If you want a high converting sales page then you cannot skip the call to action. A call to action, according to BusinessDictionary.com are “words that urge the reader, listener, or viewer of a sales promotion message to take an immediate action, such as “Write Now,” “Call now, ” or “Click Here.” Marketing professionals believe, and rightly so, that any sales page or sales material without a call to action is hopeless. It will not produce results because you didn’t ask for the sale.
It’s important for a sales page to have an effective call to action, this is usually at the end of the sales page which also consists of:
- A Headline
- An Opening Statement
- A Story
- Testimonials
- An Offer
The final thing to include is the call to action. This is often the hardest part for people to wrap their mind around. Asking for the sale can be uncomfortable, but it is a necessary part of the entire process if you want a sales page that converts clicks to cash. Naturally, all of this content must also be included with an attractive design that uses high quality images and graphics with plenty of white space, subheadings, and bullets to guide the eye.
The call to action is the why of your sales page to start with. So, obviously if you don’t include it you’re not finished with your sales page. The calls to action are directions for readers to do something that allows you to know whether or not all your hard work, well, works! If you’ve not asked the reader to do something, whether it is to buy, write, call, or act in some way, how can you know your sales page is effective? It’s also important to only include one to three at the most calls to action on any given sales page. If you do include more than one, be sure to create bullet points and explicit directions on exactly what you want them to do to avoid confusion.
Leading up to the call to action is the groundwork that identifies in the reader the seed of a need. A need for your product to solve his or her problems. By responding to your call to action the reader knows that his or her problems will be solved and their need will be filled. In addition to filling a need or solving a problem for your reader, it is also important that within the call to action you always make a promise, and offer a little extra incentive for the reader to act. By reducing the risk you’re more likely to get the response you wanted.
For instance, “Click Here Now to Take Advantage of The Risk Free 60 Day Money Back Guarantee” or “Buy Now by Clicking HERE and We’ll Donate $20 of Your Purchase to xyz Charity.” or “Click Here to Buy Now and Get a Free Mug”. You get the idea. You’re offering something a little extra in return for their action, or you’re offering reassurance that if it doesn’t work out they can get their money back.
Within your call to action create a sense of urgency by telling the reader that time is of the essence with expiration of offer, or discount. If you tell them that your offer is here for only a short time, or that the free gift can only be given to the first 10 buyers you create urgency and a sense of loss in the reader that will inspire faster action.
Finally, ensure that you position your call to action in the right place. On a sales page, you can actually put the call to action more than one time on the page. You can put it “above the fold” as well as “below the fold” which in Internet terms means before the scroll and after the scroll. This is a good way to help readers purchase your product or service fast so that they don’t have to work too hard to find the “buy now” button.