8 Tips for Effective Calls to Action - ISSUE 23 - 2/10/12

You've been working your tail off for months to optimize your website to get as much traffic as possible. You have done everything you were supposed to do. You set up all your analyses. You have done all your keyword research. You have been writing your blog diligently. Now that you have the traffic, what do you do next to convert them into leads?

Getting found is only half the battle. Next, you have to work extremely hard to convert your traffic into sales. The good news is that you can do it if you stay focused. The bad news is that it won't be easy. You have to always keep in mind the enormity of the Internet and the current information age we are in. Your followers and potential customers are overwhelmed by information and people trying to sell their products or services to them. The three best ways to get your website traffic to convert into sales are: Value, Value, Value! I can't say that enough!

You may not have realized this but all-too-often business owners try to sell to their prospects way too early in the buying cycle. In fact, only about 3% of your website traffic will convert into a sale. The trick is to have enough traffic to your website that the small percentage will keep you working and your business growing. One of the biggest mistakes that small business owners make is they waste too much time working in the business and don't spend enough time working on the business. In other words, you need to always focus a majority of your time on marketing and duplicating yourself. If you don't, then you won't have fresh clients to work with when you are finished with your projects. Plus, you will have a high turnover rate with your employees.

To avoid the mistakes previously mentioned, you need to be aware that there are three stages to the buying cycle. Each stage has a different level of trust associated with it. The best analogy I heard was that you can't ask someone to marry you on the first date. You have to get to know the person and nurture the relationship. The same thing goes with selling. Oftentimes business owners jump right into the marriage and scare off all their prospects.

Three Stages of the Buying Cycle

• Early - Information Kits, How-To Guides, White papers, Case Studies
• Middle - Webinars, Return-on-Investment Calculators, Self-Assessments
• Late - In-Depth Seminars, Onsite Assessments, Demonstrations, Quotations, "Buy Now" Incentives

Now that you know not to rush into the relationship, you must focus on specific elements for your Calls to Action to be effective.

8 Tips For Effective Calls to Action

• Create Urgency
• Use Numbers
• Indicate a Specific Action
• Use Images
• Make Your Call to Action Clickable
• Use Contrasting Colors
• Pay Attention to Position
• Test, Test, Test

After you have mastered the Call to Action, you should think about what you would like your followers to do. If you don't have any eBooks to download, you can find a whole slew of them at Free-eBooks.net related to any industry. Just make sure that you are only placing about two CTAs per page. Any more than that will be over-kill.

Example of a Great Ad Using Numbers

• Hurry! Only 9 Copies Left
• Search Marketing Benchmark Report
  • 679 marketers surveyed
  • 176 charts and tables
  • Statistics on conversion, cost-per-click, and click-through rates
• SALE 50% OFF
• Learn More (Clickable Link)
• Colors used: Dark Blue (Heading and Click button), Light Blue (Background), Red (Sale Offer)