Your Call to Action is a key piece of information on your website. A great website that converts for your business can be different for every business, organisation and company.
Whether you are a start-up or you’ve been in business for years, if you don’t know the one thing then your website will not be returning the value that it could for your business.
And once you have identified the one thing then everything else about your website should fall into place and support that one thing.
It’s a question we ask all of our clients: “What is the One Thing that you want your target audience to do when they land on your website?”
Hone in on the greatest return
Often people will say – “Oh I want them to send a message, or book a call, or know more about my business, whichever works for them.” And from there we filter down to the One Thing (the all important Call to Action) that is the most important for that business owner to move their business forward.
Giving people too many options of what they can do when they get to your website is confusing.
With most of us exposed to over 4000 pieces of information every day, landing on a website that gives you options can be confusing, overwhelming and cause visitors to leave before they’ve done the one thing that you really want them to do.
What is your preference?
Consider whether you prefer people to call you or send a message to your business email address. This might depend on the type of business you run.
If you are someone who spends a lot of time face to face with clients, such as a therapist, coach or business advisor, then a phone call may not be the best approach. Inevitably if you are with a client it will go to voice mail and it can be time consuming to respond and difficult to keep track of calls.
If, on the other hand you are more available to take calls as and when they occur this can be an effective way of being responsive to prospects quickly and easily.
Consider too, whether being on the front line with prospective clients is your role, or whether you want to delegate this to someone in your team. That can determine how you encourage people to make contact too.
Other Options
If you have an online shop then the first thing you may want people to do is visit the shop and browse your amazing products (and hopefully pop one or two into their cart before checking out).
Don’t confuse the issue with asking them to read your About information, or sending you a message, or even signing up for your newsletter. Send them to the shop – make it obvious and worth their efforts of coming to your website by pointing them directly there.
Give them focus
By giving site visitors a focus of what they need to do on your website you are sending a very clear message that you know what you are doing and how your business works. Whichever way you decide – there is no right or wrong – but you need to know your One Thing.
Consider large websites like Etsy, Amazon and eBay – they all have one very clear purpose on their website and that is to get you to shop. And sites for large brands like Nike and Coke are clearly there to show off their brand story a little bit more, promote their latest products and engage you in their narrative, so that next time you are out and about you look for their products.
Next steps ...
Once you know what that one thing is that you want people to do, then the whole design, look and feel, images and words should point them to doing that one task. Sure, you can have some other information along the way to help build their trust in your brand, but ultimately it should all lead to that One Thing.
How a Web Designer can help
A good web designer will use their knowledge of your business, general consumer behaviour and web design to build the right path, using the right types of elements, to lead your target audience through your website and get them to convert from lookers to bookers or browsers to buyers.
And they will do it in such a way that your target audience is informed, encouraged and feels great about the experience of landing on your site.
The words you write and the images you use will be structured on your site to point site visitors and encourage them to do that One Thing that you want – whether it is pick up the phone, pick up their wallet, or pick a time in your calendar.
By the time your website visitors get to the Call to Action, they will be ready to do just that – or they will have realised that they are not in the right place. Even if they are not a good fit for your business and they self-filter out – this is a great outcome which saves you wasting time with tyre-kickers, poorly fitting clients or clients that are searching for something that your business cannot or does not provide.
It’s up to you to know what that One Thing is for your business and to identify your target audience. Armed with this knowledge, your web designer can build a User Experience (UX) and a Customer Journey that is right for your prospective clients and your business and puts them together to convert more visitors to prospects and more prospects to clients in order to grow your business. And who doesn’t want that?
Get in Touch
Interested in an audit of your current website and the user experience or customer journey that it represents? Use the Big Orange Button below and get in touch for a value-added 15-minute phone call with us.
We’ll take a look at your website and assess what your target audience experiences when they land there. We’ll also give you some tips to help convert more visitors.