Online customers are a fickle bunch.
The slightest thing can turn them off.
If you’re in a competitive industry where your customers have lots of options you need to do all you can to make sure they choose you instead of the other guys.
There is one issue I’ve been noticing lately that really makes me wonder if businesses are losing out on new customers and it’s all because of one little content mistake.
I see it and I want to reach out to let them all know, but that’s where I run into a problem…
Where Is Your Call To Action?
I just went through a design process for a new website design.
It’s an involved process. There is no way to make sure you’re covering all the angles. You’re going to miss a few things and over time you’ll have to make adjustments.
But one thing I wanted to make sure was done from the start was to make sure that each page had a call to action.
This is the thing I see missing on so many business websites that it drives me nuts.
As a potential customer I see myself reading through content on a page only to get to the end and find that there is no direction to go next. I usually end up leaving.
If I really am interested in what the business is doing I’ll try to find where I should go next, but if it takes more than a few seconds I move on to the next thing.
I’m easily distracted that way and I don’t think I’m the only one.
Here are some examples…
Services Page
This one surprises me, but I’ve seen it a few times recently so it’s worth noting.
People go to your services page so they can see what you have to offer. They are probably pretty interested in what you’re doing and how it can help them.
At this point in the sales process they’re probably ready to contact you. Most companies will provide some kind of offer like a free trial or a money back guarantee.
What I’ve been seeing lately though is that companies are simply not asking the potential customers to do anything. They’re assuming the customer will go to the contact page on their own.
Always have a call to action of some kind on your services page. Think about how the sales process works when you speak with prospects.
What do you talk about after you’ve explained your services?
Make that the call to action on your services page.
Blog Posts
I used to not be as good with this one and I still struggle with it sometimes.
It takes a lot of work to get someone to be interested in your blog posts enough to read all the way to the end. Now that you have them there you want to keep them interested.
With blog posts you have a variety of different options. It’s very early in the sales process so you’re not likely going to win by asking them to contact you right away.
I find it’s more successful to ask them to subscribe to your updates. You could offer them other relevant posts so they continue reading.
You could ask them to read more about the author, which in most cases is information on your company about page.
Keep their interest by taking them to another page on your site.
Other Pages
The homepage can link to a variety of destinations. For most businesses it makes sense to take people to your services page or even to your about page where the new visitor can get to know you and your company.
From the about page it makes sense to take people to the services page. They’re in the process of getting to know you and figuring out what you do and if it solves one of their needs.
A favorite one of mine that I’ve been tweaking lately is the confirmation page.
For ecommerce companies this might be the page confirming a purchase. For businesses it might be the contact form page.
Your customers are ready to leave your site at this point. Why not ask them to follow you on social media?
Adding calls to action on your pages is a simple step to ensure you’re not losing customers.
Always look for ways to move them down the sales funnel toward being a new client.
Now I’ll end with a call to action.
What calls to action do you use on your website?
