Many times one may wonder why website leads activity to an existing website has been slowing down, or possibly it has stopped all together. You did good for awhile and now things seemed to have changed.

Are you proactive or reactive with marketing?

The most common reason for this website lead slowdown to occur is you have (inadvertently) become dormant with your marketing. Most spend a lot of effort to get a new website going, add a few Facebook posts, maybe even a video, and then simply let their marketing fall off the radar screen. Marketing is an ongoing investment in your future, not just a random expense. While it is hard to get marketing activity in the first place, it is also hard to maintain it. But this effort is minimized when you approach marketing on a consistent basis. All you need to do is let your competition catch up, or possibly surpass you, and then you have to work even harder to get back into the website lead generation position you were previously enjoying.

Is your website the reason no leads are coming in?

This should not be the only question you are asking. Yes, it is the most obvious question to ask, but there are many other questions to ask. We will come back to the website itself in a few moments, but let’s first ask a few other important questions.

• Have you added fresh unique content to the site allowing the search engines to see your business is still alive? Just because you added a lot of new things last year doesn’t mean it carries through this year.
• When you add new content, how strategic are you when optimizing the content? You would not believe how many programmers post content quickly, but not strategically.
• Do you continue to get customer reviews either on Google, Facebook, and even YouTube to help validate your business? Of course we want them listed on all these sources.
• Do you ensure your Social Marketing supports your website marketing? There are so many ways to ensure people go from your social posts to your website.
• Have you reviewed any ranking reports to at least see where you stand? Begin to resolve your issues by first knowing where you stand. Sometimes the slow down is seasonal. You can be ranked poorly and that will surely ensure you are not going to get leads.
• Have you reviewed your competition? Many times a slowdown can be the result of your competitors doing much better. Sometimes there are new competitors who have shown up and simply are more aggressive with their marketing objectives. Or perhaps an existing competitor finally woke up over the last year, caught up to you and even surpassed you. Never discount what the competitors are doing since just because you think you are doing a good job doesn’t mean your competition isn’t doing a great job.

Where do you begin to fix your website leads?

Immediately start by contacting your marketing person and website company. They may be the same company and sometimes this may not be the answer since the website programmer may not be able to self critique what is missing. This website lead generation slowdown is a very subjective topic. There are some awfully good website programmers who are great at technology yet are limited at marketing specifics. Then there are some website programmers who are good at both marketing strategies in addition to technical strategies.

Take a moment to reflect on your own shortcomings, but not in a negative way, then consider whether you should just be working with your website company or also including a separate marketing person to get an outside perspective.

After the self reflection, immediately send a communication to your key contacts to start to address the problem since it may take a long time to correct it. Prepare to spend some time and money to attack the issue too. Have the right mental state of mind to focus on fixing the problem while also working on the immediate issue to help stimulate activity.

SEO is icing on the cake, BUT IT IS NOT THE CAKE

Too many plan their marketing based on How Much They Spend on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is important, but never forget that it doesn’t represent your entire online marketing initiatives. Yes, you can easily spend a few hundred or even more than a thousand per month on SEO. You can also spend nothing and simply incorporate it as part of your ongoing fresh content strategy. There is no perfect answer, but ensure you are not just letting SEO guide your strategy since that is like having the icing guide you on the type of cake you want.

What else can I do while waiting to get more website leads?

Be proactive and immediately contact your best lead sources, namely your past clients. Whether you like it or not, you will need to build some form of outbound campaigns to offset the limited inbound activity. Here are some ideas our clients have used to help generate activity:

• Outbound calls to say Hi. It is so is to say “Hi, it is John from ABC Company. We are calling just to check in, see if there is anything we can possibly do for you, as well as see if you happen to know anyone you could refer for our services”. Have an upbeat attitude, especially if you are leaving a voice message, and be clear on your return phone number. Do not assume the person remembers your name and number.
• Randomly passing by customers. You simply knock on the door, tell them you are stopping by to say hi. Have a printed letter ready to leave in the mailbox saying something like “Hi, I just passed by to see how everything is. I wanted to see if you happen to need anything else from our company or perhaps know a neighbor or friend you could introduce us to. Thanking you in advance.” Then just sign it and place in the mailbox if no one is home.
• Sending an email. Ensure you send this only to 1 customer at a time. Do not send to more than one customer since you risk someone replying and then copying your other customers. Have the subject be short and concise along the lines of “Thanks for your business, happen to know someone like you?” Then include details along the same lines of you wanted to say Hi, thank them for their past business, and am looking to see if they have a neighbor of friend you could introduce us to?”
• Make a Facebook Post to your loyal followers. Show a picture of your best job for a particular service. Then simply say “Happen to know a friend or neighbor looking for XYZ? Please Like or Share this post. Thanking you in advance.”

Remember the answer is reactive and proactive marketing

Whether you like it or not, there will be an effort to get future lead activity to your site. This portion of the effort is all reactive marketing. Do not just sit around waiting for things to correct themselves. Ensure to begin an active outbound campaign to proactively address the challenge. Contact the right people and try to figure out where you stand. Add some fresh content and optimize it. Get some customer reviews to show the world you are active. Have your website person address some SEO issues. Make some social posts. And contact your customers. It may take some time but at least you are attacking the issue head on!