You’ve invested considerable time, energy and potentially loads of money on a sleek, user-friendly website. High-quality content, top-notch visuals, the works. And yet, something’s off – your conversions are crawling at a snail’s pace.
What gives?
The answer is actually pretty simple. You’re not telling your customer what to do next, you’re not calling them to action.
The Used Car Salesman Effect
According to SmallBizTrends, a staggering 70% of small businesses lack a clear CTA on their websites. You read that right – seven out of ten small business owners are leaving their conversions to chance.
That’s crazy when you consider that just by including a CTA on your homepage, conversions can soar by up to 121%!
Based on my conversations with dozens of owners after reviewing their website, there is a common reason for their website’s lack of calls to action. There is a misconceived fear of coming across as too salesy. Now, I get it, no one wants to come across as a used car salesman.
You don’t have to be ‘that guy/girl’.
But, let’s get one thing straight – your customers aren’t looking for subtlety. Customers, now more than ever, want to be engaged, not just served pamphlet style information about your business. They want direction.
If you don’t give them that direction, then odds are they will visit your site and leave right away.
That’s bad for you on multiple levels.
Firstly, because that’s a lost opportunity for keeping the customer on your site for longer and convincing them you or your products are the perfect fit for their needs.
And secondly, because search engines, like Google, use this customer data to determine how relevant your site is compared to your competitors. And if your site keeps users less engaged, then Google is likely to send traffic to your competitors, boo!
Customers Want Guidance & Simplicity
Customers are not mind readers. We shouldn’t assume that they know what we want them to do when they visit our site.
They’re on a journey and it’s our role to guide them along the way until they reach their destination. Which is hopefully, buying something, filling in a form or engaging with your business on a deeper level.
Not every visitor will complete their journey in the way that you want them to. Some will leave and never come back. Others will leave and come back to pick up where they left off.
The important thing is to have clear sign posts that make it as simple as possible for visitors to follow the journey you want them to take.
And that’s where clear and simple Calls To Action are so important.
They’re not going to comb through every line of text on your website to figure out what to do next. A well-placed CTA guides them, making their experience more fulfilling, leading to more time on your site, higher engagement and ultimately more conversions.
3 Tips for Crafting Effective CTAs
I know you get it now. Calls to Action are important. But like with anything in life, things have varying levels of success depending on how they are built and implemented.
That’s why I wanted to share three tips for creating effective CTAs, so your site stands every chance of keeping potential customers engaged for longer and leading them to your desired conversion action.
1. Use Different Calls To Action
Customers will visit your site at different stages of their buying journey and while some may be ready to click that ‘Buy Now’ button, others might need to do some research to ‘Learn More’ or take the first step to engaging your business on a deeper level.
There are three types of calls to action that you’ll need to consider adding to your site, they are:
Informational CTAs: Think “Learn More” or “Watch the Video”.
Transitional CTAs: Offering visitors to take the first step. Think “Download” or “Get My Copy”.
Sales CTAs: Compelling customers to convert. Think “Buy Now” or “Get Started.”
2. Show Them Early & Often
Don’t hide your CTAs at the bottom of the screen where no one will see them.
Always position at least one CTA above the fold (the first visible part of your website when it loads). My recommendation would be to use a Sales or Transitional CTA in this space so that customers are continually reminded on every page about how to take the next step with your business.
From there, you want to pepper a variety of CTAs throughout your content.
Make it easy for visitors to take action at any point while reading.
3. Make Them Pop
As mentioned above, CTAs are like sign posts, and sign posts need to stand out so you know where to go. The same is true for CTAs on your website.
You should aim to make your calls to action buttons draw the eye and stand out from the rest of the website. Use contrasting and bold colours that fit within your brand’s palette to give an extra level of importance to these buttons.
Remember, it’s not about decoration – it’s direction, these buttons are there to guide your customers to buying from you.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Ignoring CTAs is like ignoring free money. Adding calls to action to your website is just about the simplest thing you can do to differentiate your website from your competitors.
Remember that about 70% of them don’t use CTAs, so by doing this one thing you are distinguishing your business from theirs. The stats are pretty clear, there’s no downside to adding calls to action on your website. Aside from you feeling a little uncomfortable in using some more sales focused language on your site.
It’s time to get over the fear of appearing too pushy and start guiding your customers to where you – and they – want them to go and making the most of the investment you’ve put into your website.
Want some free advice on how your website stacks up? Share your details below and we’ll send you a complimentary review of your website.
