A good call to action (CTA) is a vital part of digital marketing; it has the power to trigger users to consider taking the action that you suggest. Having a CTA on most of your pages will aid in your quest of reaching your goals.
In this article, we’re going to take a closer look at what a CTA is, why they’re important, and how to write a great call to action that entices users to move down the funnel.
What is a CTA (call to action)?
A CTA is a trigger that encourages your website users to take action. This action could range from buying a product, sending an email, signing up for your newsletter, and much more. A CTA guides your users through the steps you want them to follow in order to achieve a goal.
CTAs are generally comprised of commanding words that tell users what to do. The use of words such as “find out more”, “read more”, “buy”, “find out” and “sign up”, amongst others, are part and parcel of a CTA’s DNA markup.
Why is a call to action important?
Each page on your website serves a purpose. Whether it’s to educate people about something or get them to buy a product. Without a CTA, there is a high chance that users will visit your site and leave without taking further action. If you’re just after page views, that’s great, but even then, cross-page pollination will be minimal.
CTAs help you keep users on your site and turn them into fans and customers.
If you want to get users to follow a specific set of steps to do something, CTAs are invaluable. They serve as a blueprint to guide visitors to the content they need to see, or a set of steps they need to take.
How to write click-worthy CTAs
Now, the part that you’ve been waiting for. Here are 4 tips to help you write great, click-worthy call to actions.
Keep button text short
A long, drawn-out CTA is not going to do the job. You want your call to action to be concise and simple. Use small words that clearly portray the action that you want users to take.
Create a sense of urgency
A CTA can be well written but if it doesn’t portray a sense of urgency, then what will convince people to click on it? Your call to actions need to convince users to take action. This can be accomplished by telling people how your products/services can help them, as well as having limited time offers.
Use active voice
An active voice is action-orientated; therefore, it’s important for your call to actions to be written using an active voice. At the end of the day, you want people to act – what better way to do that than by using an action-orientated voice?
Write from your user’s perspective
One thing that marketers often forget is that users have their own goals too. It is all too easy to get lost in focusing on what we do versus how what we do can help users. Strive to write from the user’s perspective and convey how them taking action will be beneficial for them.