Struggling to get more Web design leads this season? The problem may be simpler than you think – strategy-wise. The single biggest question that people ask is “how do you overcome the struggle of not getting sufficient Web design leads?”

The answer is tied not just to how you design your website, but also to how you provide content to your readers. The following aren’t the easiest hacks, but they are guaranteed to put you on the right track to getting the Web design leads that you want.

1. Be an authoritative educator on the Web

Providing free content to boost traffic is by no means new. But the way we see it, there is a huge amount of underuse because businesses simply aren’t maximizing the opportunities that come with providing educational content.

Normally we think of ‘educational’ content as stuff for kids or super beginners. This is definitely not true for today’s business environment. Websites that can provide quality educational content for their niches are the sure victors – because people have a reason to visit again and again.

There’s a huge difference between convincing clients that you are the best Web designer for the job and demonstrating your skills, experience, and prowess by teaching people how to do or not do things.

Basically, we are here as digital marketers to help people achieve success in their businesses. We are here as problem solvers and troubleshooters, too. But before people understand that, they need to see you demonstrating what you can do for them.

A couple of concerns pop out when a website is attempting to establish authority in a particular niche.

1. Blogging regularity – If you barely blog throughout the year, that’s going to be a problem. People need to see that your blog is active, that it wants to engage with the public, and that your website is a true trove of useful information. This is mainly what people are looking for.

If your last blog post was six months ago, your website is going to look as if it was abandoned when in reality, the company behind it is actually quite active, it’s just not updating its blog regularly. But then again, people won’t know that, will they?

2. Building content about the right topics – You can have the best lead segmentation, but you still need to create the proper content for your audience. The following questions will help you create this type of content:

– What do you wish for customers to know about your business and the technical work that you do as a Web design company?

– What kinds of questions do you get from customers that you get repeatedly that you think would be a good layer for the content that you produce?

– What types of resources (like templates) can you share with your customers for free or for a price?

As for the kinds of content that you can produce, take note that you are not limited to written content by any means. There’s video, infographics, etc.

There’s also video animation if you don’t like the idea of using a talking-head video to get your points across. The takeaway here is that there is so much variety in the world of digital content that you will find the one that is best for what you’re trying to convey.

2. Create powerful gateway products

Gateway products, which are distributed as lead magnets, are powerful offers that often have keen and unique concepts behind them. There’s a difference (in impact) between blogs and gateway products.

A product is a product – it’s something that can be technically used and not just read, even if the product was meant to be read, like an ebook. Creating gateway products can help you establish your role in the digital ecosystem, but with a spin. Let’s talk about this spin, shall we?

Every brand should have something unique to offer their customers.

This is the ‘hook,’ or the main point of interest that would help people connect with your brand. Assume that your customers have seen a ton of other adverts and websites about Web design. They’re actually inundated with information. After a while the information starts to look the same – it’s repetitive, and boring.

This is where your spin comes into the picture. If you can re-introduce the concept to them like they are seeing things for the first time, there is a better chance of engagement, a better chance of making things more lively and engaging for everyone.

Some products that you may want to look into (production-wise) are themes, ebooks, short online courses, HTML templates or graphics packs, general resource pages, and tools (software is not an exception here if you can manage that).

Web apps that can only be accessed through your website, like logo makers, image editors, and the like, are excellent for gaining additional traffic and offering a variety of CTAs to potential customers.

There’s always that opportunity to invite customers who are using resource packs or logo makers to simply contact you for a consult so your business can take care of the Web design leads, instead of them DIY-ing the process on their own.

Again, your creativity is the limit and the more you can make the experience personal (i.e. customers really feel that you are offering value to them at every turn), the more successful you will be in generating Web design leads.

3. Where is your newsletter?

A lot of digital marketers have forgotten how successful newsletters were back in the day.

A newsletter can be as simple as a plain text email, or as complex as a full spread layout using HTML elements. Each type of format has its own pros and cons, and through split testing designs and formats, you can determine which type of format is best for your audience.

Some audiences respond more to newsletters with the bells and whistles, while others are more keen on “getting into the meat” of the message immediately, which almost always translates to just regular, plain text emails.

A few things to remember when crafting those crafty newsletters:

1. Newsletters should be sent out with fixed regularity. It can be once a month, twice a month, once every two months – whatever the most workable schedule is, you should stick to that.

There’s an important reason for this: like other materials on the Net, people expect regular programming. If you don’t believe us, check out how Instagram influencers manage their audiences.

They’re basically running their own mini-TV networks, delivering different types of content depending on the day of the week. Psychologically speaking, this keeps people super hooked on the content, and they will also get that “a-ha!” moment whenever they would get a new newsletter from you.

2. Make sure that your newsletter provides a personal touch. People don’t like being talked to like they are a wall or some faceless customer. They want a human element in the content that they read. They want to be able to relate to the content. Unlike an ebook, which can be technical because it provides instruction, your newsletter should at least try to be warm to its readers.

Curated content and updates about the industry or niche that they are from is also a good way to extend the span of a newsletter. The more comprehensive the newsletter is, the more value that people see in it, and the more useful it becomes to people.

3. Is it a good idea to include CTAs or calls to action in newsletters? Definitely. But we have to caution you about CTAs that are hard sells, or just plain promotion. Focusing on hard sells can get your newsletter kicked out of people’s inboxes.

People don’t like to look at newsletters that have not been curated enough that they look like flat out promotions or ads for products. If you have to promote something, do it in a way that is at least informative or engaging so that people won’t mind having some promotions in their emails.

People already deal with a lot of advertising, so it’s not a good idea to put your regular newsletter in the same category as the promotions that people barely read.

This is not to say that you can’t promote your services to them, but there is a time and place for that kind of content.

Your newsletters should be beefed up to be as informative and authoritative as possible, but the value has to override any promotions that you do inside this type of content.

4. Create – or get on – a podcast.

It has been estimated that about a third of Americans are listening to podcasts regularly. This is a huge chunk of the market considering that there are so many musical genres and virtual radio stations that are basically there for the picking.

Creating your own podcast might take more effort than your regular piece of content on the blog, but it definitely puts your branding “up there” compared to others who don’t have podcasts. Podcasts are naturally authoritative because you are wagering your name and expertise whenever you speak online.

Now if you don’t want to create your podcast just yet, there is another way to reach some audiences that you may not have access to yet: by guesting on podcasts.

Guesting on podcasts takes a lot of timing however, and you need to establish good relations with podcast hosts and creators. The system is pretty similar to how website owners invite and accept guest bloggers on their platforms.

Podcasts that have a good following are more likely to be listened to by those who are looking for experts opinions on things, and you can definitely promote your business and branding on the podcast.

What’s more is you can add a link to the podcast episode where you were a guest and provide a transcription of your content to your readers.

Now imagine if you were a regular guest on a program or if you have your own podcast – people would have a non-text anchor point, and they would be able to listen to your content without visiting your website.

5. Don’t forget to promote your specialties.

While a jack of all trades might sound promising, it’s not really the best approach for promoting your business online.

When people go online to search for a service, they do so with a particular problem in mind, and if they see that your specialty is something that they might need to answer their current set of problems, then they will choose to connect with your business instead of others.

Specializing in a particular aspect of Web design also allows you to demand more for your services because you can bring so much more value to the equation than before.

Putting yourself in a specific position allows you to market yourself better, and improve the generation of potential Web design leads.

Now, we are aware that there is a fear in some companies that they may be driving away some customers by specializing.

Well, we’re not telling you not to promote that you can do everything, but we want you to bring to the table something specific – something that people will latch on to and say “hey, I need this right now.”

This is more of a way to engage your customers than drive them away. You can surely add more details about other things that you can do, but your best assets and skills should be put out there, definitely.

6. Establish dominance on LinkedIn

We all know how important social media is for pretty much every type of digital marketing effort. But for businesses like Web design, LinkedIn has an obvious edge. Professionals and decision-makers are on it constantly.

It’s like the Facebook of the industries. CEOs, managers, and leaders are constantly reading their feeds, liking posts, and connecting with potential new partners, service providers, and customers.

Why should you be on the platform, kicking ass and taking names? LinkedIn is unrivaled when it comes to B2B communications and it is the most ideal platform for making a name for yourself.

So if you aren’t on LinkedIn yet, or if you are not creating the best possible position by routing some of your content there, you are definitely missing out on a key opportunity here.