Using your website to capture leads should be an integral component of your marketing strategy. You can use various methods to gain the interest and trust of clients and then begin building relationships with them.

“Most visitors to your website are simply browsing for information,” says Subhas Fagu, partner and web development consultant with Techlicity Ventures Inc. in Toronto.

Therefore, your content must be interesting and relevant. But content alone is not sufficient to capture leads. “You must be able to engage visitors,” Fagu adds, “and have functionality on your website to capture their contact information for use in building relationships.”

Here are five strategies for using your website to develop leads:

1. Offer a giveaway
Provide a tangible giveaway such as a book, an eBook, a report, a newsletter, a video or something else that is relevant to your target audience. In order to receive the giveaway, visitors must at least submit their name and email address.

Nadia David, communications consultant with Premier Consulting Partners in Mississauga, Ont., points out that if the giveaway is in physical form you can also get the prospect’s mailing address.

“The value of the giveaway might influence how much personal information visitors might be willing share,” Fagu adds. “You can always obtain more information later if you do not initially ask for more than you need.”

2. Acknowledge and thank visitors
Set up an automated response system to acknowledge visitors’ requests for the giveaway and to thank them. In order to sustain visitors’ attention, David says, you can offer access to additional information that is related to the original request. For example, in your acknowledgement you can say, “You may also wish to receive our free report on…”

3. Follow up
The giveaway should open the door to further contact with visitors, as long as you remain compliant with privacy and anti-spam regulations, David says. You can then follow up to confirm whether the giveaway was received and whether you can be of further assistance.

This correspondence can take place by e-mail or telephone, depending on the nature of the giveaway and the amount of personal information collected.

4. Build your pipeline
Visitors to your website should be added to your pipeline of leads, effectively making them prospects — which is a step closer to their becoming clients.

“It often takes time to convert leads,” David says. “But having them in your pipeline will allow you to send them additional information with the hope that you will eventually engage them at some point in time. You must pay consistent attention to leads if you expect to build a relationship with them.”

If a relationship does not develop, leads can be removed from the pipeline. “You will have to make a judgement call on when to remove leads,” David says, “depending on the level of interest they show.”

5. Monitor website visitors
Keep track of the number of visitors to your website, as well as their habits, Fagu says. He recommends using software such as Google Analytics, which can provide statistics on what visitors are viewing, how often they return and how often they view certain content.

“The results will help you determine what works and what doesn’t,” Fagu says, “and enable you to customize your offers.”