Analysis Paralysis: Noun – Inability to respond effectively to a situation due to an over-analytical approach or to an excess of available information.

Let’s face it, we live in an age of information overload. We’ve talked about this in other blog posts because as web designers, it has a huge impact on our process. In fact, if we were to hand out blame for the amount of information overload we’re suffering through as a society, the internet would be on the short list.

How often have you gone to a website and found that it wasn’t entirely clear what to do? Unfortunately, we see it far too often, and it’s one of the things that leads to overwhelm. If you own a business website and your visitors can’t find what they want in a matter of moments, they’re likely to move on. This is where a clear Call-To-Action (CTA) comes in.

There are three parts to a good CTA.

  1. Understanding your visitor’s problem.
  2. Communicating that you will fix it.
  3. Showing them the next step.

Understanding Your Visitor’s problem

Why is anybody visiting your website? Generally, if you have a business website, the only reason for visitors to be there is because they have some type of problem. They need something that you might provide for them. For example, visitors to Smartmonkeydesign.com have the problem of having either a bad website, or none at all. They are on our website because we can fix this for them.

Communicating That You Will Fix It

If you can express to your visitors that you’ve got their back, you relieve some of their pain before you’ve even done anything. Often (especially if their pain is great enough), just the anticipation of you fixing their problem is enough to make your visitors feel better. We don’t need science to tell us that when you make people feel better, they’re more likely to use your services (though the science to back this claim up does exist).

Showing Them the Next Step

Finally, don’t make your visitors guess how to proceed. Tell your visitors exactly what the next step is. Do you want them to buy something on your site? Give them a Buy Now button they can’t miss. Do you want people to call you? Tell them and have your number right there. You want to make things as easy as possible for your visitors. Take them by the hand and walk them through the process.

The idea of a CTA might seem like a no-brainer, but if you look around you’ll see many website with no clear Call-To-Action. If you want to improve your conversion rate (the number of visitors who buy) one of the best actions you can take is creating a good CTA.

Analysis Paralysis: Noun – Inability to respond effectively to a situation due to an over-analytical approach or to an excess of available information.

Let’s face it, we live in an age of information overload. We’ve talked about this in other blog posts because as web designers, it has a huge impact on our process. In fact, if we were to hand out blame for the amount of information overload we’re suffering through as a society, the internet would be on the short list.

How often have you gone to a website and found that it wasn’t entirely clear what to do? Unfortunately, we see it far too often, and it’s one of the things that leads to overwhelm. If you own a business website and your visitors can’t find what they want in a matter of moments, they’re likely to move on. This is where a clear Call-To-Action (CTA) comes in.

There are three parts to a good CTA.

  1. Understanding your visitor’s problem.
  2. Communicating that you will fix it.
  3. Showing them the next step.

Understanding Your Visitor’s problem

Why is anybody visiting your website? Generally, if you have a business website, the only reason for visitors to be there is because they have some type of problem. They need something that you might provide for them. For example, visitors to Smartmonkeydesign.com have the problem of having either a bad website, or none at all. They are on our website because we can fix this for them.

Communicating That You Will Fix It

If you can express to your visitors that you’ve got their back, you relieve some of their pain before you’ve even done anything. Often (especially if their pain is great enough), just the anticipation of you fixing their problem is enough to make your visitors feel better. We don’t need science to tell us that when you make people feel better, they’re more likely to use your services (though the science to back this claim up does exist).

Showing Them the Next Step

Finally, don’t make your visitors guess how to proceed. Tell your visitors exactly what the next step is. Do you want them to buy something on your site? Give them a Buy Now button they can’t miss. Do you want people to call you? Tell them and have your number right there. You want to make things as easy as possible for your visitors. Take them by the hand and walk them through the process.

The idea of a CTA might seem like a no-brainer, but if you look around you’ll see many website with no clear Call-To-Action. If you want to improve your conversion rate (the number of visitors who buy) one of the best actions you can take is creating a good CTA.

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