A CTA or "call to action" encourages a reader to act and click on a button that you have inserted into your web pages. For example, the CTA invites Internet users to discover your other sites and blogs through a link.
The CTA arouses the curiosity of readers and impacts their decision to buy for commercial sites. The call to action also drives your site visitors to join you.
But then :
- How to optimize the conversion rate of your CTA so that a simple reader becomes a prospect and then a customer?
- How to place the call to action strategically?
The CTA in a few explanations
The English acronym CTA stands for “call to action”.
This call to action is placed on your website in order to arouse the desire of Internet users, in particular those who visit your web pages, to contact you. Although it does not engage your potential customers (prospects), the CTA plays a very important marketing role.
Concretely, the call must convince each visitor to act so that contact can be established. It is not a question of forcing the Internet user to join you, but rather of giving him a certain desire to do so. A website without CTA is similar to an information page that expects nothing in return from visitors.
The CTA is not a long boring advertising sentence. On the contrary, the sentence used is usually short. It is about inviting the reader to act, not ordering them. In this, the CTA represents an essential tool of digital marketing.
It converts visitors to your site into prospects and then into customers if the exchanges go well after the contact has been made. The latter will be done at the initiative of the reader. Your way of encouraging the Internet user to act is done discreetly, without him realizing it.
The presence of the CTA also allows you to analyze the effectiveness of your web content.
If people click on the CTA, it means that the content of the page interests them. They have read and understood most of the messages. They want to know more about your business, blog, products and/or services.
If the number of clicks is reduced, it means that the information is not attractive and that the majority of site visitors have not read the content in its entirety. Rare are those who take the time to read an entire text only to end up doing nothing. A motivating call to action must lead to qualitative content.
The conversion rate of a CTA depends on its quality.
The ideal, if you want to arouse the curiosity of visitors to your page, is to keep a part of mystery.
Put yourself in the reader's shoes:
- Does your CTA make you want to click on it?
- Is the content sufficiently interesting, mysterious, adequate?
What your CTA inspires you and provokes in you is also felt by the majority of Internet users. Also, the CTA often stands out by font size and color. Some CTAs flash to grab and hold the attention of site visitors.
Techniques for placing the CTA on your web pages
Before correctly placing a call to action, remember to know how to create one that will hold the attention of the Internet user.
Start by defining the purpose of your web content. Thus, you will easily determine the action to propose to the readers. It is also important to know that a single CTA is sufficient on your platform. No need to weigh down your web pages and tire the eyes of Internet users who will read you. The ideal is to favor interesting and well-ventilated content.
In most cases, the CTA is either a button or an image. It should get people to visit your other sites and blogs, fill out a form, or order your products. The content of a call to action should be important, engaging and intriguing.
Again, leveraging action verbs is the best way to get readers to take action. The form of the CTA depends on your goals. The terms "Request a quote", "Add to cart" or "Request an appointment" are frequently used. They attract visitors and entice them to click even if they had no intention of doing so initially.
Optimizing a CTA is one thing, knowing how to place it so that it is as visible as possible to visitors is another. The choice of a strategic location is essential if you want to capture the attention of your visitors. First, consider placing the CTA on the first page of the site. Otherwise, you risk losing readers very quickly.
The ideal place is at the top and right of your site to prevent the reader from scrolling before seeing the essentials (which they risk missing if they are not immediately visible).
Why on the right? This is the logic of normal reading: from left to right.
If you want to place 2
The best is to play on the visual. One should not be larger than the other. Their respective places should not be too far apart, but avoid putting them side by side to avoid generating confusion.
Do you want to place the CTA in the middle of the page?
Be aware that this technique generally applies to blogs.
Use the CTA as a quote to insert it discreetly. Also feel free to place it as a button or image. Discretion is required to avoid disturbing the reader.
It is also very common to place it at the bottom of the page.
An interesting article containing a call to action always makes you want to click, so don't be afraid to place it at the bottom of the page.
In short, there is no ideal place for a CTA, on the other hand, a strategic place is essential. And if your website does not allow you to integrate a call to action, consider the redesign!
