One of the most common mistakes I see when I review websites is weak calls to action. Actually, I spent the whole morning going through some of the calls to actions on our clients’ websites and I re-wrote them. Here is what I did for them:
| Before | After |
| Sign up for my newsletter | Get Killer Weight Loss Tips by Email |
| Add to Basket | Rush My Order! |
| Subscribe to my blog | Be the First One to Know! |
| Buy | Get Instant Access to the Members Area! |
| Submit | Send Me My Videos NOW! |
| Go | Start My FREE Trial |
| Make a Reservation | Claim My Seat NOW! |
| Call Us – xxx-xxx-xxxx | Call Us Now for a FREE Consultation |
| Send | Email Me My FREE Report Now! |
Takeaways:
- The word “Get” rocks!
- Get as specific as you can. Call to actions need to explain what people will get if they decide to take action. “Start My FREE Trial” is a great example of a specific call to action.
- Move away from standard and boring calls to action. Nobody wants to subscribe to anything. People hate subscribing (but they love being “the first one to know”).
- Some power words: free, get, instant, easy, fast, simple, now.
- The word “now” increases conversion rate by about 25% in average.
- The word “FREE”, when capitalized, converts 86% better than its small caps counterpart.
- Capitalizing the first letter of each word increases conversion rates by about 22% in average.
Just so you see that I practice what I preach, here’s my call to action: Please Tweet this Post (Your Followers Will Thank You).
This reminds me of one last thing: giving a reason WHY people should to do what you ask them to drastically increases conversion rates. Explain why they’ll benefit from taking action.
BTW, we added a new WordPress plugin that I absolutely love. It’s called Sexy Bookmarks and it’s awesome to allow your readers to share your content. Play with it (it’s right below this sentence) and please share this post on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. Let me know if it works OK. Thank you!