As a business owner or marketer, you probably have lot on your plate. You’re handling blog posts, social media… not to mention running your business. The last thing you want to do is add another “to do”, but this one is important. If you want your website to work for your business, you need an effective call to action (CTA) on every page.
Before you cringe at repeatedly asking your clients to “BUY NOW,” let’s explore the many variations of a CTA.
What is a Call to Action?
Here’s what most people think of when they hear “Call to Action”: A sales-y button that encourages the your visitor to contact you or fill out a form. Essentially, it asks for your prospect’s business (or at least, their inquiry).
While this can be true, CTAs can be more simple. They can literal be a call to action, and that “action” doesn’t need to relate to a purchase.
A call to action can lead the prospect through your website by pointing them to the next page. It can entice them to sign up for a mailing list or subscribe to a webinar. The sky’s the limit! Essentially, you want your CTA to guide your visitor to the appropriate next step. Bonus points if it’s a CTA they can’t help but click.
How to Create a Strong CTA:
1. Decide what you want your visitor to do
Do you want them to sign up for a trial of your tool?
Do you want your visitor to explore your blog?
Or maybe they just read complex information about your product, and it would be helpful to send them to your FAQs.
2. Decide how to word your CTA
Simple, concise and on-brand CTAs work best. Don’t require an abundance of form fields, and use a maximum of 5 words in the link or button. Be sure to start with action words like “Get” or “Start.” For example…
Good “Start My Free Trial”
Not Good “Free Trial”
Another tip to try is talk in first person (Me, My) instead of third person (You, Your). Feel free to experiment with the wording to see what gets you more clicks.
3. Decide where to place your CTA
Best practice recommends that your CTA be high up on your page – in a very visible place – or close in proximity to supporting information. For example, if you want people to sign up for your newsletter, put the CTA next to your newsletter info.
Here is an example of an excellent CTA: It is concise, prominently placed and there are few other distractions on the page.
The CTA on Prezi.com is an excellent example.
4. Stick with one action per page
Requesting multiple actions can confuse your reader, and confusion can lead to a lack of action altogether. Choose one main action for the reader – one that makes the most difference for your business, or that correlates best with the content on your page.
To be clear, you’re welcome to post multiple CTA buttons/forms on a page as long as they clearly have the same goal. Take a look at Prezi’s homepage for example. Their page has two CTAs (“Give Prezi a Try” and “Get Started”) both of which go to the same page.
So give this a try. Add CTAs to your website and see how they guide your visitors. Writing effective CTAs can take trial and error, so don’t be afraid to change them if they aren’t working.
Wondering what other improvements you could make to your website? Visit Craveity’s Website Services page to learn more about how we can improve your site.
