Lead Generation and Follow-Up

One thing that Web site owners don’t often think of in terms of driving traffic
to their sites is lead generation. Lead generation in this context is nothing
more than the process by which you gather the names and e-mail addresses
of people who may be interested in your Web site or blog — these are all
potential visitors. And following up on those leads is how you convert those
potential visitors into actual visitors. Lead generation takes place in several
different ways. For some sites, it’s a newsletter sign-up, but for others, it’s a
contest or promotion that you e-mail to a mailing list you purchased from a
marketing company.
How can generating leads help you build traffic on your site? It’s easy, really.
If you’re collecting leads, you can keep your site in front of potential visitors
more often.
That does require follow-up, though. Although some Web site owners are
great at collecting leads, they don’t do much with them — you should. If you
have a collection of people who have willingly given you their e-mail address,
you should be using that address as often as you can to keep in touch with
those potential visitors.
Many Web site owners do collect e-mail addresses (which in this case are
your leads). Having folks sign up for a newsletter is one of the most popular
harvesting methods out there. You can also collect the e-mail addresses of
visitors when they register for your site or when they purchase goods or
services from you.
However you collect the addresses, they’re no good to you if they just sit on
a list doing nothing. After you have your e-mail addresses, use them to put
your name in front of those people — and the more helpful you can be in the
process, the better it is for your Web site.
Here’s an example: One Web site owner collects people’s e-mail addresses
for a newsletter. The newsletter goes out without fail (consistency is key
with newsletters) every two weeks. That same Web site owner also sends
out a message about once a month that contains tips that the readers can
use immediately to improve their business.
This type of extra information — service above and beyond the call of duty —
is what helps build traffic for the Web site. When potential visitors turn to the
area that the site addresses, that site is of course the first site to come to mind
because the Web site owner has kept the site’s name in front of them as often
as possible.
Keep in mind this fact though: It’s absolutely essential that the communications
you have with your potential visitors be useful. Sales, extra information,
even contest announcements are useful. Just sending a note to say hello?
Nothing useful about that at all, and users won’t appreciate it.
The idea is to create a feeling of appreciation so that you’re first in the visitor’s
mind when she thinks of the area that you serve. Being first means more
Web site traffic for you.