Click! You have a new visitor. What happens next? Do they barf and bounce or smile and stay? The answer depends on a lot of little things, some obvious, some not. This session is a breakdown of the best practices for B2B lead generation websites, based on hundreds of website projects. You will learn: • What are the key elements of high-performing service pages? • What features are common to blog templates but probably shouldn’t be? • What three elements determine if visitors sign up for emails? From social proof to CTAs, videos to chatbots, we will break down the options for UX elements and how they work with (or against) the psychology of your visitors.

1. KEYNOTE
Andy Crestodina
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER AND
CO-FOUNDER, ORBIT MEDIA STUDIOS
Lead Generation Best
Practices (learned from
500+ website redesigns)
CHICAGO, IL ~ MAY 9 - 10, 2022
DIGIMARCONMIDWEST.COM | #DigiMarConMidwest

2. Lead Generation Best Practices
Traffic Source Thank You Page

3. Lead Generation Best Practices
LEAD

4. Traffic x Conversion Rate = $

5. image source: Marco Verch, Flickr

6. Lead Generation Best Practices

7. Lead Generation Best Practices

8. Lead Generation Best Practices

9. Blog Design Best Practices
Goals…
• Stay top of mind (attract, engage, list growth)
• Demonstrate expertise

11. So personal!
The author, the editor and
the peer reviewer

12. Is this current?
The published date and
last updated

14. How to Grow Your List

17. Our content is where…
[audience x] gets
[information y] that offers
[benefit z].

18. Our content is where…
[audience x] gets
[information y] that offers
[benefit z].

19. Our content is where…
[audience x] gets
[information y] that offers
[benefit z].

20. Our content is where…
[audience x] gets
[information y] that offers
[benefit z].

21. Our content
[audience x]
[information y]
[benefit z]
1. Tips, advice, insights, strategies
and checklists
2. Stories
3. Ideas and inspiration
4. Research and reports
5. News and trends

22. Where digital marketers find practical advice
on content, analytics and web design
to get better results from their websites.

23. Where digital marketers find practical advice
on content, analytics and web design
to get better results from their websites.

24. Where digital marketers find practical advice
on content, analytics and web design
to get better results from their websites.

25. Where digital marketers find practical advice
on content, analytics and web design
to get better results from their websites.

29. 1. Prominence
2. Promise
3. Proof
source: Email Signup Forms, Orbit Media
The 3 P’s of Signup Boxes

30. Lead Generation Best Practices

31. Homepage Best Practices
Goals…
• Tell them they’re in the right place
• Get themto the next page

32. Lead Generation Best Practices
Most homepage visitors don’t scroll
Composite scroll heat maps for 10 lead gen
website homepages (desktop only).
On average 73% of homepage visitors
do not see any below-the-fold content.

33. The Backyard BBQ Test
“So, what do you do for a living?”

35. This headline doesn’t clearly
describe the service

38. This headline says
exactly what they do

39. Lead Generation Best Practices

42. Lead Generation Best Practices
Homepage header is a tag line Homepage header is descriptive

43. Descriptive navigation labels

44. Navigation labels are generic
Common to millions of websites

45. Navigation labels are specific,
helpful and keyword focused

46. Lead Generation Best Practices
Generic navigation labels, common to millions of websites.

47. Lead Generation Best Practices
Descriptive labels that indicate relevance
to search engines and visitors

48. What about slideshows?

49. Slideshow with 10 slides

50. Slideshow with 10 slides
The 8th slide has strong evidence.
Does anyone see this?

51. Two slides on a timer

52. The award is hidden on the second slide

53. source: Do Rotating Sliders Help or Hurt?

54. Slideshows were invented to
prevent stabbings in
conference rooms

55. How are visitors using
our navigation?

58. This is what they’re clicking on

59. Questions to ask your
navigation summary
1. Any small links getting clicked a lot?
2. Any big buttons getting missed?
3. What gets clicked the most?
4. What never gets clicked?
5. Are calls to action effective?

60. Service Page Best Practices
Goals…
• Provide details about the offer
• Show supportive evidence
• Get them to click on the CTA

61. Why don’t visitors convert?

63. Lead Generation Best Practices
Website Usability Study, 2004 vs 2016
source: NN Group

64. Lead Generation Best Practices
source: NN Group
Causes of User Failure

65. Getting to know your audience

66. Questions to ask your
clients/customers…

67. Take me back to that moment when
you first realized you needed help.

68. What else did you try?
What didn’t you love about it?

69. What almost kept you
from buying from us?

70. Starting out, what was the biggest
challenge you were hoping to solve?

71. Can you give me an example of when
this made a difference for you?

72. If you couldn’t work with us ever again,
what would you miss the most?

73. What’s the #1 thing you would tell
a friend if you wanted to convince
them to hire [company]?

74. Questions to ask
your top salesperson…

75. What questions are you just sick
and tired of answering?

76. What should people ask you,
but they usually don’t?

77. What is the A-ha moment
prospects have during sales calls?

78. What analogies do you use to
explain what we do?

79. Fill in this blank: people can work
with us even if they ______.

80. When evaluating
options, what was most
important to you?
Security was
the top priority,
then scalability.
Security
Marketing Client
Scalability

81. When evaluating
options, what was most
important to you?
Security was
the top priority,
then scalability.
Security
Marketing Client
Scalability

82. When evaluating
options, what was most
important to you?
Security was
the top priority,
then scalability.
Security
Marketing Client
Scalability

83. Give me an example of
when this helped you?
You guys really
saved my bacon that
one time… “You guys really saved
my bacon…”
Marketing Client

84. What was the biggest
challenge you were
hoping to solve?
I wanted better
insights, not just
dashboards
You already have
dashboards, but you’re
still not getting insights.
Marketing Client

85. What can you do now
that you couldn’t do
before?
Now I don’t have
to run that report
every time
Stop running the same
reports again and again
Marketing Client

86. What analogies do you use
to explain what we do?
On-site installation
is like owning your
own home
It’s like your house.
You should own your
own home.
Marketing Sales

87. What is the biggest
number you can get up to?
We have 14,000
total end users
Trusted by 14,000
professionals
Marketing Sales

88. What questions are you sick
and tired of answering?
“What if I want to
cancel my contract?”
Cancel anytime.
Marketing Sales

92. Add supportive evidence

93. Lead Generation Best Practices
QUESTION
ANSWER
EVIDENCE
CALL TO ACTION

95. Lead Generation Best Practices
EVIDENCE UNCERTAINTY

96. “Spend less on healthcare”
“Our technology makes it easy”
“Exclusive features help you prosper”
“Know more. Feel great. Spend less”
“Like a GPS for your health”

97. Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim
Unsupported claim

98. Types of evidence
• Testimonials
• Case studies / stories
• Awards
• Years in business
• Size of operation
• Number of products
• Number of happy customers
• Best sellers

99. Add evidence to the top of
the homepage

100. Awards add credibility…

101. Lead Generation Best Practices
…but they’re better when
presented visually.

102. Lead Generation Best Practices
Data makes the claims
more credible

103. Testimonials make the audience
the messenger

104. Lead Generation Best Practices
Logo
Headline
Face, name,
title, company
Target keyphrase
Elements of a great testimonial

105. Doesn’t actually say anything
Most compelling thing is the
smallest, lowest thing
All but the first testimonial are
hidden in the carousel

106. Quick note about subheads

107. Adds pixels and visual noise
without adding value

108. Our products
Subheads can be meaningful (and keyword-focused) too
Ideas & Insights
Our Customers

109. Our products
Our baking and pastry products
Subheads can be meaningful (and keyword-focused) too
Ideas & Insights
New Ideas from Inside Our Bakery
Our Customers
100 Years of Quality Baking Ingredients

110. Calls to Action and Specificity

111. source: Michael Aagard

112. source: Michael Aagard

113. Lead Generation Best Practices
BENEFITS COSTS

114. Lead Generation Best Practices
RETURN INVESTMENT

115. Lead Generation Best Practices

116. Lead Generation Best Practices

117. Lead Generation Best Practices

118. Lead Generation Best Practices

119. Lead Generation Best Practices

120. Lead Generation Best Practices

121. Lead Generation Best Practices
Sounds boring…
Sounds easy…
Sounds valuable…

122. Lead Generation Best Practices

123. source

124. About Page Best Practices
Goals…
• Show your team, your values
• Tell the story of the brand

125. Lead Generation Best Practices

126. Lead Generation Best Practices

127. Lead Generation Best Practices

128. Time to fail ”The French Test”
we… us… our…

129. Lead Generation Best Practices
Boring, typical web copy Personal expression of purpose
“Food waste is a huge problem.
That’s why we started this company.
We’re 100% focused on cutting waste
through predictive ordering."
Reduce Food Waste
Powerful predictive dashboards for smarter
ordering for the food service industry

130. Elements of an
effective About Us
section
1. The origin story (video)
2. Mission, vision, values
3. Team, people, leadership

131. Contact Page Best Practices
Goals…
• Share contact information
• Convert the visitor into a lead!

133. Tens of thousands of people use our products every
day. If you're considering moving to the cloud
or just want more information, we're here to help.

135. You are about to learn how 20,000+ CPG
pros manage $10B in trade spend.
Just share a bit about yourself and we’ll be
in touch within 24 hours.

136. Lead Generation Best Practices
BEFORE AFTER
Tens of thousands of people 20,000+ CPG pros
use our products every day. manage $10B in trade spend.
We can't wait to chat with you. Shelley Fow
You'll be hearing from us soon. will be in touch within 24 hours

137. Lead Generation Best Practices
BEFORE AFTER
Tens of thousands of people 20,000+ CPG pros
use our products every day. manage $10B in trade spend.
We can't wait to chat with you. Shelley Fow
You'll be hearing from us soon. will be in touch within 24 hours

138. Lead Generation Best Practices
BEFORE AFTER
Tens of thousands of people 20,000+ CPG pros
use our products every day. manage $10B in trade spend.
We can't wait to chat with you. Shelley Fow
You'll be hearing from us soon. will be in touch within 24 hours

139. Lead Generation Best Practices
BEFORE AFTER
Tens of thousands of people 20,000+ CPG pros
use our products every day. manage $10B in trade spend.
We can't wait to chat with you. Shelley Fow
You'll be hearing from us soon. will be in touch within 24 hours

140. Lead Generation Best Practices
Working? Check the Funnel Visualization Report

141. Thank You Page Best Practices
One final tip!

144. Deconstructing a website visit
The interaction between the content and the visitor

145. Lead Generation Best Practices
“I need some help.”
The Zero-Moment of Truth

146. Lead Generation Best Practices
“I need some help.”
“Take a look at this company.”
(search results page)
The Zero-Moment of Truth

147. Lead Generation Best Practices
“I need some help.”
“Take a look at this company.”
(search results page)
The Zero-Moment of Truth

148. “What does this company do?”
“How do they do it?”
“Can they do it for me
specifically?”

149. “Am I in the right place?”

150. Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
“Not sure what they do exactly.”

151. Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”

152. Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
…

153. Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
Service Name
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“We’re number one.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
“Not sure if they
can do it for me”
…

154. Big Clever Headline
Small descriptive subhead
Call to action
What we do
“We’re really great.”
Service Name
Service Name
Long, blocky paragraph with some
keywords in it.
“Not sure what they do exactly.”
Stock photo
“We’re number one.”
“OK. I see they do what I need.”
“Not sure if they
can do it for me”
“I don’t really have time to
read all this.””
…

155. Let’s try that again…

156. “What does this company do?”
“How do they do it?”
“Can they do it for me
specifically?”

157. Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”

158. Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
“Clearly, they do it for
real companies.”

159. Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
“Clearly, they do it for
real companies.”
“Ah. Their approach looks
interesting / thoughtful.”

160. Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
Clever subhead
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
Detailed answers to top questions
“Clearly, they do it for
real companies.”
“Looks like they could help
with my specific needs.”
“Ah. Their approach looks
interesting / thoughtful.”

161. Clear Descriptive Header
Interesting, unexpected subhead
Call to action
Logos
Wow, this team
is super helpful
Clever subhead
“I see they do what I’m looking for.”
Quick video
Detailed answers to top questions
“Clearly, they do it for
real companies.”
“Looks like they could help
with my specific needs.”
“People like them!
Maybe I should get in touch…”
“Ah. Their approach looks
interesting / thoughtful.”

162. H1 Header
H3 Subhead text
Call to action
H2 Subhead
Body text
logos
Video
H2 Subhead
H2 Subhead
Testimonial
Body text
Body text
What do they do?
How do they do it?
Are then legit?
Have then done it for
people like me?
Can they do it for me?

163. Lead Generation Best Practices
source: Google UX Playbooks

164. Lead Generation Best Practices
source: Google UX Playbooks

165. THANK YOU!