As a business owner if you have a website for your business and you have it optimized to get traffic, you probably have around a 3% conversion rate of visitors to customers based on averages online.
That means 97% of your visiting website traffic is not taking an action on your site or with your business! Crazy to let that many grains of sand slip through your fingers!
What I want to focus on today is one way to get more customers and increase the effectiveness of your internet marketing, which is to increase website conversion by putting out a call to action, or a CTA as you will see it so named.
A CTA is usually a small image/graphic with a “button” that has a command written on it- Click here, Buy Now, Order Today…
Think about it, we can spend numerous amounts of words and images describing a product, giving 100 reasons the visitor should use our product/service, or why it is so important in the grand scheme of life; but sometimes after all that explanation and description, we forget the goal- we forget to tell them what to do next!
That’s where the call to action comes in and it is exactly what its name implies, a Call to take an Action. Sometimes as humans we just need someone to tell us what we should do. I know, most of us want to be independent, making our own choices and reap our own consequences, but sometimes we need to be pointed in the right direction or plainly told what to do. There are more of us out there than you think! By telling a visitor what you want them to do, you can actually increase website conversion on your webpages.
How, you ask, do I increase website conversion by using a CTA?
- Keep a goal in mind- Remember that every webpage needs to have an objective, its job so to speak, on your website. “What’s the point?” and “what do you want me to do?” are great questions to ask from the visitor’s point of view as you are writing your web content or going back to edit and update your content to help increase conversion.
- Make it obvious- Make your CTA stand out off the page. This can be done with graphics, colors and creativity, but just remember to make sure it stands out. No Chameleons or leaf bugs here-- you want to draw your reader’s attention to the CTA so make it bold, like the poison arrow frog or the plumage of the Macaw. If you want your website conversion to increase, you need to make it easy for your visitors to see what you want them to do next.
- Make it simple- Although you want your CTA to stand out to help increase website conversion by getting people to see it and click, if your graphic or your text is too complicated, it may actually drive visitors away. Keeping a button simple can do the trick! Just be sure that simple doesn’t become boring. Many times, simple is just what the doctor ordered!
- Make it “doable”- Use action words- verbs! Yes, back to the basics of elementary grammar. If you need a fun grammar review or just some entertainment, watch this educational video. Make a list of simple action verbs and make sure you use them on your CTA. If you have a Free Consultation, please don’t just have a button labeled “Free Consultation.” Your visitor may just read it and think “Oh, that’s nice, they have a free consultation.” But if you add an action verb such as, “Click here for your Free Consultation,” you are being clear and direct and they can “do” something about getting that free consultation.
- Make it valuable-“What’s in it for me?” is another great question to ask from the visitor’s perspective. Your CTA needs to lead them to something valuable. Remember, you have something that helps solve another person’s needs. Offer it to them, and guide them to take actions to get the answers they are looking for. For you to increase your website conversion, there needs to be something of value for your potential customers, even if it isn’t a purchase or contract immediately, you can offer them valuable content that will educate, help, direct and develop trust in you and your company.
So now I challenge you to increase website conversion by taking these steps:
- Choose a goal for your visitors on your site. Something easy, like subscribing to your amazing blog full of great info!
- Make sure your offer is valuable! Something they just can’t pass up.
- Make a CTA for it—a simple graphic that is obvious (BTW…anyone can do this in Excel or PowerPoint. I created my first simple CTA button last week and I do not have design training)
- Label it with an action verb that clearly tells them what to do.
- Post it on your webpage in a place that is easy to find, and link it to your valuable offer.
- Sit back and watch, test, count, make changes, and test again and watch the increased conversions!
When you use CTA’s on your website, your visitors have a greater opportunity to convert into leads or customers. Your website becomes more than just an online brochure, it becomes a 24 hour employee who is collecting leads and is able to increase website conversion for you while you sleep. Sweet Dreams!
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