Think back to a time when you were on someone’s website…
Did you click somewhere to read more? Did you press a button to buy now? Maybe you signed up for an online event?
All of these are examples of a call to action (CTA). And since you actually performed the action the website called you to take, those CTAs must have been pretty darn good!
So can you see how powerful having a CTA on your website is?
Maybe you can’t yet… And that’s okay. Maybe you have no idea what a CTA even is… That’s okay, too.
We’ll get to it all... now!
What is a CTA?
A CTA is an element on a website that encourages visitors to take a specific action, such as subscribing to a newsletter or buying a product. It’s like the lamp posts that guide you in the right direction when you’re walking in the dark. Without those lamp posts, you may make it to your destination, but you might stumble over things along the way.
The CTA is similar because it makes it very clear what action you want your potential customers to take next and helps them get there faster!
But without clear light - or direction - not everyone will reach your desired destination.
Why are CTAs important?
CTAs are important because they help you convert website visitors into customers, which is your biggest goal. They also provide your customers with a clear path to get from point A to point B. This is important because they may not be ready to buy from you right away.
So instead of going for the big action upfront (buy now), you can ask them to take a smaller action (download the pdf), which sets them up to take the bigger action in the future (buy now).
CTAs can be as small as a social post asking for a comment or “save” or as large as a purchase!
What are the 7 types of CTAs?
There are seven types of CTAs that every successful website needs. They are Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Sales-Focused, Customer Service, Read More, Social Sharing, and Event Promotion. (Just because we’re only covering these seven doesn’t mean that you can’t use other CTAs on your website!)
CTA 1: Lead Generation
The first type of CTA is Lead Generation. You can do this a few different ways, but one of the simplest is to have a lead capture form, which collects information about potential customers.
Lead forms allow your prospects to introduce themselves to you. Your lead form can provide you with your prospects’ name, email, phone number, and more! For example, say your lead generation form is a quiz. You’ll be able to capture a lot more information like their likes, interests, desires, and more!
CTA 2: Lead Nurturing
The second type of CTA is Lead Nurturing. This CTA is used for things that will help you develop a strong relationship with your customers. An example of this type of CTA could be a download button, which encourages people to download your content or e-book.
The content they receive helps them learn more about you and your business and start understanding how you can help them solve their problems.
CTA 3: Sales Focused
The third type of CTA is Sales Focused. An example is a buy now button, which allows customers to purchase your product or service immediately. Obviously, this is the most important CTA on your website, so make sure you have it in as many places as possible!
CTA 4: Customer Service
The fourth type of CTA is Customer Service. So this CTA could be a “Contact Me” button, which allows people to reach out to you if something isn't working, they have questions, or they want to connect further.
CTA 5: Read More
The fifth type of CTA is Read More. You’d use this CTA on pages where it doesn’t make sense to display all of your content. For instance, on your blog page, you may showcase 5 different blog posts with a read more CTA. This gives your potential customers the opportunity to choose which post they want to read.
CTA 6: Social Share
Have you ever been asked to share a post with a friend? Or to send an email to someone who’d like to read it? Or to share a post on your social media pages? These are all examples of the sixth CTA—Social Share.
The Social Share CTA can help you get more exposure for your business, which may help you get more customers!
CTA 7: Event Promotion
The final CTA is an Event Promotion. This CTA can be used for Live Events, Webinars, Free Online Trainings, and more! If you want to promote your CTA and have people show up, then this is the CTA for you.
It’s a Thing To Have TOO Many CTAs…
One mistake new business owners and established businesses make is having too many CTAs on their website.
When you overload your website with too many CTAs, you confuse your potential customers. A “confused mind never buys” which means they certainly won’t take action either.
Why? Because they don’t know what you want them to do! There’s too much going on.
Don’t get me wrong…
You can definitely have more than one CTA across your website. Different pages may require different CTAs. For instance, your home page may have a contact us button and a buy now button.
But instead of overloading your webpage with CTAs, focus on having ONE primary objective for each page. And like I said, on certain occasions, it MAY BE okay to have a secondary CTA on the same page.
A good rule of thumb is to read through each page and see if there is one primary objective that shines through.
Here’s How To Use Your New Knowledge About CTAs…
Now that you know what CTAs are and how they work, it’s time to start adding them to your website (or YouTube channel with the help of our
Creator's Do's and Don'ts worksheet)!
You can set up and run your business all in one place!