I thought you’d never ask….. (Or why to add a call to action)

Recently I had lunch with a friend of mine who is an excellent web developer.

Our conversation turned to marketing and adding a “call to action” on websites.

For those of you who don’t know, a “call to action” is where you ask (call) the visitor to do something (action).

He said to me, “I’m not sure my clients really need a call to action?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, I figure if someone wants the service they’ll just call.”

But we know that often that’s not really the case.

In sales, they talk about the “close” where you actually ask for the sale. It’s the final decision point for the customer. You have to ask if you want the prospect to buy.

It doesn’t need to be high pressure. And it doesn’t need to be sleazy.

But there is no harm in asking for the sale.

This is the same on your website.

Your visitors are on the site for a reason. There’s a good chance they are interested in your product or service.

But so many people are afraid to ask for the sale.

So add a phone number. Make an offer. Add a button.

Ask for the sale.

“But Tyler, we’re a non-profit! We don’t want anything.”

C’mon? Really?

You don’t want donations? Volunteers? People to use your services? Apply for your grant?

Of course you want something. Otherwise you wouldn’t have spent the money to build the website in the first place.

I’ll go so far as to say this: If you don’t have a clear call to action on your website, you don’t have a very good website.

So unless you’re trying to be Wikipedia, get a call to action.