What Is A Call-To-Action (CTA) And How You Can Use One

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That’s a “call-to-action,” often abbreviated to “CTA,” – something that prompts the reader to take a specific action after reading it.

Is this an effective call-to-action that will increase your lead generation? Is it in the right place, and does it make sense? (The answer to all the above is ‘no.’)

Whether it’s downloading a DRaaS whitepaper or scheduling a demo of your solution, we all have actions we want our readers to take. Don’t worry, we have you covered. Use these three tips to make your website and blog CTAs stronger.

1. Pick the right kind of call-to-action.

For every website reader who’s ready to schedule a sales call, you may have others who are just in the research stage of the buying journey. These users may be ready to download a whitepaper about your solution, but still need to think through their options before taking the final leap.

Both types of website visitors can be valuable to your company, and may even eventually convert. We just need to make sure we’re giving each kind of visitor what they need.

Here’s a quick run-through of your options:

• Awareness Call-To-Actions: If you’ve ever downloaded an ebook or subscribed to a blog’s RSS feed, you’re familiar with these. Awareness CTAs help users get more information about services or a specific topic.
• Consideration Call-To-Actions: When you browse a company’s testimonials, portfolios, or case studies, you’re getting a better idea of how that company can help you with your pain points. Make these CTAs available for prospects who are trying to envision themselves working with you.
• Decision Call-To-Actions: This is what most of us think about when it comes to bumping up telecom lead generation. When the user is ready to schedule a sales call or consultation, they should find one of these.

2. Choose a primary call-to-action for each page.

Now that we’ve covered the different types of CTAs out there, it’s time to figure out which one will go on each page.

We recommend starting with a quick audit of all of the pages in your website. Once you have your list, think about opportunities that would match each one. For example:

Awareness Call-To-Actions:

• Your Unified Communications page could link to an ebook that explains how healthcare businesses are utilizing UC.
• Your homepage has space for users to subscribe to your newsletter.

Consideration Call-To-Actions:

• A DaaS page could have a link to a case study that details how your solution improved a company’s productivity.
• Your company’s about page could have a link to your Testimonials page.

Decision Call-To-Actions:

• A blog post on fighting ransomware contains a form for users to sign up for a security consultation.
• Your channel partners page lets users fill out a form to learn more about selling through your program.

No matter the call-to-action, make sure each page has one primary CTA that’s custom to the topic and what you can offer the reader.

3. Put your call-to-action in the right space, and don’t over-crowd.

If you’ve ever scoured a website for a phone number or email address, you know how frustrating it can be to deal with a site with a hidden call-to-action.

We recommend that you put each page’s primary CTA near the top of the page. It doesn’t necessarily need to be visible to the user without having to scroll down, either. If it’s the top sidebar item or linked in the first paragraph, that will work, too.

No matter the placement, the key is to avoid burying your primary call-to-action under paragraphs of webpage real estate. In addition to improving the user experience, this also implicitly helps users realize that you understand what they need.

Pro tip: Make sure you aren’t overstuffing your pages with CTAs. This can create confusion and overwhelm the user, even if a certain page could benefit from different kinds of call-to-actions. Space them out somewhat on the page, and have your primary one come first.

Ready to generate more leads from your website CTAs?

Awesome! Let’s work together to create a website strategy that will fill your funnel and help you earn your next vacation.