A common mistake many website owners make is to send traffic to their home page. I’m talking about where you funnel traffic to from your advertisement and promotional activities.
You see, the sole purpose of getting website traffic is NOT to try to sell them something.
It’s NOT to have them learn about your company or products or services.
And it definitely is NOT to have them buy at first sight.
The sole purpose is to get them to OPT-IN.
That’s right. To get them to opt in.
You may pay dearly to build website traffic. So it would be sad if they came and visited your site without leaving their email address through opt-in. Because without an email address, how will you ever expect to sell them your products and services.
I realize you may have an opt-in form on your home page. But it’s probably not the thing your visitor’s eyes are focused on when they first visit your site. They are probably looking at your design and the various sections of copy. Why would they complete your opt-in form on your home page anyway? (It’s rare that home page provides enough information on why to opt-in)
Chances are, just about everyone leaves your site without opt-in… except perhaps less than 1%. So you have no email address to follow up to sell your products and services.
By now you may be thinking if your home page is not the place for website traffic, then where is?
A Squeeze Page or Landing Page Can Boost Response
The answer is a squeeze page. A squeeze page is a type of landing page designed with one message and a sole focus to get visitors to opt in. It’s called a squeeze page because you squeeze the visitor to opt-in and give their email address. So now you can create a relationship with the visitor, gain their trust and sell them your products and services.
An ideal squeeze page promotes a giveaway – something of value to the visitor in exchange for their email address.
The thing to know about the squeeze page is that it should contain just one message and nothing else. No menu or links to other pages. Just a strong message that persuades the visitor to opt-in, give their email address and receive a FREE report or other type or giveaway item.
Once you get their email address – and perhaps their first and last name – nothing more, you now have a way to start the selling process. That’s because you can reach your prospect and not have to wait for them to return to your website on their own. You now control the selling process.
Now you know why 99% of website traffic to your home page are dead upon arrival. But when you send website traffic to a squeeze page (landing page with opt-in form), you create the opportunity to land qualified leads whom you can convert into customers and sales dollars.
Where to Start
A squeeze page is the start of your online sales process – whether you conduct ecommerce or not. A squeeze page gets the lead into your contact database. From there, the best way to convert the lead into a customer is with a marketing automation system. The good news is that a marketing automation system is affordable for many small businesses.
