on a topic of your expertise in exchange for their email address.
Show people that you are the best at what you do, and your chances of converting them into leads and later into customers, are much higher.
4. Contact page
I think it’s safe to say that people who click on your contact page have decided that they want to get in touch with you.
First of all, it needs to be super simple to get a message across to you.
No one wants to fill in long applications just to send a one sentence question for you. Remember: people who want to get in touch with you obviously have some interest in your business, which makes them prime “targets” for your email list.
But you can’t just add people who email you, to your newsletter email list. That will just leave you with a high unsubscribe rate.
Adding a checkbox on your contact form ensures that every visitor who tries to contact you is offered a chance to opt in for your newsletter.
This doesn’t just apply to your contact page. You can place a contact form anywhere on your website.
If you have products that are more complicated to use or a page where people typically spend a long time but don’t convert, a contact form with a newsletter checkbox will do the trick.
These visitors might be spending a lot of time on these pages because they are interested but end up leaving because they can’t find the right product or need inspiration or guidance.
Thus, the contact form enables them to get in contact with you right on that page, and at the time they need it most—AND you offer them inspiration (or another incentive of your choice) which ultimately results in an influx of high-quality leads.
5. Checkout page
Your checkout page must include a signup option. Simple as that.
But what is the best way to convince people to sign up during this process?
I’ll tell you what you shouldn’t do: Add a checkbox and write Sign up for our newsletter. It won’t work, because why should people sign up?
As with everything else in marketing you need to provide value.
At Nike’s checkout, they offer people value in the form of free deliveries if people sign up:
Another example of a great and unique incentive is from Greenline.
During checkout, they invite customers to sign up for their newsletter and get free gummy bears with their delivery.
The caption says “Gummy bears and great offers” “Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll add some candy to your order”.
How great is that? I know I would jump on an opportunity like that.
This is a really great example of offering people that little extra to get them to sign up for a newsletter.
6. Add new pages
According to research by Hubspot, websites with more landing pages generate more leads.
Creating landing pages takes time, and you can’t just create a single landing page and copy that ten times. Each landing page must be unique.
In the spirit of lead generation, I’m going to show you two types of pages you can create to capture tons of new leads.
The first is a “reasons to sign up page.”
It might sound silly, but creating a page where you list all the reasons people should sign up for your newsletter, can, in fact, grow your email list significantly.
Survey your existing subscribers and ask if you can use their testimonials on your website.
Then you’ll have quotes to back up the statements you make on this page which will make the page much more credible.
And not to forget: You should, of course, have an optin on this page where people can sign up in less than 10 seconds.
Secondly, you should create a video page, full of short videos related to your product.
The homeware e-commerce Stacks And Stacks reported that their visitors were 144 percent more likely to make a purchase after seeing a product video.
And that was purchases. Imagine what videos can do to your visitor to subscriber rate.
If you run an e-commerce with hair and makeup products, you can create video tutorials where you show how to use your products.
In this example from Maybelline New York, they use interactive videos to engage viewers and convert them into customers.
Throughout the tutorial, they’ve added overlays to the video with links to the products used in the video.
This makes it easy for people to click the product they want and make a purchase.
With Wistia Turnstile, you can even add optins to your videos:
You can decide when in the video you want the optin to appear and then use a strong CTA to get people to sign up.
And remember: The more value you provide in your videos, the more likely people are to convert.
Conclusion
Your website is full of pages that are waiting to be optimized for lead generation.
I hope this post has shed some light on the opportunities that these pages hold, and that you’re ready to start optimizing for website lead generation.
The more creative you can get with your lead generation methods the better. People remember unique experiences, so if you provide that, they’ll definitely remember you.