This is a complicated question! :)

Turning traffic into leads is your most important task right now. Certainly you want a "buy" button or some easy way to respond instantly on every page of the site if you are retail, and a "contact us" button if you are selling a deeper relationship. But we have to assume that most traffic won't jump from "interest" to "purchase" in a single jump. So we need to engage them so we can sort out which users can be turned into qualified leads.

First, create a means of feeding and satisfying the interest. Look at your site data. Where are people landing first? What are they looking at? What are they clicking on? With that insight in hand, create more of the kinds of content that people are interested in. Give them reasons to go deeper and come back again. If you are an expert (or have an expert) in your category, start creating hundreds of blog posts. If you product is fun, create fun video. If your services are complicated, offer a free e-book or white paper that you will email to them.

The point is, though, don't go for the sale too hard. Blog posts shouldn't be press releases, they should be opinion pieces that are interesting. Fun content shouldn't be ads, but a showcase of the people behind the product. (Look at "Will it Blend.") E-books should be helpful and without obligation.

If people are engaged, they will sign up for more. They will eventually comment on a post or post their own content (if you let them) or download your e-book and then you know that they are going from passing interest to lead and worth active pursuit.

Once you get your prospect educated or saying yes to what I call, the "little yes," you start moving the conversation into bigger yes'. "So you want an e-book, would you now like to attend our free webinar, then our free on-site inspection, then details about profitability potential..." and so on to the sales ask.

I know that all these specific details may not apply to your business, but I'm hoping I'm creating the right picture. The lead phase is important to cultivate along with the sales phase. Too many qualified leads are lost when we go for the ask too quickly. It's like meeting someone on the street, saying hi, then asking to get married. Engage and build relationships first. Give them a clear path to follow and you'll find more and more people moving along it to the ultimate goals of conversion.

BTW, Google Analytics and other measurement services offer outstanding tools for building in lead and conversion goals into your site and tracking the outcome. Make sure you're using something like this to help the process.

The links below include Google Analytics, a very good recently published book on maximizing the sales cycle (not website specific, but the principles apply), a link to Chris Brogan's site (great insights on blogging, social media and relationship building) and a link to my blog/podcast with discussion and content on how to maximize all your brand building and selling efforts.
Source(s):
http://analytics.google.com

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/047016493X?ie=UTF8&tag=thebeaamarp...

http://chrisbrogan.com

http://beancast.us


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