I made this mistake before I learned marketing best practices. I hope this post will help you avoid this innocent mistake. I innocently sent my website visitors all over the places and my conversion rate was undoubtedly low. Today, I'm sharing with you what "Call-to-action" is, why it is important, how often and where to place this button on your website, what to say on the button.
First - what in the world is a "call-to-action" button? No worries if you haven't heard, don't we all hear new tech and marketing jargons everyday? Hard to keep up, isn't it?
The main goal behind every business is that we all want to gain trust from potential customers which will lead to business (a.k.a money and repeated business). As you may be aware that a path for modern consumers to make their purchasing decisions is more complicated than before.
Why? most consumers are savvy and educated. We all do more research from dining options on Yelp to reading through reviews when shopping for a new fridge (me included) before deciding on our service and product providers.
There are also more competitors who offer the same products and services (but not the same vibes and energy you shine through). So your website and marketing blueprint has to be well thought out and has enough information to help your prospects make an informed decision (more on that in a different post).
You see, people search the internet and social media to score any information they can find about prospective businesses. They are all over the place browsing, visiting, consuming info, leaving one website to another.
Our goal is for their search to end with your business (may the search be over) and this is where a clear call to action is so important.
Once they land on either your social media or website, you give them a "clear" path to "buy" or "get in touch" for further discussions. No more distractions, just one action.
You may think "Oh I think it'd be nice if they learn a bit more about me as a business owner or this and that".
You're absolutely right, those details and stories matter. Every business has a unique story and we should definitely share them. That personal connection could relate to someone who later become your customers/clients or new virtual friends.
The About Us/Me or other section of your website can still be benefited by internal links so you can reference info within your website from one page to another but they don't have to have their very own buttons or prominently highlighted as your primary call-to-action button.
Now what or how you decide to use as your call to action then? It depends on your type of business and your strategy. The key is to use it consistently throughout your website.
For e-commerce website and product based businesses, it is pretty straightforward. Giving your customers a clear path to easily view and quickly order your products is the way to go. Something like "Order Now", "View Our Products", "View latest collection", "Buy Now" are sure way to go. Avoid using some fancy, highly creative phases that people don't know what it means but stick with straightforward, common terms will minimize confusion.
For bloggers, you may share yummy recipes, tips or other wonderful things, your goal is for people etc subscribe or join your mail list.
For service-based businesses, this one may be a bit tricky as some people need more time to explore and get a feel if such business is a good fit for them before committing. Be it from the budget standpoint, vibes, approach, style, personality and much more.
In this case, a short, free discovery call can be beneficial as it gives you and your clients an opportunity to connect and get a better feel for each other. Or you can create a specific contact form that helps you gather basic information to qualify your leads upfront (will talk more on a separate post).
Now where and how often to use such buttons, moderation is key.
You want each button to be noticeable, prominent and scream (click me) and consisten throughout the website but not to the point it irritates your website visitors where they see 10 times on one page.
My rule of thumb is:
1) Add at least one call-to-action to each page of your website
2) Within or below these sections: services, product, FAQs, portfolio, testimonials, about us/me, our process, how it works. The content in these sections (with effective content strategies) really put a spotlight on your products/services especially your Testimonials section (great social proof). Your call-to-action button has higher chance in getting clicked if placed appropriately with effective/great content.
From my experience transforming websites, most businesses don't provide enough information but reply heavily on using photos as visuals. It may be true that a photo says a thousand words but when it comes to marketing, good and clear content is king.
In the fast-moving world that we live in, it's much appreciated to have a clear guidance that help us navigate and make an informed decision as people are easily overwhelmed with information.
For businesses, the clearer information you thoughtfully put together and share, the better it helps ease those overwhelmed consumers and lead them to the path you desire.
Summary: think about what action you ultimately want your website visitors to do and come up with "one" clear call-to-action. Put yourself in your website visitor's virtual shoes and see where they'll most likely be ready to click on your call-to-action button to make that big move to buy or contact you.
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