Call to Actions: What They Are and How to Use Them

Your marketing is only as effective as your website.

This is something I say to people ALL the time because it’s true!

We’ve talked about what needs to be on your site (pages) as well as how to get people to show up (traffic). But once they DO show up and check out your content, what’s the thing that makes them become clients or customers?

Your CALL TO ACTION.

A Call to Action (also abbreviated frequently as CTA) is a direct request posited to the user or target demographic of any marketing piece on or offline. (ie. Fill out this form to join my email list! is an example of a call to action.)

You’re likely going to have a small handful of calls to action on your website. Some examples of common calls to action include…

– Opt-in forms to grow your email list by giving the user either a coupon or some kind of free value download
– Schedule a Free Consultation type-button
– Browse the storefront (if you’re an ecommerce site)
– Browse the blog (if you’re a personal brand website)

What I would like to encourage you to do is make sure they are…

#1 – PRIORITIZE THEM IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE

What do you want your website to do? Make a list of the things you want your website to do *in order of importance.* This will clarify your whole marketing strategy – on and off your website!

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#2 – MAKE SURE THE CTAs *LITERALLY* APPEAR IN THAT ORDER ON YOUR WEBSITE

Wanna know a web design secret? To create a website that converts well, you can literally use the list you just made to inform the layout of the site you create or have created for you. You number one CTA should come first in the layout, the 2nd one should come next, and so on. You’ve just written the layout of your homepage without intending it!!

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#3 – ENSURE THEY’RE NOT COMPETING WITH ONE ANOTHER

Although the CTAs appear in the appropriate order on your homepage, you ALSO wanna make sure there is enough distance between them and that your design aesthetic is balanced so the user doesn’t feel confronted with too many direct orders at once. If design isn’t your thing, hire someone to help make sure you get this balance of CTAs just right.

If you are working with a designer, they’ll know how to execute these objectives while still creating a highly converting website. In fact, do not hire a designer without making the call to action list to begin with – because the designer won’t know what is most important to you!