Calls to Action (CTAs) – convert website visitors into clients

What is a CTA?

The most important key to converting website visitors into clients is to have what marketers call a “strong call to action”. A CTA, in essence, is exactly what it says it is: a tool calling people to action. Usually in the form of a button or a link, CTAs are used to convert visitors into clients, prompting them to take a specific action. The goal is to establish a connection with interested website visitors.  It may be as simple as the visitors giving you their email address and permission to communicate with them.

People are on your website, viewing your company information, and they are looking for clues as to what they are supposed to do next. A strong call to action is a clear, simple and compelling offer that persuades them to take the action you want. It is the most important part of your online advertising.

Where to use CTA ?

Once you have potential clients to your website it is important to keep them for a short while as studies show that websites that are not attractive and difficult to navigate will turn clients away quickly and they will look elsewhere. It is also very important that your website clearly sets out the services that you are offering your clients.

If you make sure that the visitors can contact you in some way, you are surely to convert them into clients. Where to use the CTA? On your website, on your blog or even in your emails.

What can be a CTA ?

In terms of your website a call to action (CTA) is an image, text or advertisement that tells potential clients to contact you about a product or service that you offer. It is a very useful and critical part of your advertising. You must have a call to action on every page of your website. This may include a phone number, email address and a contact form or a call back request form (if the potential client would like to be contacted out of office times).

Other types of call to action that you may consider are signing up for a newsletter, offering a free download, quote or discount or may telling them why they would be better off using your service rather than another service.

Other important factors we look at when designing web sites is the demographics of the clients who will be using your website, the language used in the call to action and the placing of the call to action.

Here are some tips on creating a strong call to action:

1. Keep it simple. Use fewer words and make the offer clear without conditions or special rules. If the call to action is confusing, people will not take action.  Make sure the offer is clear and concise.  Visitors have short attention spans and need to know exactly what to do next. The action should also take very little effort on the part of the visitor to complete the process. The harder it is to complete, the fewer people who will complete it.
2. Make it obvious. Don’t put your call to action at the bottom of the page. Make it clear, upfront and maybe with bright colours. The obvious your offer is, the more people would click on it and turn into your clients.
3. Make it valuable. You need to make the offer appealing and valuable to your target audience. One way to do this is by adding a gift or just by giving useful information that is targeted to your audience (and therefore will attract them). This does not necessarily imply that your offer needs to be expensive or time consuming to create. Often, you can re-purpose existing useful materials your company is already using or has created for other purposes such as case studies, sales sheets or brochures on your services and products, articles, “how to” guides, etc. Your offer should be tailor-made to suit the types of customers that you want to attract.
4. Use action verbs. Clicking your CTA button should lead your visitors to believe they’re already taking positive action to achieve their objective. Here are some high-converting CTAs that use trigger words (words and phrases that trigger a user into clicking): get my free quote, join now, create my free account, go to checkout, get instant access and many more.
5. Create a sense of urgency. If you want to boost your conversions this is effective because people naturally want what they can’t have. Words like “act now” or “for a limited time” can be all it takes to motivate a potential customer to click your link. It is simple supply and demand: as the availability of something decreases, demand increases (e.g. promotions which expire in a limited time).

Finally, remember to test. Every business is different. By constantly measuring and analysing, you can determine what works best for your audience and goals, leading to a CTA strategy that converts every time.