Every website should have a call to action, a response you want users to complete. But how do you encourage users to act? How do you create an effective call to action?
In this post, we’ll tell you what’s keeping your customers from clicking.
When you are planning your website’s call to action, you need to consider four things;
- Where and when to put the button
- The quality of your supporting copy (this can’t be emphasized enough)
- What your calls to action look like
- What happens after the call to action is clicked
Where and When to hit ’em with the button:
Understanding your customer’s journey is crucial to success with calls to action. For example, asking them to sign up for a newsletter as they are about to make a purchase is nothing but a distraction.
Pro tip: an email address is “worth” around $20 to a user, so consider this when asking them to subscribe to your newsletter
Supporting Copy:
Your headlines gotta rock. Because without a bangin’ headline, the rest will not be read. You also have to integrate keywords here, but that’s for another day.
Your copy MUST share benefits to customers; mash up your benefits and features together to have the best chance to convert.
For example, YOU do not donate 5% of profits to homeless kittens; THEIR purchase saves a poor sad kitten from a life on the pole.
Make your copy as long as it needs to be and no longer.
(I could have said more here, but…. ⬆)
Now on to the buttons:
Correctly positioning a call to action can significantly impact visibility and, in turn, conversion.
There are lots of theories out there- my advice is to make sure your primary website goal is reflected in a call to action located in the far right of your menu. This is the eye’s natural stopping point (science), so even if they arent’ ready in the journey, at worst, you are planting a seed, and at best, you are providing your call to action consistently on every page.
There are all kinds of website heat mapping studies supporting this- if you are ever interested in having your website analyzed, let us know!
Pro tip: you can recognize an amateur website a mile away by its lack of white space. Don’t smoosh your content.
It’s not really about the looks:
People ask what color should my button be- my answer is a contrasting color will have the most visual impact. Add in a bit of animation if you’re feeling frisky. I like the grow with hover option.
After the click
Okay. They clicked. You WON! Don’t get cocky and provide a bunch of distractions. Best practice is to remove everything, even the menu, from website submission forms.
You’re dealing with an average abandon cart rate of 70% (that’s right). Here are some tips to avoid (normal) immediate customer regret.
Provide positive reinforcement immediately: “You’ve made a great choice!” or “Thank you, you just saved a kitten!” will do it.
And, make sure you capture an email here, so you can initiate your welcome sequence and communicate during delivery if they ordered a product.
Happy clicking!
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