The AlturaSolutions Call to Action
Every blog posting on a B2B website should include calls to action. Calls to action encourage visitors to take the next step, interact with the site, and find out more about your company, products, and services and what you have to offer.
Very often it is designed to take them to another page, referred to as a landing page, where they can sign up to receive a newsletter, a free download, a white paper, or even a gift just for visiting the site.
As important as calls to action are, some sites do not use them as effectively as they can. The following are three tips to help make your calls to action (CTA) as powerful as possible.
Calls to Action Power Words:
The most common CTA uses words such as “Click Here” for more information. While it gets right to the point, it does not provide the extra punch we want from a CTA. Instead of “Click Here,” options include the following:
- Book Now! (if an airline or travel agency)
- It’s Free…Get It Now!
- Get Your Free Quote Now!
- Act Now!
- Start Your Free Trial Now!
Reviewing these examples, it is easy to see an action word pattern. Two words that should be used as much as possible are “now” and “free.” These are power action words that can get results.
Use Colorful Buttons:
While it is true that words can lead to sales, when it comes to the CTA, sometimes it’s a CTA image and the color of that image that helps ensure visitors take the next step, leading to a sale. Using the power action words just discussed, place your CTA inside a colorful button. The color should contrast – but remain pleasing – with the other colors on your website. This draws the visitor to the CTA. And don’t hesitate to change the button’s color periodically. In fact, it is often a good idea to change the color every two or three months…as well as the text, font size, and other aesthetics. Experiment, as one “look” may prove more powerful than any of the others.
Create Calls to Action Images:
An option that can prove powerful is to create a call to action image, such as we have. It is amazingly easy to place this in a blog posting, again as we have done here, as well as adding ALT text to the entire image. Further, by clicking on the image, it takes the visitor to an email address. This makes it easy for the visitor to contact your company.
Find the Right Placement:
Traditionally, the CTA is presented at the end of a blog posting. However, there are no rules. In fact, on many travel sites a CTA such as “book now” appears right after an image of a destination…before content describing that destination even begins.
Experiment a bit to see what works for your industry and product. Keep in mind, however, that while one or two CTAs in a blog posting or content is acceptable, more than two is not. Instead of urging the visitor to take the next step on your site, which can lead to a sale, too many CTAs makes visitors feel they are being pushed in that direction. But since they are the ones in charge, their next step may be off your site.
More marketing ideas can be found here.
AlturaSolutions Turns Words into Sales | 312-880-8176
