I’m going to let you in on a website success secret; you have to be bossy.
You need to tell your site visitors what to do. Where to go. And how to get there. Your website needs a Call to Action. We’ll be hip and call it a CTA.
A CTA is you telling your visitors exactly what you want out of their visit with your website. It’s not just for retail and ecommerce. A CTA tells visitors to; sign up for a newsletter, make a donation, sign a petition, like a post, share a post, fill out a survey, enter a contest, make a purchase, download a
n e-book, submit photos, watch a video, post a review, get a coupon code, ask for a sample, request additional information, get a quote, make an appointment, RSVP to an event, and so forth, and so on.
Why do you need a CTA? Because people are lazy, they don’t read, and they have short attention spans. Technology has trained us to get an answer now and move on, so when visitors land on your site and discover you’re selling exactly what they want, you have to make it ridiculously easy for them to make a purchase/give you their email address/like your page.
How many calls to action should you have? One, and it should be on your landing page (the main page of your website). Again, I refer to the reality of people and the no-time-for-this issue. So choose your CTA carefully. If you’re handing out a coupon code, you want the people to buy now. If you want web surfers to remember you, tell them to sign up for your newsletter. Consider the easiest form of action a visitor can take and make it even easier by placing a button, hyperlinked text or a form field nestled as close to your CTA as possible.
Where will you put your CTA? Anywhere! Make sure it is incredibly visible, vibrant, stand-out, crystal clear and instantly understandable. But equally important, make the conversion worth your visitors’ time. If you don’t offer a clear value, you won’t get nearly as many actions as you could. This is the difference between “Click here to sign up for our newsletter!” and “Click here to sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly website tips for your small business”. Which would you want to sign up for?
Let’s talk about metrics. Attracting 1000 visitors to your site is not a sign of success. It is exciting though, revel in that, but if but none of them request a quote/download your e-book/enter your contest, your CTA campaign isn’t working, and it’s time to revise the plan. If you hire a salesperson to design your campaign, look for someone with a track record emphasizing conversion, not just hits (website visitors).
Do you still need to treat all visitors like the intelligent, interested parties they are? Absolutely. By presenting them a well-planned, simple CTA you respect their time, and thank them for spending it with you by making sure it’s easy to stay in touch/buy something/make a donation/sign a petition.
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