Don’t Be Afraid to Call to Action

More and more, we’re seeing website content that seems to dance around what exactly the brand, business or the website itself does. It’s very rare that websites are created purely for awareness purposes. Every brand or business is ideally looking to gain something from their visitors. Be that a transactional purchase, making an enquiry, booking an appointment, making a download, you get the picture. And yet so many sites don’t call the visitors to action clearly enough. In some cases, the website itself doesn’t even make it clear what the brand or business is offering out of a fear of appearing too ‘salesy’.

There is a disconnect there between the business and the potential end consumer, whether that’s B2B or B2C focussed. While it’s understandable that certain brands want to maintain an air of confidence and perhaps some would even say sophistication around what they do or what they sell, it’s misguided to think that people don’t want to be sold to. Ultimately, the only people who don’t want to be sold to are the ones who aren’t ever likely going to buy. If you have managed to bring a user to your website, it is not wrong or crude to make it very clear what you offer and what you want from them.When it comes to communication in general, simplicity is usually key. Don’t be afraid to be direct with your users and don’t feel that you need to make your call to actions subtle. You can’t underestimate the power of a ‘buy now’ button. In fact, we’d go as far as to say that if you sell directly online and you don’t have a clear ‘buy now’ button amongst your main navigational set up, you’re probably missing out on a great deal of potential sales.You should have multiple call to actions on a page, even if those call to actions are basically identical. Asking multiple times throughout the narrative on your page and your site offers the user multiple opportunities to easily take their journey on your site further.You should also have considered varying levels of call to action for your website. The varying levels should match where a user might be in their consumer journey with you and your product or service. Call to actions for an automotive sales website might include a very direct ‘buy a car’ but will also have more subtle secondary call to actions which would typically include:·Book a test drive·Request a call with a salesperson·Download a brochure·Sign up to newsletterThese various call to action options allow for a user to interact with you at the level they feel comfortable at the time. As a business your sales and lead nurturing process is then responsible for progressing this relationship. If you don’t provide the right option however and present it clearly, the chances are you’re going to lose out.