Do You Have a Call to Action on Your Website? What is It? If Not, What Will You Use?
When running an online business, whether it accompanies a brick and mortar location or not, getting leads is half the battle. Sure, an advertising campaign may bring users to your site, but getting their information presents a slightly more difficult challenge. Most websites use Call-to-actions, or CTAs, as they are commonly known. Call-to-actions, simply put, is the act of using banners, buttons and phrases to entice users to click through your site, and input their information.
Now, the call-to-action is something of an art form. Placement, wording, and redundancy can all have an effect on how well your it works. If you don’t currently have a call-to-action on your website you are missing out on a prime opportunity to gather important user data. But do avoid putting up just anything. You want the action to be efficient and successful.
1. What are You Looking to Achieve?
Before you get started, figure out what type of information you are looking to gleam from users. For example, many small businesses utilize e-mail address to send out alerts, newsletters and special sale information. With a name and e-mail address you’ll gather some important data about your customers, and many are willing to offer up this information. If you are looking to garner physical addresses and phone number you’ll need to offer something significant in return for the information.
2. Offer Compensation
Free brochures, free quotes, and newsletters are all effective offerings. If a user is visiting your website for the first time they are unlikely to buy, but they are likely to want more information. By offering free information you’ll get their user data in return, which can help you gain better insight into the demographic you are working with. They say knowledge is power, and in this case it is very true.
3. Proper Placement
Finally, you’ll want to place the action in a prime location. One is enough, argue most experts. Too many attempts to garner action from a consumer on a website makes visitors feel like they are being taken advantage of. Placing your CTA above the fold on the main page is a good starting point, but do make sure there is viable information above that to intrigue the consumer.
That is all you really need to know about CTAs. To ensure success, simply make sure you’ve set out your goals, compensate the visitor appropriately, and finally place your CTA well for maximum effectiveness.