What is a call to action on a website and why should you use it?

You built your website to help your business so it’s important to connect every dot that qualifies it as a success.

One of the ways to do that is to guide your visitors from point A to point B when perusing your website. This can easily be done with a Call-to-Action.

Often referred to as a CTA, a Call-To-Action is easy to implement. In fact, it’s likely you’ve seen them many times on other sites without even realizing it.

It’s simply the point where you have a button, image, or text link that directs the user to the next step in their website experience which, in SEO terms, is referred to as the conversion funnel.

Without a Call-To-Action on every page of your website, the user is often left without proper direction on where to go next. If they are not given a specific direction, you risk losing them to another website, possibly even your competitor.

It’s human nature to look for more once done with something, so as a site owner, you need to determine what their next step should be.

An example of an effective Call-to-Action could be, after reading more about you, directing them to a page on your site that shows videos of you demonstrating your product or service offering. You know it’s important for them to see this demonstration to help them understand the value of what you’re offing, so lead them there.

Essentially, a Call-to-Action is a means to get your user to take a next step.

Ideally, that step is to either make a purchase, contact you, book an appointment, or get into your newsletter list so you can continue to nurture the “know, like and trust” factor with them.

There are others as well such as guiding them to read an article, watch a video, share with their social followers, or even print the page.

Typical and effective calls to action should include direct language such as:

• Buy
• Register
• Subscribe
• Donate
• Book
• Contact

CTAs are great for cross-selling too. When you have something related to the product/service your user is looking at, it’s a good idea to have a Call-to-Action that offers further considerations. We see this often in eCommerce applications positioned as product upsells or recommendations.

The key elements of a strong Call-to-Action are:

1. It stands out and is easy to see

2. It concisely conveys the value of the content it leads to

3. It contains copy that makes the user want to take action and click

Have a look at your website. Are you making the most of user visits and providing them with proper direction on your website?

Many people get so used to their own site they don’t realize how much they’re taking for granted. Just because you know something else on your website is relevant, it no ways means they’ll know or make the connection to go check it out.

The SEO Benefits of CTAs

Every algorithm update Google makes has a strong element of analyzing user behavior on your website. If users aren’t making it through your website easily, your rank will suffer because it shows that if Google sends a user to your website they can get lost and have a negative experience.

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DISCLAIMER: This article expresses my own ideas and opinions. Any information I have shared are from sources that I believe to be reliable and accurate. I did not receive any financial compensation in writing this post, nor do I own any shares in any company I’ve mentioned. I encourage any reader to do their own diligent research first before making any investment decisions.