Why Call To Action Phrases Are So Important In Inbound Marketing?
Call to action phrases seem so innocuous. They are just a few words on a link or a button. Yet, CTAs are some of the most powerful and important elements on your website to support your Inbound Marketing efforts. Without them, your conversion rate is not going to be anywhere close to where it should be. Here’s why.
The Simple Truth About Conversions and CTAs
A conversion happens when you get someone to respond in a desired way. Let’s say you want a website visitor to sign up for a newsletter. When you get an anonymous visitor to provide a name and email address in exchange for the newsletter, you have converted that person into a lead. That person has just entered your sales funnel.
How do you get the anonymous visitor to sign up for the newsletter? With a successful call-to-action, that’s how.
CTAs come in so many different forms. Most are phrases printed on a button that is easy to tap or click. Here are a few call-to-action phrases that might be familiar:
- “Read More”
- “Get Our Newsletter”
- “Share on Twitter”
- “Add to Cart”
- “Subscribe”
- “Download Immediately”
Ensuring Your Calls-to-Action Receive Attention
Calls-to-action are critical for conversion success. But, not every CTA is a success. In fact, many aren’t really that noticeable, so visitors just skim right past them. For your calls-to-action to be successful, they must be noticeable, enticing and well-defined.
Placement is critical for a successful CTA.
- Put more than one on a page. Putting a single CTA on a page means lost opportunities for conversion. Multiple CTAs offer more chances to get a visitor to convert. But, don’t put too many or the visitor will get choice paralysis.
- Be sure to have CTAs on every page. Your website is a critical part of your marketing and you need to give visitors as many chances as possible to convert.
- Make your CTAs count. Most users skim a page from top to bottom. They will glance from left to right at the top and maybe once again about half way down the page. Your CTAs need to be somewhere in this visual path to grab attention.
Design is another item to consider for a successful CTA:
- Make sure your CTA is recognizable. If it just blends into the background or uses generic language, your visitor will skim right past it. Choosing well-worded call-to-action phrases makes all the difference.
- Make it jump out visually. You need to have negative space around your CTA. You need to select a color that pops out. Orange and red are popular. But, the real secret is contrast.
- Make it very clear. Generic call-to-action phrases like “Next” do not give a reader any clue as to what is happening next. “Finish Subscribing to Our Newsletter” gives the reader a clear picture of what clicking on that CTA will actually do.
When you optimize the calls-to-action on your website, you will start to see your conversion rates rise. Keep tweaking and you can get even more.
With 20 years of advertising and PR experience, Debbie Szwast understands the multifaceted nature of marketing. A true believer in the art of communication, she acquired an MBA in marketing and a Master’s degree in writing. Today, she calls on the knowledge she has gained over the past two decades to formulate big-picture strategies and execute comprehensive marketing plans for clients across the country.
