A few months ago, a friend of mine set up this incredibly well-designed and impressive website. In my opinion, it had everything that makes a great website. Everything about it was clean and uncluttered, with plenty of white space, high-quality images, and even a call-to-action button.
However, despite all the positive aspects and the site’s high traffic, he recently complained about low conversion rates. A variety of factors could have contributed to this, one of which is the call to action. A call to action (CTAs) is simply a path that directs your visitors to take a specific action. In my experience, many businesses that aren’t generating enough leads or sales suffer from a similar problem.
Though they may appear to be a simple aspect of a website CTAs are an essential component of any marketing strategy. However, they are not always successful at driving visitors to take the desired action. When developing CTAs, some common errors are likely to occur.
Well, in this article, we’ll go over five of the most common reasons why visitors aren’t clicking your call-to-action button, as well as what you can do to change that.
1. Poor Placement and Timing
A good CTA should be visible to the readers the moment they arrive on your landing page. Make it stand out by not overcrowding it with too much information. For instance, imagine an overly high or under-placed call-to-action (CTA). According to HubSpot, 55 percent of website visitors spend less than 15 seconds on your site and are thus unlikely to click on these CTAs. A good strategy for grabbing your users’ attention is to place your call-to-action in the middle or make it scroll with the reader’s eye.
Another crucial aspect to consider when placing your CTA is timing. Now and then, you’ve probably come across a CTA in an article or blog post that keeps popping. It is very irritating that you end up eventually leaving the site. As a result, your CTA mustn’t annoy your readers or interrupt them in any way. Effective marketers recognize the importance of a call-to-action button appearing at the right time to ensure an overall user experience. You can also achieve this by testing your CTA on several users to determine the best way and time to display it.
2. Lack of Incentives
The thought of receiving an award after a long day of hard work is incredibly motivating. Similarly, in today’s world, including free offers in your CTAs creates a sense of urgency and intrigue in your readers. Before they commit to a plan, people want to know what’s in it for them. Sometimes it’s just a free trial, an eBook, or a subscription to a free monthly newsletter. It not only allows your readers to try out your services/products, but it also serves as an initial introduction to your products and an opportunity to follow up with them later.
However, keep in mind that people will not be interested in your freebies if they are irrelevant or do not fit in with their lifestyles or needs. It is critical to developing products and services that cater to your readers’ demands. For example, no matter how appealing the topic is, a person will not try your eBook if it does not meet their preference. Your readers will only click on your CTAs if they are interested in your product or service.
3. Your CTAs aren’t mobile-friendly
With the advent of the digital age, spend more time on their mobile devices than ever before. According to Statista, the global number of active internet users as of January 2021 was 4.66 billion, with 4.33 billion of those using mobile devices to access the internet. As a result, you must consider many potential customers you can reach by making your CTAs mobile-friendly.
When it comes to optimizing your CTAs for mobile, keep the layout simple and easy to navigate. You don’t want your readers getting frustrated when they try to click on unresponsive CTAs. Remember to make your CTA buttons the focal point of your design by making them large and uncluttered. Admittedly, the ultimate goal is to provide an excellent user experience for your readers.
4. The Language of Your CTA Doesn’t Work for your Audience.
When it comes to the language you use in your CTAs, make sure it corresponds to the needs and interests of your target audience. Understanding the conflict your readers are experiencing and providing products/services that resolve their needs are all part of creating a great CTA. Finding the appropriate language for your business requires a lot of research. However, below is a list of some dos and don’ts to remember when creating a CTA.
- Do not use generic terms.
- Incorporate urgency into your writing
- Avoid using the second or third person in CTA copy should
- The CTA copy should not appear in multiple places at once.
- Stay away from clumsy verbs.
It is worth mentioning that no matter how well-designed the CTAs appear, they are meaningless without the appropriate language.
5. Too Many Options to Users
Have you ever been to an open market and been overwhelmed by the shrieks of hungry vendors begging you to buy their wares? I’m sure you walked out empty-handed. According to recent studies, the average human attention span is eight seconds, after which the decision-making process is interrupted. When your website has a large number of CTA options, the same phenomenon occurs. Your users’ brains become overloaded and confused.
To address this, avoid asking users too many questions at once, as this will distract them from your main goal. Getting to the point fast increases the likelihood of people clicking on your CTA button. Additionally, replace any CTAs that don’t get clicked very often and replace them with high-performing ones. Finally, run some A/B tests to see which option your users prefer. It will help you figure out what works and what doesn’t.
Final Thoughts
If you can avoid these five common CTA mistakes, you should see a significant increase in conversion rates for your CTAs. So, don’t be afraid to try out some of the changes we’ve suggested to find the best setup for your target audience.
