Have you been thinking of creating a sales funnel, but don’t know where to start? Maybe you’ve considered purchasing fancy software to do it for you? The thing is a sales funnel is simply guiding a visitor to your website toward purchasing your product or service. This can be done with intentional setup of your content and design. So below are my top five strategies to creating a sales funnel on your website.
1. Start with the CTAs
When someone visits your website, they need direction. A Call To Action does just that! A CTA is the main thing you are wanting a visitor to do when they arrive at your site. This is the big “buy now” button and helps start funneling the visitor toward working with you. Do you want them to start the process towards getting a quote? Have a “Get a Quote” button. Have a freebie that guides people toward working with you? Include that button.
Best practices with a CTA:
- Make it clear: While I love seeing a clever CTA, it still needs to be super clear what you’re wanting this person to do.
- Make it concise: This needs to be two to three short words. Most of the time, these are part of a button and you don’t need a sentence long button. Design wise, it just looks weird!
- Make it visible: I love having CTAs in three main places – in the menu, in the header, and at the end of each section of your website.
While there are a lot of great CTA ideas, my favorite right now may be the “Start Now” CTA…
2. Create a Start Here page.
I have become obsessed with this tactic. If you have multiple service offerings, it can be overwhelming for someone to figure out where to go. So creating a Start Here page gives visitors a clear path to what their next step should be.
Once they’re on your “Start Here” page, you give them limited options of what they can do next. In the case of my client, Tax Savvy Jessica’s, website:
- I am consistently earning between $5K – $8K each month. Then our startup package is for you.
- I am consistently earning between $8K – $20K each month. Then our entrepreneur package is for you.
- I am consistently earning more than $20K each month. Then our CEO package is right for you.
They can then choose the option that applies most to them before heading to the appropriate sales page.
3. Create a sales page:
A well crafted sales page can guide your website visitor towards that next step. When someone is considering working with you, they have certain questions that need to be answered. “What’s in this for me?” “Why do I need this product or service?” “What do others have to say about it?”
To answer these questions, I ensure I include the following elements:
- A clear, concise header
- Emotional benefits
- Who is the audience
- Testimonials
- About you
- Final Call to Action
4. Connect to your CRM
Speaking of that final call to action, it’s time to give your visitors a couple of options. Option one is to take the next step. For my business that’s to request a quote. When they choose this option they are taken to a questionnaire that is connected to my CRM, Dubsado.
Quick tangent: I love Dubsado. It has not only kept me way more organized with my clients and projects, but it has seriously taken my business to the next level. Join Dubsado through this link and you’ll get 20% off your first month or year!
So back to this questionnaire, once they complete it, a new lead is created in Dubsado for me and I get an email. For me, this is where some of the automation stops because I want to start building a relationship with this potential client. BUT, once I got this setup, my sales funnel has gotten this nameless visitor to serious lead without me touching a thing!
Now what happens if they aren’t ready to become a lead. Enter email marketing.
5. Automatically add these potential leads to your email list.
If these visitors decided they aren’t ready to move forward, there is a good chance they will just leave your site and forget about you (sad).
But with the addition of a lead magnet (freebie, free offer, etc.) you can capture their information and continue communicating and building that relationship at a rate that is comfortable to them.
So you give them the option to try out a free resource from you. This is huge in building trust!
Once you have their email address you can follow up with them either through a sales or nurture sequence. A great quote from Donald Miller, author of StoryBrand and Marketing Made Simple, “People buy when they are ready, but only if you are still around.” This is why email marketing is so important!
If you continue to show up for these people, with tips, resources, and support, you can turn that “not right now” into a “let’s do this!”
I hope these strategies have been helpful and maybe I have given you one or two things you can try out in your own business.
Looking for a done-for-you service? I offer website design, website maintenance, and email marketing. Request a quote at the link below to get started!
