Most people who visit your website will never reach out to you. That's why your website needs to be the most helpful resource for people looking to hire you. By anticipating common questions, providing clear answers, and guiding people through each phase of the buying process your website will help you increase sales.
Adding common sense calls-to-action on your website is the best way to help people find what they are looking for so you can keep the buying process moving even when you are not there to help.
What is a call-to-action?
A call-to-action (CTA) is text on your website, often a button itself or a short sentence with a link. They are designed to prompt someone to click and take action. You'll see these on just about every webpage you visit. Examples of button only calls-to-action include [Add to Cart], [Buy Now], and [Free Trial].
What makes a call-to-action effective?
It's important for people to notice a call-to-action on your website. One of the best ways to get attention is to stick out from the rest of your website's content. You can tastefully do this by making them a bit bigger, more colorful and providing ample whitespace around each CTA. Designing your website in such a way will help draw the visitor's eye to reading the text. The text for each CTA should be short, clear, and action-oriented.
Where should I place my calls-to-action?
Do your best to make each call-to-action helpful and natural. The top righthand corner of your website is its most valuable real estate. Place the call-to-action there, which leads to making a purchase.
An effective option is [Book Now]. Be sure it's a button and make it a different color than your navbar's primary color. By including it on every page of your website, people will know where to go when they are ready.
Avoid weaker calls to action like [Contact Us] or similar variants. There are many reasons someone might want to contact you, and while there is nothing wrong with a Contact Page, it's just better off in the footer of your website and not a particularly compelling call to action that implies you are ready to take their order and make them happy.
It's also a good idea to include several call-to-action buttons on each webpage as the person scrolls down. A few great options here are [View Packages], [Check Avalalbity], and [Pricing Guide].
Avoid repeating the same call-to-action everywhere. Consider switching up the text of buttons even if they lead to the same place. For example, the buttons [Prices] and [View Packages] can often lead to the same place and you [Book Now] button.
If someone makes it to the bottom of a webpage, be sure to have another call to action, so they don't just close the tab and move on. The bottom of each webpage is often a great place to put two calls-to-action side by side. One more be [Book Now] and the other might be for people who still have questions and want to talk. For example, [Schedule A Call] can be a great option and open the door to a phone conversation.
Be confident.
Don't worry about coming across as pushy or desperate. People want to know you are ready to do business and they will respect you when you provide a clear path to getting started.
Time for action
It's time to go to your marketing website and sprinkle in a call-to-action here and there. Visitors will appreciate how it makes finding what they need more straightforward, and you're going to love how it increases sales and profitable leads. A few weeks after the changes, let us know how it going by starting a chat with us.
Bonus Content
Here is a simplified example layout of call-to-action placement on a webpage.
Still reading? Check out this example marketing website we made to you some ideas. It's wired up to the Rainier Check Cherry demo account.
