For every small business owner and entrepreneur, time-management can be one of the biggest struggles we face within our business. When it comes to leveraging your time, automation is the sharpest tool in your toolbox. It allows you to get more done in less time, and to smoothly move people through your sales funnel. For many small business owners, though, the one area that’s often overlooked is your website. With these quick and easy tweaks you can implement today, you’ll get your website working as a more efficient saleswoman (or man).
Use Your Blog to Build Your Mailing List
Like any smart business owner, you likely have opt-in forms on your website. They might be in the sidebar or maybe the footer, and you might have a pop-up to capture attention as visitors are about to leave.
But, do you have a solid call to action at the end of your blog posts? When a new reader is finished consuming your posts, they are primed to learn more. Give them the opportunity by offering an opt-in at the end of each post. What is a solid call to action? It isn’t subscribe to our newsletter or join the list. That’s meh (definition – expressing a lack of enthusiasm). Kick it up a notch with a benefit statement. Here are some examples:
- Get Action Steps To Help You Rock Your Business
- Learn How To Increase Your Revenue With Weekly Tips
- Build A Successful Business – Learn How
Have extra time? You can also take the logical next step by creating a related opt-in offer for each post. These offers typically consist of a simple checklist or worksheet and capture attention by providing even more information about a topic they’re already interested in.
Keep Them Reading With Related Links
How often do you revisit old blog posts to link to newer content? If you answered NEVER or HUH? you are missing out on a great opportunity. Linking to newer content is an important maintenance job that helps provide visitors with the information they’re looking for by linking related posts together.
Not only is this strategy good for keeping visitors on your site, but it’s got the Google seal of approval as well. Posts that link to each other encourage search engine bots to crawl your site more thoroughly and help boost the rankings of your most relevant posts. [Hint: This is a perfect job for your VA.]
If this sounds a bit cumbersome, you can automate this even further. WordPress users can install a plugin to make this process even simpler. My favorite plugin to do this is Related Posts For WordPress. With one-click, you can link posts and it’s fast and lightweight.
Make the Best of Your Download Pages
Whether you’re giving away a free report or paid product, your download pages can pull double-duty by offering visitors a “what’s next” option. For free download pages, a related, low-cost product is best. It gives readers the chance to learn more about you with a small investment.
For paid products, consider offering a complementary product instead. If you’re protecting your download pages with a membership script such as Customer Hub, you can even offer upsells based on what they already own, making the choice even easier for them.
And if you’re using a double-opt-in mailing list, make use of that confirmation page, too! That’s the perfect place for a quick upsell or an invitation to join you in your Facebook group or weekly Periscope.
Utilize That Pesky 404 Page
A 404 not found error means that the web page someone was trying to load was not found. For most sites, you have the option to create a custom 404 page for your visitors to land on if they encounter a broken link or type in an incorrect page address.
In many cases, when readers hit this page, they will quickly exit your site. You can change that by adding your opt-in or opt-in offer to your 404 page. It’s a great way to keep people interested in learning more.
Final Thoughts
Here’s a good rule of thumb to follow on your website – Whenever a reader lands on a page, they should be offered the next logical step. When you write your blog posts or create your download pages, keep that in mind, and your funnel will practically fill itself. Let me know in the comments below if you implemented these tweaks and what results you were able to achieve.
