Website owners are often guilty of making assumptions about their audience. The greatest assumption we fall victim to is assuming our visitors know what to do when they visit our website.
We need to be thinking about our website from the end-user’s perspective and therefore, we should be telling them what to do when they visit your web page. This is done through ‘Calls to Action.’
A call to action or CTA is anything on a website, blog post, or newsletter that prompts the user to take action. This action could be anything from calling your office, filling out a form, making a purchase, subscribing to your blog, and more.
A call to action can be as simple as writing “call now” or “contact us today” on your web page. Surprisingly, simply updating and revamping your CTAs can greatly influence the conversion rates and success of your current online marketing campaigns. A CTA may only be a sentence or a button, but their power to influence your visitors and readers is immense.
If you want visitors to your website to take more action, keep reading to learn more about creating effective calls to action and how to use them to prompt user engagement with your website.
Always Make the Action Clear
The best calls to action are obvious and concise. They use actionable language that directs the reader to take a specific course of action. Use the second voice and talk directly to your prospect for maximize effectiveness. For example, “increase your sales today” is more effective than “be more successful in sales.” The first example clearly tells the reader what they can expect from the action. The second is vague and aloof. Direct, actionable language is also more concise.
Create One CTA per Marketing Material
Choose one call to action per email or blog post. By specifying exactly what you expect your prospect to do after reading your piece of marketing material, you can increase conversion rates. Do you want them to subscribe? Then say “subscribe now!” and “subscribe for our email.” Having two different and conflicting call to actions in one piece of marketing is confusing. Target it to a specific course of action and follow through your CTA.
Make Your Call to Action Stand Out
People scan pages quickly so make sure your CTA is big enough to see. For example, if you are advertising a sale make sure your customers can easily see the button that says “Shop Now.” The CTA should be clear and visible. If it is difficult for them to find out where they should click in order to move forward, you are losing customers. Some CTA buttons are as wide as a blog post column. However, there is no industry-wide size requirements so experiment with your options to discover what works better for you. Also try to keep your CTA’s near the top of the page. If users have to scroll too far down the page, they will not see them.
Make It Urgent
Urgency will make more people take action. They don’t want to miss out on a deal so people might be more likely to jump at a call to action that uses this principle effectively. You can offer a deadline so people know when their time to act ends. You can also make the CTA more time sensitive by including the words “now” or “today.”
A Convenient CTA Works
People like things that are easy. If you can make the process more smooth for them, you will have a more effective tool. For example, if you want people to download your mobile app, try this. Ask them to provide their mobile number or email and in exchange, you’ll send them the app download link. This CTA is effective because instead of asking them to download the app, you can save them a hassle and send the download link directly to them.
Demonstrate Value
Before someone clicks on your call to action, you need to clearly demonstrate why they should. They may wonder if they have downloaded something similar from a competitor if it’s even worth their time. You can do this by giving a quick example of how they will gain value by clicking your CTA. Will they save money? Gain more free time? Learn a new skill? Whatever action you want them to take, make sure they clearly understand the value they will gain from taking it. In addition to demonstrating value, if anyway possible give them something in return for taking action. For example, many well-known bloggers will give away a free copy of an ebook or guide if the user signs up for their mailing list. So not only is there value in all the great information they just subscribed to, but they are also getting something for free as a thank you for signing up.
In summary
Act Now!
Creating effective calls to action will increase the conversion rates on your website. The most effective CTAs are often actionable, identifiable, valuable, and urgent. By incorporating these tips into your inbound marketing strategy, you can revamp your whole website and see more conversions quickly. Although creating calls to action only take up a small piece of your inbound strategy, they are vital to success. They determine the action that your prospect takes and guide them in the direction of a sale. If you want professional assistance with your calls to action, contact us today.
