I have to be honest with you…

Analyzing website copy is now one of my favorite pastimes.

Is that too nerdy to admit? 😅

So, I just need to tell you this (especially if you’re new to writing your own website copy)...

Don’t neglect your calls to action!

The ultimate goal of your website and marketing efforts is to inspire your audience to take action.

And a strong call to action (CTA) is essential for any business looking to engage with their audience and drive conversions, but writing a CTA can be SO freaking tricky.

You want to be compelling but still clear in your messaging, and you want to be persuasive but not demanding.

When it comes down to it, a well-crafted and well-placed CTA really can be the difference between success and failure.

So, how the heck do you write words that your audience can’t help but say YES without even thinking about it?

Well, before we discuss all the juicy key elements of writing a compelling CTA that will absolutely resonate with your audience and drive engagement, let’s talk about what it means to call your potential customers to action and why you need them to be inspired to do so.

What is a call to action anyway?

A CTA, or call-to-action, is a crucial element in any business’s marketing strategy — and I don’t use the word “crucial” lightly here because it really is the part of your marketing message that prompts the recipient to take action, which is the most important part of any business…

A CTA is a message in your copy that encourages the reader to take a specific action. It can be in the form of a button, link, or text, and it’s designed to guide the user towards a desired outcome.

And I don’t want to sugarcoat this, so I’m just going to come out and say it…

CTAs can make or break your business because they are the final step in converting a potential customer into an actual paying customer.

If your CTA is not clear, compelling, and easy to follow, then you risk losing your potential customer’s interest and losing the sale.

But, a strong CTA can help you achieve your business goals by encouraging users to take action. It can increase conversions, drive engagement, and ultimately lead to more revenue for your business — and we love all that.

So, you have a responsibility to get to know your audience and really understand their needs, wants, and pain points to create a message that resonates with them.

Do your due diligence in researching your audience by analyzing your website analytics, conducting surveys or interviews, studying your competition, networking, getting on low-key “coffee chats” with peers in your industry, and going to industry-specific events.

Because once you actually know who your ideal customers are, what they need, and how they make decisions, it will be infinitely easier to write convincing copy and guide them through the buying journey as you intended.

And there are seriously SO many ways you can use CTAs in your business to drive those conversions and achieve your marketing goals. They can be placed on all your various marketing channels, such as your website, landing pages, social media posts, email campaigns, paid ads, product pages, etc.

And why does having effective CTAs matter?

You should use CTAs in your marketing because they are an effective way to prompt your audience to take a specific action that aligns with your business.

CTAs can significantly improve conversion rates by prompting visitors to take action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a newsletter. And by increasing conversions, CTAs can ultimately drive more revenue for your business.

CTAs can help guide visitors through the customer journey and provide them with a clear and easy-to-follow path to take action, which is super necessary, especially if you have multiple offers or products.

If you’re trying to make specific business or marketing decisions to drive revenue, CTAs can be tracked and measured to determine their effectiveness, making it easier to make data-driven decisions to optimize future sales.

Arguably, one of the best reasons to step up your CTA game?

Your CTAs can help you differentiate your business from your competitors, who are also attempting to capture the attention of your target audience.

Now, for the main event:

3 ways to make your CTAs more effective and actually drive the action you intended

1 | Use clear and compelling language

Firstly and maybe most importantly?

(It’s so hard to pick what’s actually the most important because, well, all 4 of these could change the game for you!)

Clear, direct, and simple language is essential for an effective CTA. It should be easy for your readers to understand what action they need to take. Try to use active voice and action verbs to help create a sense of urgency and encourage your readers to take action.

CTA example #1:

This CTA, “Listen Now,” by The Gritty Nurse, is as clear and direct as you can be.

The Gritty Nurse isn’t telling you WHY to listen, only that you should — keep reading for why this is potentially a miss for this CTA.

At the end of the day, if you don’t tell your readers what you want them to do next, they won’t do it because they won’t know that they need to.

Your CTA should be abundantly clear about what you want those visitors to do next because the last thing you want to do is not give your readers a reason to stay and make them exit without completing the next action.

2 | Offer something valuable & benefit-rich

You have to figure out how to convert your readers into actual paying customers because otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to stay in business. And in case you weren’t already aware, people are inherently selfish — they need to know how your offer will benefit them and solve their problem before they decide to take action.

Make sure the offer is relevant to your audience and provides real value. This is where market research becomes a vital piece to this puzzle because you have to understand what your audience really wants (what they really want) in order to inspire action.

And when I say “market research,” I really just mean “listening to your customers” so that you can fully understand their needs and be an empathetic leader.

Offering something of value can be a powerful motivator for your readers. It could be something more tangible like a freebie, a discount, a free trial, or access to exclusive content, OR the value could even be a transformation.

CTA example #2:

Self-Care Catalyst uses “live a life you’re obsessed with” to highlight a transformational benefit her customers would receive by completing the call to action “Join the Membership Waitlist,” with the membership being the more tangible benefit in this instance.

CTA example #3:

I also love this CTA by Jaclynn Morgan that highlights the transformation her customers will receive, which is “a place of distress to a place where caring and confidence flourish in the home” before the official CTA of “Take Control of Your Home.”

Your readers want to know what you bring to the table that could benefit them, so if you’re not offering them something valuable, they’ll have no reason to take your desired action.

To make your readers’ next action unquestionable, make sure your CTA makes your offer benefit-rich because when your ideal customers realize you’re capable of solving their problem, they won’t hesitate.

You’re not just offering “Facial injections.”

You’re offering your customers an opportunity to “finally feel good in the skin they’re in.”

You’re not just offering “Blog posts.”

You’re offering your customers “visibility and credibility with expert content written for them.”

You’re not just offering “Coaching.”

You’re offering your customers a way to build “a life they love to live.”

Easy, right?

3 | Make it easy to take action & don’t get crazy with the design

You’ll want to make sure your CTA is visible and stands out from the rest of the content surrounding it. A compelling design to draw your readers’ attention will go a long way.

An effective CTA should be easy to use and accessible to all users. It should be prominently displayed and easy to find on your website or marketing materials. Make it stand out by using contrasting colors, white space, text size, fonts, and different button sizes or shapes.

CTA example #4:

I’m putting my own homepage CTA as an example in this section because I wanted to show you how your design doesn’t have to be outrageous, crazy colorful, or even in a button format for it to stand out from the rest of your page.

The blank space around my CTA, “Are You In?” is called “white space,” and it allows for the text to be separated visually from the surrounding text above it. This makes it easy for my website visitors to find the button (even though it’s not in button format) and take my desired action.

Make your design easy to navigate and the process easy to follow. Ultimately, the easier it is for your readers to say YES, the more likely they are to follow through and take the action you’re hoping for.

Ready, set, go!

Crafting effective calls to action requires careful consideration of the language used, the steps needed to complete the action, and the overall clarity and simplicity of the instructions.

A CTA is more than just a part of your marketing strategy — it’s a powerful tool that can help you achieve your business goals and turn potential customers into loyal, raving fans.

Understanding your audience and creating a compelling CTA they can’t resist will boost your conversion rates and take your business to the next level.

Remember to be clear and direct, offer something valuable and benefit-rich, make it visually stand out, and continuously test and make data-driven decisions to refine your CTAs so you can drive even more conversions.

With a well-crafted CTA, you can inspire your customers to take action and achieve the success you and your business deserve.

And if you need a copywriter to help you write CTAs your audience absolutely cannot refuse, you know where to find me. 😜