It’s pointless to have a website where you sell products or services, but don’t have a call to action (CTA).
In many ways, the success of any marketing campaign you put together depends on the quality of the CTA and how easy it is for customers to make a transaction.
A call to action is defined as a prompt located on a website urging visitors to take a certain action.
This could be anything like “Buy Now,” “Sign Up Today” or “Contact Us” and could be in the form of a simple hyperlink, an icon, button or many more options.
The best call to actions entice and compel the visitor to take immediate action, whether it’s purchasing something, reading more, signing up or anything else your marketing campaign is promoting.
Without a clear call to action in multiple places on your website, your visitors may move on to other websites after looking for a couple of seconds.
In other words, customers need guidance when they visit your website and a call to action is the way to give it to them.
Why A Call To Action Is Important For Your Website
Readers may find one of your blog posts through an internet search, but then they don’t know what to do after they read it.
Your goal is to keep them on your website as long as possible, and the best call to actions do exactly that.
Guide them to your next most relevant blog, provide them with a link to a relevant product, or even show them how to sign up to receive your blog updates.
Without a clear CTA, the reader will likely leave your site after getting the information needed and may not return.
Any good marketing plan will make it as easy as possible for customers to navigate through your expected sales funnel.
Of course, if a customer visits your website specifically to purchase a product, then they will figure out how to do it on their own.
But you can’t rely on every customer to come to your website with that mindset.
When you base your marketing plan around lead generation, you can think about what will make your CTA most effective in creating new potential customers.
What’s The Purpose Of Your CTA?
The best call to actions have a specific purpose.
As mentioned, the purpose could be to promote a product or service, sign up for a blog, promote a special event and much more.
You should also be using a call to action in any social media posts.
In this way, you’ll be enhancing lead generation by prompting the reader to share your post with their followers.
It’s also a good strategy to make your call to action be to share your blog or other content from your website on social media.
You’ll just need to include the respective social media icon at the bottom or top of your content so it’s easy to identify.
Customers Expect To See A Call To Action
Customers expect convenience and to be able to find exactly what they are looking for immediately when visiting your website.
People depend on a CTA whether they realize it or not. Most of the time they will scroll down to the bottom of the page and look at the list of hyperlinks that provide actions they can take.
You could save them some time and put CTAs throughout your content, but just be sure not to overuse them. Regardless of what your strategy is, having a clear CTA somewhere on your webpage is essential and these tips can help you make one:
- Make the design clear
- Keep it brief and to the point
- Ensure the text is actionable
- Make it visible
Wordiness is not a characteristic of the best call to actions. Being clear and concise is critical so your potential customers know exactly what to do next.
Following these simple tips could make your CTA the most effective lead generation tool you have.
Place Your CTA Anywhere There’s Content
The strategies for placing a CTA on a webpage can differ greatly depending on the layout and theme of your site.
One of the few rules to follow with a CTA is to not overuse it to the point where it annoys the reader.
It’s perfectly acceptable to place your call to action in your top banner, headers, footers, pop-ups, within blogs or other content, and more.
Get as creative as you want with the location of your CTA, but just make sure it directs the reader to the next step you anticipate they want to take without distracting them in the process.
Make Your Call To Action Stand Out
Not clearly defining your call to action or not placing it in a prominent location is a recipe for a failed marketing plan.
Use big and bold colors so it’s attractive and stands out among your content. You can also provide brief text to let the reader know what they need to do next and what benefits they’ll receive by doing so.
This could mean giving them peace of mind by saying if they click your CTA link to sign up for your blog, you won’t be spamming them or selling their email address. Develop a quality design that’s attractive for your audience and you’d be surprised at how much of an impact it can make.
InMotion Hosting offers customized design services to help you turn your vision for your website into a reality.
Whether you’re starting from scratch or just need to make some tweaks to make your site more attractive and easier for readers to follow, we can help.
There’s a fine line between informing your customers and trying to sell them a product or service too harshly. Our experts can help you identify that line and make sure it never gets crossed. Our design team is ready to help you create the best call to actions for your website, so reach out to us at any time to schedule a consultation.