Attention! Stand at EASE! About turn!
Well, these are military drill commands.
When these commands are uttered, soldiers carry them out to a tee, dont they?
Wouldnt life be wonderful if everyone could take orders from you like that?
But hey, nobody around you is a soldier, the least of them your website visitors!
Nobody holds any authority over them. They could come and leave your website at any given second within the blink of an eye- you will never know. So, how do you make them do what you want them to do on your website?
The answer lies in a providing a powerful call to action.
What is a call to action?
A call to action is something that urges the user to act in a particular way. It is there like a signboard on a road, to suggest what their next move should be. It could be to move to a different page, fill a form, and register with your website etc.
A powerful call to action will get the users act according to your intentions, without really thrusting it down on them.
What are they types of call to action?
There are several types of call to action that serves different purposes. Some of the most widely used are mentioned below.
1) Link to page: You can provide a link to a certain page wherever necessary. For example, on the home page of your website, say “Click here to know more about us, a link that will lead the visitor to the “About us page. This anchor text is typically in blue, underlined and stands distinctly from the rest of the text on the page.
2) Price page button: Call to action can also be a clickable button. When you are talking about your product, you could provide a button saying “Our prices on the page. Thus you guide a visitor who is interested in the product and wants to know the costs.
3) Fill contact us form: Typically, you ask the visitor to leave their name, e-mail address, their questions and assure them that you will get back to them shortly. If they do fill the form, you get a direct link to the visitor, so this is a powerful call to action.
4) Get a quote: This is similar to the price page button. You ask the visitor to get a quote from you. You ask them to fill a form that will sum up their requirements. Say, “get a free quote now! This would encourage the visitor to act.
Can a “call to action backfire?
Of course it can. Too much is always too bad.
Call to action is used to gently suggest to the users what they should do. But at the same time, do not dump them with too many directions. The users could get confused, irritated and leave the website. Identify areas where a call for action is necessary and plant them there.
Summary
Thus call to action is a very important part in a website. It guides the visitor and suggests what they should do next.
For all what you know, if you master the trick, you could even make military soldiers out of your website visitors – “BUY THIS! – “CLICK HERE – “PAY $1000! 😉
How powerful is the call to action on your website? Are you sure it engages the user? Share your thoughts with us by posting your comments below!
