How to Write Killer Call to Action

Call to Action
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One of the biggest grouse of any blogger is ‘why am not getting more readers’. They would have shared the blog at multiple platforms, but still the readership doesn’t go beyond certain readers. For those blogger, my first question is ‘Did you write a call to action??’. It may not be a killer call to action, but having one simple enough that tells its reader to share the post is good.So…

What is Call to Action?? (CTA)

Here’s the wikipedia definition – ‘A Call To Action, or CTA, is a term used to describe a banner, button, or some type of graphic or text on a website meant to prompt a user to click it and continue down a conversion funnel.’

In laymen’s term, its a button or text which will convince the reader to take action like clicking a button /link, sharing or even commenting on your post. How many times have you found yourself clicking links or sharing post or commenting on a blog you just found out. That is exactly what ‘killer’ call to action can do. Those simple text or button will catch the attention and motivate the readers to stay on the site for a little longer time than they had planned to.

Write killer Call to Action

Now you know the importance of having a super CTA and you can’t get sloppy here. Remember that the CTA’s should be easy to locate and guide your readers what can be expected after they have acted on it, best is, it should be clickable. There are indeed few killer call to actions that need to be on your page NOW.

 

1. Social Sharing Button

Make it easy for your readers to share your post. Install a good plugin, that will put the social sharing buttons either at the top, side or bottom of the page. It’ll ensure that the reader can click the sharing button from any place.

Do not shy away from asking the readers to share your post. It’s your site and no matter what, you have all the right to publicize it.

2. Comment System

Comments are known to drive engagement like not other medium. Have a comment system installed on your site which will enable readers to share their views. You need to ensure that each comment needs an answer and be ready for debates. Taking a contrarian view often stirs up the debate & helps in engaging the reader, but make sure you do not go overboard.

3. Subscription

Keep your RSS feeds & Newsletter subscription at the most visible places so that it will be easy for the readers to keep track of  upcoming content. Attract readers to share their mail id or click on the RSS. You might want to use the words like ‘Be the first to know‘ or ‘Don’t miss‘ or even a simple ‘Get it‘. It’ll motivate the readers to click & subscribe.

Even the ‘Add to circles’ or ‘Like’ my Facebook Page are great example of subscription based CTA. They need to appear on your site, so that readers can follow you on different platforms as well.

4. Downloads

If you have a great ebook or paper which you want to share with your readers, ensure that the download button appears at the top. This will catch attention of your reader even if he’s skimming through your site. Before the download, having the reader to share his mail id & other details also helps you in opening another engagement channel. You can send periodic mails/newsletter to the reader depending upon their preference. But ensure that you’re not spamming them.

One of the best way I have found is to explicitly ask the readers their opinion about the content, by having my CTA under ‘Your turn’ section. This has often driven readers to share a word or two about the content.

I have shared some of my knowledge on having some killer call to actions that will help you drive engagement and traffic. Though I would suggest you to test each of these to make sure that these actions are being admired by your readers. See which of them are generating more engagement or traffic & adopt them.

Your Turn

Here’s the call to actions for this post –> Which are the best call to actions that you have seen?? Share it using the comments below. And also share the post if you have liked reading it, you can even subscribe to my RSS feed (at the top right) or email.

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