Understanding The Call To Action
by Warren
(NY)
Understanding the call to action. Let's start with a brief discussion of what it actually is. Think of the call to action as the charge that entices your website’s visitors to either take note of something or to make a decision. We have all seen these “calls to action”. They are everywhere. On websites they usually show up in the form of a statement similar to “Buy Now”, “Subscribe to Our Newsletter” or “Add to Shopping Cart”.
The goal of a “call to action” is simply to persuade/convince/encourage further interaction with your visitors. You want to encourage the click that will end in a conversion - the purchase of a product or service.
Having discussed the basics of the “call to action”, its necessity should be obvious. Every business website should use it. You should be able to find the call to action on every page, at least once. Your call to action should provide for several options/actions. Every one of your website’s visitors should be able to understand and follow the path laid out by your call to action, eventually leading to a conversion.
In an ideal world, your website should be laid out in such a fashion that any time your visitor makes a detour, there will be carefully place calls to action guiding him/her back towards the conversion path.
Are you still wondering why a call to action may be needed on a website?
Research has shown that people are extremely impatient when surfing the web. A visitor to a website must find right away what they are looking for, usually within a few seconds, or they tend to exit your site.
Although the so called SEO experts will tell you that getting your website within the top ten rankings for your keyword is paramount, you should also focus on a defined marketing strategy. Remember, selling a product and/or service using a well placed call to action is just as important if not more than an your overall SEO strategy. While a SEO plan may get you the visitors, it is the call to action that gets you the conversion.
A well designed website, call to action and overall marketing strategy will help to generate more leads, more sales and predictable results.
Developing your own call to action and overall online marketing strategy can be difficult but with a little work, you can go it alone. If you are looking to hire an online marketing company, make sure that you do your research first. One basic test for a prospective marketing company, search Google. Ask yourself, for each online marketing company, how good are they at selling their own products and/or services. If they seem to be well positioned for their own services then they should know how to successfully market yours.
Good luck, now let get cracking!
