by: Jessica Davis

With the ever increasing presence of spammers, getting qualified leads continues to be a major issue for lead-generation websites. There is a major difference between leads and qualified leads and the difference can mainly be explained in dollars and cents. The likelihood that a “lead” will convert into a “customer” can land anywhere on the spectrum, however the likelihood that a “qualified lead” will convert is much closer to a sure thing.

Lead

A lead is someone who may or may not be genuinely interested in the offerings of the website and may or may not have the means to make a purchase. The form could have even been submitted by a spammer or spam bot (an electronic robot that scours the Internet, looking for unprotected web forms to attack).

Qualified Lead

A qualified lead is someone who is in need of your product or service and has the means to make a purchase. A qualified lead is already aware of your offerings and has a particular need for exactly what you’re selling, when you’re selling it. Many times a qualified lead has already conducted all of the research needed on the topic and is ready at that very moment to purchase.

There is no way of getting around regular leads, but marketing tactics should be focused in order to only return qualified traffic to your website. For example, when conducting paid search campaigns, don’t use general settings, be selective of sites where your ads will display. Displaying an ad for wedding cakes on a divorce attorney website may not provide the amount of qualified leads (if any) that you need. While qualifying leads can be time consuming and a bit more difficult, the nurturing process of a lead is far too time-consuming and important to attempt with a non-qualified lead.