Can you carry a bucket filled with water?
Sure you can, child’s play, isn’t it?
Can you carry a bucket filled to the brim with water – but with a hole in it?
Now you are frowning. That’s tough. Water would start leaking.
Besides what I am asking you to do does not make sense.
A website without an appropriate call to action is no different!
Makes no sense.
The bucket, however big it is serves no purpose even if it has a small hole in it. Similarly, if you have a website, you have to place appropriate calls to action wherever necessary. Without it, the beautiful website is like the leaky bucket.
Call to action: What is it?
A call to action on a website is anything that prompts the visitor to act in a certain way. It could be a call to sign up, fill a form, and get a quote and so on. Without a bold sign saying ‘Sign up now!’ your sign up page is painfully incomplete!
But for visitors to respond to this call, you have to make sure that it is compelling enough.
How to write a compelling call to action?
There are basically two things to consider when you give a call to action.
- Appearance: Does the eye appreciate it?
- Content: What does it say?
Appearance: Does the eye appreciate it?
The physical appearance should be in such a way that it grabs the visitors’ attention and pleases their eye. Where have you placed the text? What is the color of the text, size and style? If you have used a clickable button, how does it look? Is the text on the button clear?
The placement of the call to action on a page is also equally important. Placing it at the end of the page requires the user to scroll down; placing it somewhere at the side does not. A lot of empty space around the button will draw attention to it. Each may have its own pros and cons. So put yourself in the visitors’ shoes and weigh the importance of the call to action before deciding where it should go.
Content: What does it say?
No possible good can come out if the eye appreciates it and the mind does not. You should pay even more attention to what the call to action says. Is it compelling enough to make your visitor respond to it?
How to make them respond to it?
Curiosity is a good weapon to wield if you want the visitors to give your page a second look. Consider using phrases such as ‘you WILL NOT believe this!’ Now your user thinks, “what is it that this fellow is so sure I will not believe?’ – Ah! Now you have made the user curious.
The rest would follow.
Summary
A call to action is mandatory to urge the visitors to act. Your website could not serve any purpose if you do not have appropriate calls to action where necessary. Appearance and content are the two things that could make a call to action compelling. Make sure that you write such appropriate calls to action and you have closed all the holes in your bucket!
For a quick example, check out this site. Also, share your thoughts on this post by commenting below.
