Creating an Effective Call to Action

Do you have trouble getting leads or prospects to engage with your business? Having effective calls to action or CTAs is critical in getting potential customers to take that next step on your site, whether it’s filling out a form or purchasing a product. CTA’s are a good way to increase your sales because they provide a clear path for new customers to get more information and get more tips. Below is a more detailed explanation of what a call to action is, along with some recommendations.

What is a Call to Action & Why Are They Important

Call To Action

A call to action is a clickable button placed at the end of blog posts, emails, landing pages, or in the sidebar of your site navigation that invite visitors to download offers. CTAs are important because they are a critical part of the conversion process, which can lead your buyer to making a purchase. According to Hubspot, CTA’s can convert visitors into leads.

Your CTA can direct users to a landing page, which outlines the offer they are about to receive; the final step brings prospects to a thank you page. Without calls to action, the conversion process would be incomplete.

Tips for Creating Effective Calls to Action

Include Action-Oriented Verbs

If CTA verbiage is too confusing or unclear, users will not be motivated to click, thus, reducing the amount of leads you can obtain. For example, if you have a free month service trial, your CTA verbiage could state “Sign-up for a Free Month’s Service Trial.” There is an action oriented verb and it is clear to the prospect what offer they will be receiving. Your CTAs should be clear, concise, and to the point.

Don’t Forget About SEO Keyword Practices!

SEO

When creating calls to action, don’t forget about SEO best practices and keyword integration. If there are specific keywords that help to explain the offer you’re putting out there, make sure to include them in your verbiage. It is also important to keep keywords consistent throughout your conversion process. If certain keywords are seen on the CTA, then you should also use them on the corresponding landing page.

Page Placement is Key

Page Placement

Ensure that your calls to action are placed appropriately on each page. If they are irrelevant or improperly placed, users may not click through. For blog posts, calls to action should be placed at the end of the page.

If you’re promoting general offers, such as “subscribe to our blog” or “see the local areas we serve,” then the sidebar is the ideal place. Take advantage of this essential site real estate by attracting a variety of different people. In emails, calls to actions can be placed at the end of the email, a sentence, or one of the paragraphs. With emails, you have greater flexible in where you can place your effective CTAs.

How to Measure effective Calls to Action?

Google and Hubspot

Use a CRM such as Hubspot or Google Analytics to track the effectiveness of your calls to action. In general, pay close attention to the CTA click-through rate (the percentage of visitors who actually clicked on the CTA button) or CTA click to submission rate (the percentage of people who clicked on the CTA and visited landing page, who also submitted a form and became a lead). Hubspot recommends a benchmark of a 1-2% click-through rate goal and a 10% click to submission rate.

A/B Testing

Do you want to test the effectiveness of different CTA elements? Conducting A/B testing through email blasts can help you determine what works for your target audience. Try changing one element at a time, such as the color, verbiage, or placement of your CTA. Test a certain percentage of your total email list and send them two test messages.

For example, do an A/B test for CTA color. Send one segment of your list the standard CTA color choice, such as blue, and the second segment a new design color choice, like red.

According to Constant Contact, you should analyze the open rate and click through rate of each test approximately 48 hours after the initial send. Based on the results, you can dictate which version was more successful and should be implemented on future sends.