10 Tips to Upgrade Your Call to Action
A call to action is a button, graphic or text message in place to motivate your visitor to complete the desired goal. The goal being signing up, subscribing, purchasing, etc. The better your call to action, the higher your conversion rate.
Here are some examples of calls to action:
Subscribe Here
Order Now
Try Our Free Demo
Sign Up Here
Call Now
These are some of your most basic calls to action but it is not as simple as it sounds to get people to respond to these calls. Below are ten ways you can beef up your response and increase your conversion rate.
1. Make It Simple – Your call to action should be clear, concise and not cluttered or overloaded with distractions. Do not confuse your visitors with too many offers, choices or actions. Cluttering your call to action with too many items might cause the person to lose confidence in making a choice at all.
2. Test and Test Again – Always test your call to action button for maximum efficiency. What will increase conversions for one website might not for another, so you need to find the call to action that will work best for your business. Using different text messages will produce different results. Try changing your text. For example: “Download Free Report” might work better than “Free Information”. Maybe “Add to Cart” will not work as well as “Get Started Now”. Test other components such as color, design and location.
3. Color – Color does make a difference. Different colors bring out different emotions and put people in different moods. Determine which emotions you need to encourage in your visitors and use the appropriate colors. Red is a color of passion and energy. Red motivates us to take action. Blue is a color that brings out feelings of trust and integrity. It is a color of quiet honesty. The color green creates feelings of stability and balance. Green also indicates prosperity and strength. The psychology of color is a fascinating subject and can make a substantial difference in the response to your call to action.
4. Location – We have all heard the popular saying for brick and mortar businesses: Location, location, location. This is also true for many aspects of an online business. Where you put your call to action can be just as important as the colors or text you use. Make sure your call to action button is visible immediately. You don’t want people to have to scroll down to find it because they might just leave your site before seeing it. You also want your button on every page of your site. Many people believe using a pop up or slide in is considered spammy but they can be very successful. You should also have a call to action in multiple locations on each page.
5. Design – You want your call to action design to be visually attractive and appealing to the eye. Once the eye is drawn to it, you want it to get the reader’s attention and keep it. Color, text, shape, size and content all have an impact on the button’s effectiveness. There are no set rules on how to design your call to action. You must try different design aspects and test them for results.
6. Make Me an Offer I Can’t Refuse! – The first thing a person will want to know is what is in it for them. Make sure you give them a good reason with low risk to respond to your call to action. For example: “Pay Nothing to Get Started” or “30 Day Free Trial”.
7. Sense of Urgency – Creating a sense of urgency or time clock for your offer can give people the little boost they need to take action. “Only 10 Free Trials Available” or “Free to Get Started for a Limited Time”. Statements like these can get more people to respond and increase your conversions.
8. Use Testimonials – Customer testimonials are very powerful and can offer proof that your offer is exactly as good as you say it is. Sprinkle short but effective testimonials into your call to action.
9. Add a Bonus – Give a little extra for each click. Add a discount or free gift if the person completes the call to action. You see charities do this all the time. Donate now and receive a free t-shirt, daily planner, or whatever free gift they may be offering. Many calls to action rely on this tried and true method.
10. Social Sharing – Encourage people to share your offer with others. Make it easy for them by adding a share button to your call to action. Also make sure that you share your call to action with your friends and followers. Infographics are very popular these days so put your call to action in the form of an infographic and share it across your social networks.
Your business needs a credible amount of successful conversions to survive. By using the above tactics and optimizing your call to action, you will motivate people to respond and your conversion rate could substantially increase.