Not long ago, all any B2B website really needed was some polished design and basic information about the company, it’s offerings, and how to contact them.
These days, if that’s what you’re working with, then it’s working against you.
Why?
Because for any B2B buyer with access to the internet, that’s now the digital equivalent of nailing a rough-hewn, hand-painted sign by your door: Sure, it’s better than nothing but it inspires anything but confidence and trust.
And, seeing as how they’re just two clicks away from a site that does give them what they’re looking for, many will cross you off their shortlist then and there.
Fortunately, capturing the next visitors’ interest isn’t that difficult.
Of all the hundreds of strategic changes you could make, you really only need three to keep you in the running:
1. Fresh Content: Your prospects need to see signs of life. This should go without saying but it’s remarkably common.
If your featured company news and case studies are from last year, then your visitors are left wondering why you abandoned your site and if you’re even still in business. As a rule of thumb, aim to post fresh company news and information at least once per quarter, though there’s nothing wrong with posting more frequently.
2. Be Useful: They need to see that you are experts in your industry, and that you really can solve their problems. And the best way to do that is to give them content—blog posts, news updates, white papers, etc.—that genuinely help them with the problems they face. You already have the information and insights right there in-house, it’s just a matter of turning your team’s expertise into something your potential customers can use.
3. A Hook: Let’s say they like what they saw. They’re going to leave your site eventually and you do not want your strategy for the next stage to be, “Now we cross our fingers and hope they come back.”
If they like what you had to say, they WANT you to give them more. To lock in that initial interest it’s imperative to give them an easy and enticing way to stay connected. And to do that you need a establish an appealing Call to Action—such as “Sign up to get monthly industry insights delivered to your inbox” or at the very least, “Follow us on Twitter for late breaking industry updates”—and make it so prominent that no visitor can miss it.
Once you have this basic system up and running, you can add a wide range of components to enhance and optimize it, from Marketing Automation to A/B testing to Predictive Analytics, but you can get a very long way with these three tactics alone.