Spending money on a great website design, search engine optimization, and professional copy without strong call to actions is like buying a five star diner and not eating it.  If visitors are not driven to do something when they arrive at the website, why send them there at all?  I called a prospective client many years ago about redesigning her website.  Her response to me was, “I don’t need any help.  I get over a million hits a month on my website.”  Hard for me to believe that a small scuba shop in central Ohio was getting that kind of use, I asked how much sales she generated from the site.  She said, “None.”  Judging the success of a website by the number of people that come to a website rather than what they do when they get there is another topic.  Imagine if 1 million people came in to your store and none of them bought a thing. 

An effective call to action drives a user to stop what they are doing and change their intended course of action.  That could include acting on a special, buying a product, email for support, or signing up for a newsletter.  What is the secret behind creating effective calls to action and getting those 1 million visitors to act?

Your call should be as simple as A, B, C and 1, 2, 3.

• Be direct
• Have a clear message
• Get to the point
• Make it pop out
• Make it easy for your visitor to find what they need

Write your call to action so it is specific to the readers wants.

• Tailor  the message to the readers wants
• Deliver a solution to the markets wants
• Understand where in the cycle your reader is in – are they looking for product information or are they ready to buy.
• Cross sell your products

Make it stand out to the reader

• Short and to the point
• Reward the reader for taking the action

Make the benefit obvious

• Use limited time offers
• Incent with free bonuses
• Deliver value added opportunities

Good products and servers are plentiful.  A good call to action can be the difference between a viewer becoming a customer and one that hires your competition. It can be the difference between smaller total transaction amounts and larger transaction amounts.  It can be the difference between success and failure.

If you need help devising a good call to action strategy, contact Goodfriend Solutions today for a free consultation.

Spending money on a great website design, search engine optimization, and professional copy without strong call to actions is like buying a five star diner and not eating it.  If visitors are not driven to do something when they arrive at the website, why send them there at all?  I called a prospective client many years ago about redesigning her website.  Her response to me was, “I don’t need any help.  I get over a million hits a month on my website.”  Hard for me to believe that a small scuba shop in central Ohio was getting that kind of use, I asked how much sales she generated from the site.  She said, “None.”  Judging the success of a website by the number of people that come to a website rather than what they do when they get there is another topic.  Imagine if 1 million people came in to your store and none of them bought a thing. 

An effective call to action drives a user to stop what they are doing and change their intended course of action.  That could include acting on a special, buying a product, email for support, or signing up for a newsletter.  What is the secret behind creating effective calls to action and getting those 1 million visitors to act?

Your call should be as simple as A, B, C and 1, 2, 3.

• Be direct
• Have a clear message
• Get to the point
• Make it pop out
• Make it easy for your visitor to find what they need

Write your call to action so it is specific to the readers wants.

• Tailor  the message to the readers wants
• Deliver a solution to the markets wants
• Understand where in the cycle your reader is in – are they looking for product information or are they ready to buy.
• Cross sell your products

Make it stand out to the reader

• Short and to the point
• Reward the reader for taking the action

Make the benefit obvious

• Use limited time offers
• Incent with free bonuses
• Deliver value added opportunities

Good products and servers are plentiful.  A good call to action can be the difference between a viewer becoming a customer and one that hires your competition. It can be the difference between smaller total transaction amounts and larger transaction amounts.  It can be the difference between success and failure.

If you need help devising a good call to action strategy, contact Goodfriend Solutions today for a free consultation.

Article marketing, if done well, offers proven benefits.  A well written published article can market your products, services, and you as an export.  Article marketing has been around for more than 100 years, and submitting and publishing your articles is most often free and can expose you to a huge audience.

Marketing yourself this way is not limited to print media.  Articles can be published to your BLOG, industry BLOGs, and article distribution (AD) websites, which can be a great way to get your article into circulation.  AD websites have many benefits, including positioning your brand, increasing visitors to your website, and is free advertising.  Don’t forget about social media websites, like Facebook and Twitter.

No matter how many people see your articles, the time and effort to produce them is wasted if the quality of them is poor.  To make your articles suitable for being published, the following guidelines are suggested.

Provide helpful information rather than sell yourself.  Writing self promotional articles is the biggest mistake you can make.

• Have a narrow focus when selecting topics and provide value (how-to or new information).
• Value time spent selecting a great headline.  It should be enticing.
• Fill your article with keyword-rich text and links.
• Make sure your article doesn’t have any grammatical mistakes.  Sites like www.dailywritingtips.com, www.editorialservice.com/11ways.html, and grammar.quickanddirtytips.com are great resources.

All articles should have a link to your bio, or include a brief bio at the end of the article.  It should include your name, your professional title, and a short plug.  If a link to your website is included, your bio can include more information.

Marketing yourself by circulating articles is a simple process.  It consists of well written articles that add value, deciding on your distribution method, and posting your work.  Give it a try and let me know how it benefits you!