5 Tips for Effective Calls to Action Website Elements

Your website has a purpose. Whatever you are selling, your website is there to motivate people along their journey to actually making a purchase. Calls to action are the signposts telling them which direction to go next while also encouraging them to keep moving closer to making that purchase. You do not want your web […]

Your website has a purpose. Whatever you are selling, your website is there to motivate people along their journey to actually making a purchase. Calls to action are the signposts telling them which direction to go next while also encouraging them to keep moving closer to making that purchase. You do not want your web visitors to read over your site, think ‘oh that’s nice’ and leave. Inbound marketing is all about engagement, and your CTAs are the tool you use to engage with people.

Your CTAs can urge people to make a purchase, but that’s only one possibility. You can also use CTAs to get people to sign up for a newsletter or move to another page on your site to see more about a specific product or offer. Calls to action are important, and here are five tips to help make them effective.

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• Make it relevant to the page. If your visitor is reading your blog post about how to bake the perfect cake, don’t use a CTA about a vegetable steamer there. Offer them cake pans or icing or party supplies. A CTA is a bridge that takes your visitor a step further down your sales funnel. If you try to urge them in a different direction, you risk annoying or confusing them, and you miss the chance to offer them something that interests them.
• Be obvious about what is on offer. A crypt offer is not that compelling. People are wary of being led into a hard sell. But if they know exactly what is on offer, they can decide if they want it. So tell them if your CTA is a sign-up for your newsletter and what it includes. “Want to receive seasonal recipes kids love every week?” is stronger than “Keep in touch” or “Learn new recipes.”
• Use colour to link to your logo. Your CTA should be visually compelling, but it should also look good on your site. One way to do this is to use a colour that matches your site design but doesn’t blend in. If your logo colour shows up in your logo on each page but not throughout the design, it’s an ideal colour to use for your CTA.
• We’re all prone to putting things off unless we think we’ll miss out. FOMO – fear of missing out – is a powerful force in modern life. And you use it effectively in your CTAs. Make it clear that this isn’t an offer they can take up anytime. Let them know if the number of items on offer or the time to avail of the offer is limited.
• Overcoming objections is critical to all sales. People want to know that one click won’t send them down a road where they can’t do a U-turn. Wording such as ‘cancel anytime’, ‘quick & easy sign up, and ‘no obligation’ reassures them that they aren’t making a drastic action or committing themselves before they know exactly what the deal is.

Good CTAs have much in common regardless of the brand or their audience. Nonetheless, what works for one site might not work for every other site. That’s why it is important to monitor how effective your CTAs are. Use a variety of CTAs on your site, and then you can see which performs the best and adjust accordingly.

Need someone to monitor the effectiveness of your website? Why not contact our expert Digital Marketing team today for some advice?

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