In the online world, where attention is the most precious resource, catching the eye of the reader scanning your website is crucial. Funneling their attention to meet the goals of your website – sales, subscribers, new business leads – comes down to the humble ‘call to action’.
If you have ever clicked ‘search’ on the Google home page, subscribed to an online publication, signed up for or shared on social media, or hit ‘buy’, ‘add to cart’ or ‘download now’, you have used a call to action. Or CTA in online marketing speak.
What is a call to action?
CTAs can be bold, colourful buttons, like those I mentioned above, or more subtle hyperlinks scattered throughout the text of a blog post or article.
All calls to action prompt your visitors to take the action you desire.
Resource company websites will often ask readers to view maps of project areas, read case studies, download shareholder information or contact them. Often the home or landing page will feature a prominent CTA, asking visitors to download the newest report or read the latest news item.
The goal of the CTA is to guide visitors around your website and ultimately extract a commitment or a connection that survives beyond their current visit to your website.
Together with an eye-catching title, the CTA is a ‘must have’ for every effective piece of content on the web. You can think of them as bookends to a great piece of web content, says The Copy Detective.
Once you know what to look for, you will see that most blog posts are littered with CTAs encouraging readers to learn more about the topic. At the end of each post, you will find a well-constructed CTA directing the reader to download, subscribe, follow, share or sign-up.
The bottom line
So how do you harness the power of a call to action to turn website viewers into valuable leads?
- First and foremost, follow all the rules for writing high quality content for your website.
- Understand the goals of your website so you clearly understand the actions you’d like your visitors to take.
- Explain the benefits for the reader if they act in the desired way.
- Offer something in return if asking for contact information, and only ask for the minimum.
- Use hyperlinks within the text to share relevant information, as well as bold buttons to ‘download’ or ‘share’ content.
- Monitor the success of your website in converting visitors into leads.
Helpful resources
- Top 5 locations for “Call To Action” Buttons for lead generation
- Business Blogging Best Practice 2013
- 5 Ways To Turn First-Time Visitors Into Long-Term Followers
The resourceswriter.com blog provides a regular dose of copywriting insight for resource companies on the web or the latest geo-news and events. If you would like to be notified of each post, Follow Kylie Williams – Freelance science writer on WordPress.com or catch me on Twitter
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