23 May What should your potential customer DO? – developing a call to action

The biggest and best piece of advice I can give to my clients is to know exactly the action that you want your potential customer to take on your website. Part of the strategy development of any new website is to discover what is your Ultimate Desired Conversion Activity (UDCA). It will be unique to your business.

If you are in the services industry, or providing consulting services, it might be that your UDCA is for someone to fill in a contact form. Or book in a meeting on your calendar or pick up the phone to organise an initial meeting with you. If you have an e-commerce site, selling products, then your UDCA would be for your potential customer to add a product to their cart. Then pull out their credit card and buy the product. If you are a restaurant, you may want them to go off-site to organise delivery. Or to download a coupon to bring into your restaurant for a discount off your meal. If you are in the construction industry, you may want someone to request a quote for your services.

The point is, that as nice as it is to have a website that informs people about your services, products or values, you actually want the website to achieve something and to contribute to your bottom line. You pay to get a website developed. You need to see a return on your investment! Your website can’t do this, unless we are clear on what exactly you want your potential customer to do!

A call to action on every page

For this reason it is important to first map out the journey that your customer will go through from awareness of your products or services to your UDCA, in discrete steps. Then these steps can be translated into specific Calls To Action (CTA). These should be prominent on your website and encourage your potential customer to take the next step with you.

As one recent client of mine so aptly put it ‘there should be a call to action on every page’. Every page should work to lead your potential customer along their journey to your UDCA.

An example of a clear call to action are the green buttons on the fizBITS home page. They provide visual and written clues to the potential customer about what you need to do next.

Take some time to identify your desired conversion activity. Get out the pen and paper! It is great for this activity. Then map out what you think the steps are for your customer from awareness of your products and services to conversion. It will help you when you come to designing and building a website for your business. Of course your web designer can help you to create a clear pathway of action. But no one knows your business as well as you do!