Writing the Smart Site CTA
As the writers are given more leeway in determining the design and layout of websites, they also have more responsibility in making sure that the websites properly align with the wants and needs of our customers. One key area that the writer will have control over is the Call to Action (CTA).
For Smart Sites, the Call to Action does more than just direct the user to call or visit the business. The Call to Action expresses the answer to the fundamental question: What is the desired outcome of a visit to your website?
The questionnaire for Smart Sites will include a line of questions with the joint goals of identifying both the primary and secondary CTAs, and determining what it is that the customer wants a website user or visitor to do.
- The three most common desired outcomes are: Call the business
- Visit the business
- Fill out a form
For businesses that have an e-commerce site, the outcome may be for the user to make a purchase as well.
It is the responsibility of the DSC to ask follow-up questions in order to determine the specifics of the CTA. For example, if the business is for a plumbing company, the DSC should be asking “Would you prefer customers to call for an appointment, or would you rather have them fill out a form requesting for service?” If the business wishes to have the option of both, then it is up to the DSC to determine which CTA is the primary, and which is the secondary.
The writer’s job will be to assess the information provided by the DSC, and to go deeper with it. The writer will be creating Calls to Action that aren’t just unique to the business type, but unique to the business itself. A high-quality, value-driven Call to Action won’t just tell a user what action to take, it will also give them a sense of how they will benefit from taking that action. This in turn should lead to increased leads generated for our customers.
So, what do we mean by “value-driven?” What makes a Call to Action “high-quality?” Let’s look at a couple of examples to help illustrate these concepts.
Crafting CTAs for Calls and Forms
First, let’s start with a law firm. Any of the three main choices (call, visit, or fill out a form) might be desired outcomes, but most attorneys prefer appointments over walk-ins. So the DSC will probe with the customer to determine whether they would prefer potential clients to call for an appointment, or to fill out a form so that the firm can get back to them. In this case, the DSC has determined that the client would most prefer to receive calls for an appointment, but would also like the option of using the form. Therefore, the primary Call to Action would be to call, and the secondary Call to Action would be to fill the form out.
As writers, it is your responsibility to determine how to best word each of these Calls to Action. This means it is up to the writer to make each CTA unique and beneficial. So instead of just writing “Call for an appointment today” or “Call for more information,” which could be used for any business, the writer will mine the DSC notes as well as the body copy for information that will help make the CTA unique and useful. For a law firm or attorney, a “Call now” CTA might look like this: “Call to request a FREE case review,” or “Call today to set up your FREE consultation.” The secondary CTA might be phrased like this on the Form page: “Request a FREE case review.” This way, the website user knows why they are being directed to perform an action, and also what they will get out of it if they do perform the desired action.
What about a service business such as a roofer? We already know that service-based businesses are almost always “call” types of businesses. Filling out the form is also an option. In the event that the roofer prefers to receive calls from potential customers, a good CTA might be something like this: “Call to schedule your FREE in-home estimate” or “Call to schedule a FREE evaluation of your roof.” A secondary CTA might read “Request a call-back for service” or “Fill out our form for a FREE roofing estimate.”
Creating CTAs for Calls and Visits
How about a restaurant that has a take-out business, such as a pizza shop? Most likely, this type of business would prefer calls or visits, as time is of the essence. If the pizza shop does most of its business delivering pizzas, then “Call” makes the most sense as the primary CTA. “Call now to place your order” instructs the user what to do, and also gives them a sense of what they will get by calling. “Call now and get FREE delivery on your order of $25 or more” gives the customer both a sense of urgency and a sense that they are getting a good deal (“FREE delivery”) when they spend the desired amount of money. The secondary CTA might look something like this: “Visit today to dine in or take out.” This shows that the customer can either eat at the restaurant (so they don’t have to worry about cleaning up dishes) or pick their food up (for example, when they are commuting home from work, and don’t want to miss the delivery driver). In all cases, the end user is presented with attractive options that will either give them good value for their money, give them options that will make their life a little bit easier, or both.
Creating CTAs for eCommerce
Many of our business customers recognize that the less work a site visitor has to do, the more likely they are to place an order with the business. So instead of directing site visitors to call or visit the business, they may prefer that the visitors go directly to their eCommerce page to place an order. For example, perhaps our pizza shop from the previous example would like to offer their visitors the option of placing an order online. In this case, we would want to create a CTA with easy-to-follow instructions so the site visitor knows where to go in order to place their order. It might read something like this: “Visit our online store to get your pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less!” Ideally, this CTA will be linked to the eCommerce page, and the site visitor will be able to quickly and easily place their order.
How to Determine the Correct CTA
Now that we know what the expectations are for a good Call to Action, where do we look to find this information? On the questionnaire, the DSC will fill out the following fields:
What is the primary means through which you’d like to turn website visitors into customers? Possible answers might be:
- “We’d like them to come dine at our restaurant;”
- “We’d like site visitors to call to make an appointment;”
- “We’d like visitors to fill out our form so we can get back to them;” etc.
How would you prefer to be contacted by website visitors? This is where the DSC will indicate which method is preferred. They should explain to the customer that this CTA will appear on most pages.
What secondary method would you like visitors to use to contact you? This is where the DSC will indicate what (if any) secondary method can be used. The DSC should explain to the customer that this option will appear on relevant web pages (such as the form page).
Based on these responses, the writer will know which CTA to use in call-outs and in the body copy. The writer should also check the Motivating Factors section of the questionnaire, as well as the copy content sections, so that they can pull out unique offerings to use in order to personalize the CTAs. These are the sections that will include information on free estimates, special offers, and other key selling factors that will give site visitors a reason to reach out to the business.
When crafting CTAs, remember that the primary Call to Action should appear more prominently than the secondary. It should be the one that is used in most call-outs, and in copy statements such as “Call us today to learn more about our legal practice” or “Visit us today for the freshest Italian food in the city.” The secondary CTA should appear on the appropriate page (e.g. on the Form page: “Fill the form out to receive a FREE roofing estimate”) or in a secondary call-out. For example, if the CTA in the primary call-out says “Call now to make your dinner reservation,” then the secondary call-out could have a CTA of “Visit our full-service bar while you’re waiting to be seated.”
By crafting appropriate Calls to Action, you are giving site visitors the means to contact our business customer. More importantly, you’re giving site visitors a reason to convert from casual browsers into paying customers.