Let’s face it, we all have our websites for a reason. Many times it’s to bring in business leads or make sales. No matter what the purpose, when someone lands on one of your web pages there should be a deliberate call to action. With the exception of maybe your homepage, every page of your website should focus on one topic or purpose and have a call to action.
I like to think of my website as a sort of process flow. I know from viewing my statistics on Google Analytics and the Google Search Console that most of my visitors are landing on my homepage first. No matter what page they do land on, there is a logical next page or action that I want them to take. Can you tell me what that is by looking at my website? I’ll give you a hint. It’s a series of three pages when starting with my homepage.
Now take a look at your website, starting with your homepage. If a prospective client or customer lands on your homepage, what page do you want them to visit next? Do you have a call to action to nudge them in that direction? Or maybe you have too many calls to action, which might prevent someone from taking any action or one different than you really intended.
Call To Action Basics
My three basic tips for adding a call to action to any webpage are:
- Make it clear and concise.
- Use a button or a text link to take someone to another page. But it could also be a form submission, a phone call, or a purchase.
- Include it more than once. You could even have it in two different forms like one text link and one button link.
Performing A Call To Action Audit
If you already have calls to action on all your pages, then take the time to review them. Start an audit by visiting one page of your website at a time then ask yourself these questions:
- What is the primary focus or topic of my webpage and do the contents of my page support this?
- What do I want my visitor to do after viewing or reading my webpage?
- Is my intention clearly stated and invites action?
- Is it on my page more than once? If not, can I add it one more time?
- How can I measure the performance?
Although I can’t think of many, there are instances where a call to action might not make sense. For example, a legal page like a privacy page or a disclaimer page probably doesn’t need a call to action. But most pages on a website should have one.
If you have questions about adding or reviewing a call to action on your website please leave a comment below. Be one of the first five people to comment and I’ll audit one webpage of your site for free. Please don’t forget to leave the URL of the webpage you would like me to review.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
