If you are a B2B marketer who struggles to use their website to develop leads, then this chart is illuminating.

What Marketing Sherpa's research has uncovered is that the most effective approach is a "one-two" punch of organic search and email.

What do we know about current state of these two tactics?

Organic search is undergoing significant change with Google firmly focused on changing its search algorithm (find out more about this in our short eBook on the changes).

Outbound email is failing dramatically to engage target buyers, yet email used as a nurturing tool - once you have established a connection with the buyer - remains a highly effective tactic.

What we know is that simply getting traffic to your site is not an end in itself, but a means to an end, and that "end" is leads and ultimately customers. What B2B marketers should seek to do is create conversion paths on their site to draw in, engage, and pull visitors down the funnel, converting them to leads and then to sales ready leads (SRLs).

The essential elements of a conversion path are:

• Draw people to your site with compelling valuable content targeted to your buyer's problems. Use calls-to-action in your content, via URLs, to drive buyers to the start of your conversion path.
• Develop a number of high value offers sitting behind forms on landing pages that opt buyers in. Keep forms very short and above the fold. Remove any distractions from the page, remove the menu bar. There should be no reason to leave.
• Use smart marketing automation to opt buyers into relevant automated email nurture campaigns.
• Progressively email content offers to buyers that match where they are in their buyer's journey. Clearly content at the top of the funnel is different to middle or bottom-of-the-funnel content. If you have a high value offer, consider asking more sensitive buying style questions.
• Provide conversion path "short cuts". If a buyer's behaviour indicates they are ready to have a buying discussion, allow them to "Pass directly to Go" and speak with a salesperson.
• Analyse the high organic traffic areas of your site. Place call-to-action buttons in high visibility locations. "About Us" is an often overlooked page but, in fact, proves to be one of the most trafficked pages.
• Finally and vitally, test, adjust and retest regularly. Examine the conversion rates on your landing pages. Try out different CTAs, which ones convert best?

If you would like to find out more about using your website to generate visitors, leads and customers please feel free to download our free eBook, The Race For Leads.