When you launch your new website, have you ever thought about its purpose? What do you want to get out of it? What do you want visitors to do? I often get clients telling me: “We don’t use our website for getting business, it’s just an online brochure”. But it doesn’t matter whether you do or don’t rely on your website for new business. It’s still a vital tool for engaging with your customers. Your website should always have a call to action. So:
- If your website is an online brochure, you should be writing case studies and encouraging visitors to read them. That way they can understand how you can add value to their business.
- If you run a consultancy, you could be encouraging visitors to call you for a free consultation.
- If you have an online magazine, it could be a subscription offer.
- With an e-commerce site, you could promote a hot product or a special offer.
Over the last few years, internet connection speeds have got considerably faster and people’s attention spans have got noticeably shorter. Visitors will not read vast reams of text or spend long on a page. You need to think about the following when setting up your call to action:
- 80% of website visitors only view the area of the home page above the fold (i.e. they won’t scroll beyond the bottom of the screen), so make sure that the key message is at the top of the page.
- Keep the message simple – Limit the text to a couple of sentences and use visual imagery to help interpret the message.
- Are you trying to appeal to one target audience or several? For example you may be a business mentor advising people selling businesses and buying businesses. In such a scenario, a slideshow may be the best way of handling this as it enables you to get several messages across on the same space.
- Your call to action needs to be compelling. Make sure you have a hook e.g. “Want to lose weight now? Our special half price offer lasts till the end of February – Click here to sign up today!”.
- Even if you’re not selling online, there are all sorts of ways you can engage with your visitors. Have a teaser that encourages them to read your case study, get them to subscribe to your newsletter, or offer them something of value such as a free guide or report.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling online or not, treat your website as a 24/7 sales person. In the same way that you need to give your customer a compelling reason for doing business with you, you website needs to give the visitor a compelling reason for visiting more than just the home page.
