Are calls-to-action that important that you should have one on every single page of your website?
Yes! They’re extremely important, especially if you find yourself struggling with where things are currently in your business.
If you’re having a hard time getting people to sign up, to click, to schedule a call, to fill out your contact form, or to visit your shop, then there’s probably something off or missing with your CTA’s.
And it’s my goal to help you make your website do the work it’s supposed to do.
Then you can get back to painting the ranunculus in your garden or making doodles of your cat chasing a butterfly, or whatever creative thing that you LOVE to do. (Because I believe that your life’s work needs to be done for you to experience joy and pass that joy along to others.)
So, today’s proven tips to improve your calls-to-action will help to increase the clicks on your website, grow your email list, schedule some calls with potential clients, and get more people to contact you on a consistent basis (or whatever your goal is).
-Tip #1: Think about the value you’re providing your ideal customers.
Getting people to do something on your website shouldn’t be just about you and your goals.
I know, I know, you’re running a business. But the remarkable thing about running a small business in 2017 is that we’re able to do what we love AND help others with exactly what they want or need. So, take some time and think about the value that you’re offering to your right people.
How can you give them so much value that they’ll stay up really, really late to be the first to purchase your product when it goes on sale?
Or that they’ll save all their pennies for months to be able to afford your services?
-Tip #2: Add a CTA Above the fold whenever you can.
I know I probably sound like a record on repeat, but this is hugely important. Whenever I place my CTAs below the fold I get fewer people clicking or opting-in.
The majority of the time, you only have seconds to get people to connect and make a decision if they’d like to follow you. By adding that CTA above the fold, you’re increasing the chances of it being seen by lovely new people.
If you feel like you’re not getting as much engagement with your call-to-action as you should, move your button/form/link up the page and see if things convert better for you.
-Tip #3: Take notes from the relationship you have with your favorite customers and make sure that you’re using their language.
Whenever possible, use the language of your ideal customers. When we’re in business, our job as entrepreneurs is to make a connection with the people who follow us and to let the right people know how we can help them.
The way to connect comes from our message, and our message comes from the reason we do what we do + who we serve. If you connect with your people and discover the language they use to describe the things they struggle with and the things that bring them joy, you’re CTAs will improve drastically.
-Tip #4: Make sure your buttons are big and noticeable.
You might be tempted to hide your buttons in a corner where no one will notice them, but what I’ve come to learn is that your right people want to connect with you.
Hiding your buttons won’t help those people if they can’t find them.
And if they aren’t your right person, they’ll just keep going on their merry way. No harm, no foul, right?
-Tip #5: Have your email funnel ready to go.
I don’t want you to think that you *can’t* put up a call-to-action without having an email funnel or a series of autoresponders ready to go because you *do* have to start somewhere.
But if you already have calls-to-action on your site, and you’re looking to up your game you should start by adding a few emails.
The first email that people should get after they click your CTA button should be an email where they are either getting your free offer/incentive or where they’re being informed of what to expect next. For instance, if they’ve signed up to get on your waiting list to purchase a new book that you’re currently working on but haven’t released, you can create a welcome email that lets them know what to expect from you over the next several weeks or months. You can send them behind-the-scenes or sneak peeks that only subscribers get.
By setting these emails up ahead of time, you’re saving yourself from having to rush at the last second to get something out. This has worked best for me with welcome emails and with sales emails.
-Tip #6: If/when it’s appropriate, add urgency.
Urgency moves (many) people to do the thing that you want them to do.
If for example, you’re running a challenge and you say that you’re only opening the challenge up for the next week, more people will join the challenge than if you were to leave it open year round.
Adding a sense of urgency gives people a reason to act now rather than later.
It’s not always appropriate to use urgency, so you don’t need to use it every single time you create a CTA, but if/when it’s right, add it in.
-Tip #7: Don’t overdo it with the calls-to-action.
If you add lots of buttons and forms and things for your reader to do all on one page, it will make people freeze up and freak out.
They won’t know what to decide.
They’ll feel like they won’t know where to start and absolutely overwhelmed.
Narrow it down for your people and make it easy for them. Make it so simple that they’ll click and not even realize that they had to do something.
Start with one call-to-action and later you can add in a secondary call-to-action that may also make sense. But don’t add many more, or they’ll freeze up from decision paralysis.
-Tip #8: Make sure your call-to-action and the thing you’re offering are in alignment.
Deliver on your promise.
If you’re saying one thing and giving something else, people will lose trust in your brand.
Don’t make promises that you’re not going to keep.
The best way to figure out if you’re keeping your promises is to ask the people who have taken action what their thoughts are. Send out a survey to your favorite people and ask them how you can improve.
–Tip #9: Test & adjust.
Not getting clicks? Are people not signing up for your content upgrade?
That doesn’t mean that you’ve done a terrible job and that everyone hates you.
It might mean that you need to make a small adjustment here or a little change there.
Maybe you need to try a new headline, or maybe you need to figure out what your ideal customers want by asking a few people to look over your freebie offer. Maybe the button needs to be moved up further on the page, or maybe you need to try a new button color.
Testing and adjusting should both become a regular occurrence with your website.
I know that we all want to rush and get our websites up and move on, but you’re never truly done with your site. Small adjustments need to be regularly made, to make things easier for your audience.
If your CTAs aren’t converting, the very first thing I would do is make a few small tweaks and try again.
-Tip #10: Get an expert on it!
If all else fails, you can ask someone who knows how to make the things work the way they need to. Sometimes that means hiring a professional, other times that means finding a mentor.
As you can see, there are things you can do here and there that will make your calls-to-action much stronger. All of these tips have proven to help my clients and others to increase conversions on their website.
What tip will you be tackling this week? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Figuring out where to put the call to action and where above th fold is located.
Hi, Frana! Above the fold just means before you start scrolling down the page. Hope this helps!