5 Reasons Your Homepage Needs a “Call to Action”

Just what is a “call to action?” It is a technique marketers and advertisers use to ask you to do something specific and immediate. They want you to interact or buy…now.

A call to action is designed to persuade and motivate as you:

• read an advertisement or sales letter
• hear a radio or TV commercial
• visit a website or social media page

Infomercials are great at motivation, persuasion, and setting up the call to action. They have a lot of time to create the need and demonstrate how their product can solve the problem. Throughout, they create a sense of urgency by repeatedly activating the call to action with “Call now!” or “Order now!” or Act now!”

Can call to action techniques on your website benefit your business? You bet! They can increase traffic to your site. They can generate interest in your products and services. They can deliver qualified leads to you.

Here are 5 FACTS small business owners should know:

ONE: Calls to action come in many forms. No doubt you are familiar with these examples:

• Free trial period!
• Free sample!
• Price discount!
• Join now!
• Subscribe!
• Free report!

TWO: Most Internet marketing experts insist that a call to action appear on the homepage of every website whether you operate a small or large business. It should be visible as soon as a visitor hits your site…top center or top right are the most common spots; call to action pop ups appearing when a visitor lands on your homepage are also often used.

THREE: Consider placing a call to action on every page of your site. It can be the same offer or a different one. For example, on their homepage a customer service training company offers a download of a free report entitled, “25 Stupendous Customer Service Secrets.” A separate call to action to sign up for their newsletter appears on the rest of the site pages.

FOUR: With most calls to action you give something away, whether it is a free sample, a free consultation, or a special price. You should get something, too. And, you do…a mailing list. Require an email address from everyone who signs up for your offer. Doing so builds an email marketing list to send future offers and updates about your products and services. Do not require that people fill out a form with address, phone, and other personal data. You’ll push people away. Just get their email address….and name if you like.

FIVE: Seamless interaction between your call to action and fulfillment of the offer is critical. When your call to action states, “click here” all links must work properly, and landing pages and forms must clearly state any instructions necessary for a successful delivery of the offer. (A landing page for a call to action is where a visitor lands after clicking your offer link.)

As you visit different websites, take note of how many feature a call to action. Look at how they do it. Click the links to get to the landing page and observe the focused sales approach. Soon, you discern well-planned calls to action versus haphazard approaches. Then, think about how you can motivate your website visitors to take action and interact with you!

If you would like to know more about calls to action, contact us and let us know! Buffalo Wired delivers effective call-to-action approaches, landing pages, and overall website design and content development and we can help make sure your website is converting visitors into clients through call to actions.