With many businesspeople desperate to grow their companies on the internet, the number of options on generating leads and sales online has escalated. Worse, most of them amount to nothing.

Of course, there is no one proper way to generate leads and sales online. What works for one businessperson may not work for another, and vice versa. It’s up to these people hoping to maximise growth online to search and discover what works for their businesses.

Here are some effective ways to generate sales leads, tips that deviate a tad from the regular ones online today. Therefore, do not expect to see SEO broadly or specifically discussed. While it is a good means of generating sales leads, it has become all too rampant.

Set up a website

Every business has to have a base of operation. This isn’t only true for brick and mortar businesses. Whether you have an offline office or not, a website is essential if you hope to tap into an online audience.

Of course, you could operate your company’s online presence using a Facebook or LinkedIn Page. But that would not be as effective and flexible as using a website. Not when websites entail informative pages where visitors can learn things they need to know about your company.

To set up a successful company website, you will need a befitting domain name. A reputable web hosting service. A creative website designer. Compelling content. And more.

A website is the converging point for all your online content, the core of your internet presence. If someone should find you on Facebook or in a forum, the page should be able to direct him or her to your website.

Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a website for your business.

Create properly targeted content

Whether you are posting content on your blog or social media, it is vital that you focus on the niche of your business. If you sell fiction books, then talk about fiction writing or novels without sounding like you are advertising. You can even break the niche down by talking about a specific genre of fiction—the genre you write or sell, obviously.

That way, you can filter out those visitors that aren’t interested in what you are selling. There is no point in having a hundred thousand blog followers when none of them cares about your posts, much less want to purchase what you offer. Alternatively, just ten followers who care deeply about your products and would order them anytime and any day are more valuable.

Send out newsletters

Sometimes, some site visitors require a nudge or two to care. If a visitor was interested in your content enough to opt in for your email subscription, then it is very likely that that person would be happy to find your newsletter in his or her inbox and to even purchase your products or services.

With newsletters, you take the content to your audience. It is similar to what salespeople do—they call and call. They even pay prospective clients visits.

As an entrepreneur hoping to reach a wider audience online, you need to be proactive. The blogosphere is saturated. If you want to get heard, you need to be in your prospective clients’ inboxes. Learn the basics of good newsletters. Send out newsletters twice a month at least.

Be real on social platforms

While social media platforms are massive sources of prospective leads, they require patience and extra efforts in order to become tangibly valuable. Most people make the mistake of going over to Facebook or Twitter and marketing away immediately, posting links and product images. In the end, what do they get? A few clicks that amount to nothing.

The key to generating leads via the social media is ‘getting people there to value you’. It sounds simple, but it isn’t. There are two ways you can be valuable on social platforms—either you become a friend worth having around or you become influential through meeting people’s needs.

It’s only then that people who know you on social platforms would care to check out your website or products. Why? Because you’ve got them curious.

Make use of keyword phrases

Whether you want to advertise using Google AdWords or Facebook, whether you prefer to go it alone using proper search engine optimisation to drive traffic from search engines to your website, you must first understand how keywords work so you can better use them to target a specific audience.

The crucial point is selecting a relevant few that represent your brand and the terms people use when searching for the types of products and services you offer.

Find out how Macaulay Gidado can help your business generate sales leads.