While we may primarily be an SEO agency, people often ask us about other online marketing techniques.
That’s because SEO is just one technique in the extensive toolbelt of an online marketing expert. In our experience, there’s a lot of work that goes into building a website and online marketing strategy that helps you secure leads and make sales.
One of which is the Call to Action (CTA).
“Buy now.”
“Get in touch now.”
“Subscribe today.”
These are just some examples of a CTA. It doesn’t even have to be for a sale – CTAs can be for any sort of action.
And when it comes to online marketing (or any sort of marketing, really) a good CTA is essential.
Why’s that? Read on to learn the secrets behind a wicked effective call to action!
(See what we did there?)
3 must-know tips for a strong CTA
A good CTA gets people you, you know, act. A not-so-great one just gets ignored.
What is it that separates the two?
Whether it’s an ad, blog post, website or brochure, CTAs need to be written in a very specific way in order to appeal to your target market and generate the most leads possible.
As a general rule, you’ll want to…
1) Be clear about what you want them to do
We know – it sounds obvious.
However, we can’t stress enough how important it is to be specific!
People scrolling the internet aren’t analysing every line or spending a lot of time looking at your ad. You’ve only got a few seconds to convince them to act – so you need to leave absolutely zero doubt in their mind as to what they should do.
In particular, we strongly recommend dropping the act itself into the CTA. For example – try comparing the following:
New styles available in our jean jacket range.
Shop our exclusive new jean jacket range now.
The first statement isn’t anywhere near clear enough – in fact, it technically isn’t even a CTA when you think about it, as there’s no action!
In short, it provides them with information and doesn’t suggest what they should do with that information.
The second statement will help you to do this because it is using the actionable word “shop”.
This CTA puts the idea to shop in the reader’s mind – this is important when you only have a couple of seconds to secure a click-through.
For best results, use action words – ideally, action words that describe exactly what you want the reader to do. Actionable words you might want to think about using include;
- Buy
- Shop
- Order
- Download
- Share
- Subscribe
- Comment
- Find out
It doesn’t just extend to action words however – a good CTA should also include words like “now”, “today” or “ASAP”.
Think of them as action words themselves – each are small additions, but they can have a big impact on the effectiveness of a CTA.
2. Appeal to emotion
People aren’t always rational – in many cases, they’ll act completely on gut instinct, making snap decisions based on what’s in front of the,.
There’s nothing wrong with that – that’s how the human brain is wired, after all.
And by using emotion in your CTAs, you can tap into that part of the human brain.
Consider the following CTAs:
Subscribe to our magazine today.
Learn the secrets of _______ today – subscribe to our magazine now!
The first statement uses action words – that’s good.
However, the second statement is way, way better.
In addition to telling the reader what you want them to do, it also taps into their emotions – in particular, it appeals to that feeling of wanting to know a secret, or of being part of an exclusive club.
This is very powerful, and can work wonders for the click through rates of your CTAs.
3. It’s not just about the what – you need to give them a why
Okay – we’re almost there.
Now you understand two of the three most important things about CTAs.
There’s only one more but it’s important, so read closely.
You need to give people a reason to click your advertisement as soon as they see it. Otherwise they will plan to do it later and just forget.
Here’s an example:
Buy now. 50% off all our products.
Look your best – buy now. 50% off all our products. First 30 orders get FREE shipping!
The first call to action has an action phrase – “buy now”.
It also has an emotive reason to follow through on the action – “look your best”.
However, the second CTA has an extra, secret ingredient: a reason to follow through.
“50% off all products. First 30 orders get FREE shipping” – all of a sudden, there’s a tangible reason to place an order.
By shopping right now, the reader gets something – if they wait, there’s no guarantee the deal will still be around.
Just think about all the times you’ve made an impulse purchase thinking “who knows if this discount will still be around if I wait until tomorrow”, and you have the right idea.
CTA placement
A good CTA is well-worded – however, that isn’t the only thing that makes a good CTA!
As an SEO agency, we often find ourselves redoing clients’ websites. In addition to optimising for search engines, we also optimise them for conversions.
Long story short, we set their websites up in the most optimal way to encourage them to click.
That means changing layout, thinking about how information is introduced, and of course, placing CTAs.
Obviously, ideal CTA placement will depend on the medium, as well as how the website is laid out. However, some good candidates include:
- In the website banner – the CTA will be one of the first things visitors see
- After the first block of text – visitors have been “primed” by the site content
- At the bottom of the page – use this to remind visitors to act once they are done reading
Don’t be afraid to use multiple CTAs, either!
Take your online marketing (and your business) to the next level
Call our SEO agency today!
So there you have it: the basic building blocks of a powerful CTA that gets people to act.
However, good CTA’s are just one part of your online marketing strategy – if you want your website to turn into a consistent source of high-quality leads, you’ll need a digital marketing agency to guide you there.
That’s where iformat comes in.
Our SEO agency Melbourne provides a wide range of online marketing services to meet the needs of any business, including:
- Search engine optimisation (SEO)
- Content strategy
- Conversion strategy
- PPC advertising
- Social media strategy
Our team of passionate online marketers have a single mission: to help your business grow.
Join some of Melbourne’s most satisfied businesses – call our SEO agency on 1300 88 64 50, or click here to get a FREE quote.