Calls to action (CTAs) are a small marketing tactic with a huge payoff. They don’t require tons of time or lots of money to perfect, but they’ll go a long way in attracting leads and converting customers. In fact, after HubSpot made small tweaks to their own CTAs, they saw a 30% increase in conversions.
Follow this checklist to make sure that your CTAs are effective.
Incorporate Action Words
Of course you want to gain traffic for your site and visitors to land on your pages, but what do you want them to do when they get there? If you’re not sure, your visitors won’t know either.
Make it clear with your CTA. Get your visitors to take action, whether it’s to Download Your eBook! Check Out This Video! or Request Your Free Trial!
Using clear, direct action verbs will show them what to do next. You also want to make sure to keep your message brief. Your visitors need to be told quickly what to do before they lose interest and move on to another page.
Make It Attention Grabbing
While you want your CTA to appear as though it belongs on the page, it absolutely has to capture the visitor’s attention. Plus it has to look like it’s clickable. Make sure that there’s a portion of the CTA looks like a button to prompt the user to click on it.
Use Appropriate On-Page Placement
The CTA should look like it belongs on the page, not forced onto it. With this in mind, determine the website page where it would fit best. For example, if you have a website about a medical practice and you write an eBook about preparing for surgery, put this eBook CTA on a page that discusses surgical procedures. This way, visitors coming to the site looking for information about surgery will notice the eBook and be more likely to download it.
You also need to determine where on the page you want to place the CTA: above the fold at the top of the page, below the fold after the content, or somewhere on the sidebar.
Also make sure that the CTA includes keywords that are consistent with the offer and page it’s on.
Test Changes and Analyze Results
One way to determine what types of CTAs most appeal to your target audience is by testing them. Make one small change then check the results and see how it performed. A few small tweaks could be font, language, placement, color, and image.
Taking the time to hit all of the points on this checklist will ensure that your CTAs are clear, relevant, and effective. And remember that if you don’t see the results you hoped for, changing the CTA slightly can take moments and lead to positive results.
To learn more about other inbound marketing tactics and how they can generate traffic and convert leads for your business, download our eBook Inbound Marketing 101. This free eBook is a beginner’s guide to inbound marketing that will help you understand what it is, if it’s right for your business, and how it can help you meet your business goals.
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