What is a call to action? A ?CTA? is telling a visitor to your site or readers of your blog EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO DO. For example, ?Sign Up For My Seminar Today!? is a great CTA for your home page IF what you want to focus on is seminar sales.
1. Put thought into WHAT you want your potential customer to do
- Are newsletter sign-ups (building your network) most important to you?
- Do you want potential clients to sign up for a seminar or workshop?
- Do you want to offer them some sort of free service?
- Do you want to drive visitors to your Facebook page? Or follow your blog?
2. LESS is more
- Be as simple as possible in your messaging
- Be clear and don?t beat around the bush (i.e. CLICK HERE, BUY HERE, SIGN UP NOW)
3. REPEAT
- Don?t let your call to action get lost. Ask several times on various parts of the page but not to the point of looking spammy!
4. Tell them HOW
- Instead of just telling visitors they should do something, tell them HOW to do it. If there is a link you want them to click, or a way to follow, or a form to fill out, make it clear
5. Keep it SIMPLE
- Don?t let your main call to action get lost among a bunch of other directives or options
- For example: if you are selling a seminar, make your page a single column page and keep all the focus on the main thing you want them to do – SIGN UP FOR YOUR SEMINAR
6. Handle NUMEROUS calls to action the same way
- Think about each one individually and give each one its own space to shine.
- For example: you may have CTA?s for blog posts, seminars, free consults, joining your Facebook page, following you on Twitter, or signing up for your monthly newsletter…just make sure they aren’t competing with each other for airtime.
Bottom line: you simply aren?t doing your business any favours unless your calls to action are strong, clear and prominent.
About Janey
Janey Reilly is Founder & Principal of WeeSleep, a leading global professional baby and toddler sleep consultancy based in Ontario. Prior to launching her WeeSleep practice, Janey worked in marketing and sales for leading companies such as Disney Online Studios, Sparkling Hill Resort, and Intrawest.