Why Calls to Action are so Important for your Website
A Call to Action is marketing terminology for simply convincing a customer to do something, or to turn browsers into buyers by motivating their purchase. Call-to-Actions are an incredibly powerful prompt on your website, to encourage potential consumers to go in the direction you want them to (i.e. making a purchase). They are one of the key elements in generating sales leads and are not limited to a website. You can, and should use, call-to-action (CTA’s) within all your marketing campaigns, including social media updates, press releases, emails and blog posts to contribute towards potential clients being solid sales leads.
WHY ARE CALLS TO ACTION SO EFFECTIVE?
People often follow instructions and a good CTA will create a sense of urgency, limited possibilities and the feeling that action must be taken. It can also create a sense of well being and offer a solution to a perceived problem, whilst clearly spelling out how to make a purchase. For a CTA to work, it needs to:
- Trigger an emotional reaction (I want, need, must have that)
- Explain how to make a purchase
- Create a sense of urgency to purchase now
- Provide an incentive
Example:
‘If you’ve been suffering with crippling heating bills this winter, we have the solution for you. You can save big money on your energy bills today by clicking here for more information, hurry limited places available.’
USING CTA’S ON YOUR WEBSITE
A website is a company’s online presence and its content is really the key to success, or the reason for failure. A website needs to work hard to turn visitors into customers and it’s call-to-actions which are fundamental to this.
You visitors need to know what it is you can provide them with and what they have to do to get it. If you’re not spelling this out, how are you expecting them to take action? It’s ok to be explicit about the actions you want them to take and straightforwardness can have a huge direct impact on sales.
Where it is appropriate, include something that will add to your credibility and increase interest, for example:
A link saying ‘About us’ doesn’t give visitors any reason to care. However, a link saying ‘Discover how we have said homeowners £500 per year on their energy bills’ is much more effective.
You need to draw attention to your CTA, use larger fonts; bolding, different colours or whatever suits your site the best. A good CTA should be found in no more than 3 seconds, and a great CTA will generate sales.
TimelessInteractive+ are a Brighton based creative web design agency who specialise in user experience and conversions. If you need advice on the best way to use Calls to action on your website or for a full website audit, get in touch today to speak to a consultant.