Writing Effective Calls To Action (CTAs)

Click here. Buy now. Learn more.

Oh, please. NONE of these are effective calls to action. What, in any of this, is going to compel a person to purchase what you’re offering, or even to want to learn more about your product or service? Look, they’re not even entertaining!

Now, would you like to know how long you actually have to keep people entertained on your website and/or landing pages? Probably 2-3 seconds before they head off to another site. That’s not much time to create interest and entice people to give up their email in exchange for whatever it is you are offering.

So, what’s lacking?

A good call to action.

Who Uses Calls to Action?

You might be surprised to learn that nearly 70% of websites actually don’t have any call to action whatsoever!

Now, how are people going to know that you want them to do if you don’t tell them next steps? If you want it, you have to ASK for it, and that means a lot more than just telling people how great your product or service is. You have to create a relationship with your client and convince them to do something other than just reading all your great information and then leaving your page in search of more information from another site.

Who SHOULD Use Calls to Action?

You! If you’re going to cement your place in your market niche, you are going to have to interact with your customer and ASK them to behave in a certain way – in other words, to think about your product or service, compare it with others, and then choose yours.

What Is a Good CTA?

A good CTA is anything that gets a response from your potential customer. It’s a response. They ask you for a quote, they request more information, or maybe they download an ebook that you’re offering. To get a response, though, you need a good CTA.

Creating a Good CTA

Good CTAs have basically 4 components. Here they are.

  1. You offer valuable information.
  2. You make the CTA noticeable – in other words, you go beyond a “click here” link. Create a colorful button that nobody can possibly miss.
  3. You use great words – instead of saying “Click here to learn more,” try something along the lines of “Need the solution? Here it is!
  4. You offer something – instead of “Click here,” try “Get half off now!”

You want to make your customers act on what you’re offering, and a simple “Click here” button is not going to do it.

Things to Think About

What do you want from your CTA? Create it based on the results you hope to achieve. For instance, if you want to build a relationship with your customer, you probably want a CTA that will induce them to ask for more information – in other words, a “Tell me more!” button. If you want to generate sales, then it’s something along the lines of a “Click here for half off!” button.

The Final Word

The point here is, that if you want people to spend time on your web page, and you want to turn visitors into a leads or sales, then you need to learn how to create a good call to action. So think about them. Sometimes, creating a great CTA as opposed to one that is merely adequate can mean nothing more than replacing a noun. Just as an example, which would you be more likely to pursue? A CTA that said “Here’s a great product,” or one that said “Here’s a great solution”? Sometimes, one word in a CTA really can make all the difference.

A single word.

And not always a noun, either. It could be a verb. How about the difference between “Look today” and “Buy today?” Or a phrase, like, “Click here” versus “Come on in!” These tiny little tweaks can make all the difference.

Oh, and while we’re talking about words, you might want to consider the power of the word “get.” Would you be more likely to click on a button that said “20% off here,” or “GET 20% off here?” It really is the little things that can make all the difference.

That, in a nutshell, is good CTAs. Use strong verbs and strong nouns so that people immediately get the concept of what you’re offering. You don’t want fluff; you want straight-up “Here’s what I’m offering and here’s what you get.” Keep your words action-oriented – ask people to take an action and get something in return. Quid pro quo.

New Call-to-action