Unfortunately, there are many wrong ways to create a CTA (including a complete lack of an actual CTA). Here are a few ways you can tell that you need to makeover your site’s CTAs.
1. Your Landing Pages Aren't Getting Traffic
One of the most obvious signs that you need to rethink your CTAs is that you’re not getting traffic to your landing pages even though your site overall is getting decent traffic. This may be because your offer and corresponding CTA don’t answer the crucial question your visitors want to know: “What’s in it for me?” One of the weakest calls to action is “Contact Us.” You want to be sure that you’re offering something that visitors are willing to exchange their contact info for.
Some ideas for lead generation offers include:
- Free eBooks
- Free whitepapers
- Free webinars
- FAQs
- Kits
Also make sure that your CTA is clickable. Many times I’ve seen a great offer on the page that either isn’t a link or is a broken link.
2. You’re Not Getting Leads
A lack of leads is another obvious sign that your CTAs need an overhaul, and is also tied to the fact that you need a compelling offer. But you also want to be sure that your CTA accurately matches the offer. Don’t overpromise on the CTA in hopes of increasing your click-through rate! If your readers click the CTA and reach a landing page where the offer doesn’t match up, they’ll navigate away from the page instead of filling out the form. So it’s also important that you follow landing page best practices to ensure that your landing page matches the CTA and offer
3. Your visitors have to dig to find a CTA
I often see the only CTA hidden away on a single child page that takes three clicks to get to. That means that if your site gets 300 visitors per day, that’s 300 lost opportunities to get leads (minus however many actually navigated or Google-searched to that exact page the CTA lives on). There’s nothing wrong with having your primary call to action right on your homepage. In fact, there should be a primary and secondary CTA on nearly every one of your website pages.
4. Your CTA Is Below the Fold
People are lazy. It’s the truth. Just like most people don’t go past page #2 in Google, people don’t like scrolling down if their eyes don’t find something interesting in less than 5 seconds. Place your CTAs above the fold so the user can see them without scrolling down.
5. Your CTA doesn't stand out
A bit of text in the sidebar isn’t going to be enough to grab your visitors’ attention. Make your CTAs bold , with graphics and colors that they can’t miss. Contrasting colors can help draw a visitor’s eye to the action you want them to take.
Want to start optimizing your calls to action? Check out Action Grader , HubSpot’s free tool that will help you set up tests to improve the click-through rate on CTAs.Diana Urban is a User Experience Manager at HubSpot. You can follow her on Twitter @dianaurban .
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Mike 10:20 AM on September 21, 2010
Great article Diana. Your point about Call To Actions below the fold or hidden within websites is especially relevant. CTA's are one of the most critical elements of a website -- attracting attention to them is a must!
haroon almadhaji 12:49 PM on September 21, 2010
if the majority of audience don't aware about any term of the call to action ,because they didn't practice any type of digital marketing up to date;for example developing countries at which banking and overall internet services are introduced in a level related to their capacity and facilities ,
what type of call to actions can be suitable.
in other words which processes is the right beginning.?
am i in need to study the history of inbound marketing development , to find out good strategies to save time and efforts and orient such processes to obtain a beneficial results for my country and be able to involve in a process process of development.
Matt Sullivan 10:49 PM on September 21, 2010
Haroon - The best place to get an Inbound Marketing education (for free) is the Inbound Marketing University.
Barry Harrison 3:07 PM on September 22, 2010
Excellent points Diana, but I have to say that the primary call to action on this page doesn't really stand out and is below the fold (assuming the Free Webinar is it). The orange header box is just like the others on the page (most popular posts, attend ims). The graphic that really pops for me is the blue/red/green image top right (which is neither a call to action nor a link).
Josh 3:39 PM on September 22, 2010
@Barry
I'm pretty sure it's just a self-serving ad. Invisible to any good reader/editor.
John Hyde 4:22 AM on September 23, 2010
I would go even further.
The whole website needs to be designed for action - doing something to start a business relationship betweenthe site owner and the site visitor.
The website then needs to explain what this action is - the "call to action". And it needs to be easy, and everywhere on the site.
RM - InBoundMarketingPR 9:44 AM on September 23, 2010
Great article.. Really relevant.. Just like in person, you only have seconds to make an impression.. I love John's comment about having the whole website be actionable...
Great post!
Rick L'Amie 11:40 AM on September 25, 2010
Great post. I think this is something so many small businesses overlook, or take or granted. I posted a link your piece on my blog today. Thanks! http://marketingwithmoxie.com/?p=108
Conversational Agent 12:52 AM on September 27, 2010
Thanks for sharing! This is really essential to build more for your own website. This is a must read for a lot of internet businesses.
Interaria 3:48 AM on October 07, 2010
Too many call-to-action buttons often blur the key message. Some kind of hierarchy is good.
Law Firm Websites 5:23 PM on October 07, 2010
haha, thanks for the great info, I just realized why my CTA arent effective, they have to digg and find them!
danielle kerner 9:18 PM on October 07, 2010
Great points Diana. It's easy to put zero thought into a CTA but they really can make all the difference. We work so hard to get site visitors, provide engaging content and a useful product - forgetting the CTA is like forgetting the build a bridge.