We talked a few weeks ago about how landing pages turn attention into paying customers.
Landing pages depend on solid copywriting — in other words, on writing whose purpose is to persuade someone to take some particular action.
You could study copywriting for years (and it would only improve your business), but there are a few quick “tricks” you can put into place right away that will immediately make your copy more persuasive.
One of the quickest is to beef up your call to action.
What’s the Call to Action?
The call to action (often abbreviated to CTA) is a simple, clear declaration of what you want your reader, viewer, or listener to do.
For example:
- Click here to learn more
- Add to cart
- Call now to speak with a customer representative
Notice that these forms of copywriting sound a little “salesy”? That’s because a clear call to action is one of the most important elements of a persuasive sales message.
Because of that “salesy” element, some people are afraid of a clear call to action. If you’re feeling uncomfortable about a clear CTA, spend a little time with yourself to remember why you’re in business.
You may also benefit from this article: How to Stop Being Afraid to Sell.
Selling isn’t wrong. It’s not even obnoxious, if you do it well.
Deliver lots of value with your content, make sure you have a product that people actually want and can benefit from, then take a deep breath and use a few effective selling techniques. As long as most of your content is solidly beneficial, you don’t need to worry about being clear about what you want.
And the few who will mind? (There are always a couple of folks in every audience who don’t want you to sell anything, ever.) They don’t matter.
By the way, yes, do use “Click here”
Web usability experts will tell you never, ever to use “Click here” for a hyperlink.
And around 95% of the time, that’s good advice. Don’t do it in your daily content — it’s much better to provide informative anchor text that lets the reader anticipate what’s on the other side of the click.
But when your link is a call to action, you do want to use the words click here. Read this article to find out why.
Good CTAs can trigger spam filters
By the way, those words Click here can trigger spam filters in various email programs. So can many of the most effective calls to action.
That’s just one reason we recommend that you move your audience from the email in-box to a page like this one for content, and to a landing page when it’s time to motivate a specific action.
Read more about the call to action
If you want more specifics about how to craft a great call to action, take a look at the post I wrote about it:
How to Be a Copywriting Genius: The Brilliantly Sneaky Trick You Must Learn
And this week, take a look at any calls to action in your own sales material. Are they clear, or murky? Are you wimping out, or stating your position confidently?
Clear calls to action are an immediate, proven way you can boost the conversion of your sales copy. And the great thing is, you can make them much better in no more than 5 or 10 minutes.
Don’t forget — we have lots more copywriting advice for you
Traditional copywriting techniques can do great things for your content — both sales-oriented material like landing pages, and your daily blog and email content.
For lots more copywriting tips, go download your 87-page Copywriting 101 — How to Craft Compelling Copy ebook. It’s free with your MyCopyblogger membership!
– Sonia Simone, CMO and co-founder of Copyblogger Media