Call to Action
The Bigger Picture
A website can be a great communication tool and in a digital age where the world is connected together by the internet, it can often be an accessible way for someone to find that important message. It can also be a great tool for those who are new to the area to get to know more about your charity and what you’re about.
Websites can be powerful in many different ways, however, whilst your website may have all of the relevant details and information for both visitors and members, unless you have clear calls to actions, it is all just information.
I’m On Your Website. Now what?
Think about all of the various public spaces you may have been recently, chances are that if you were new to the area then you will have looked for signage to point you in the right direction to something you that were looking for, whilst you may know that what you are looking for exists, unless a sign tells you where to go, you will still be none the wiser.
This is true with a website, too. If someone visits your website and reads up on volunteering, for example, and they as a result, would like to help your charity, then unless you have given them clear instructions on where and how they can contact you, they may just leave your website without ever having gone any further.
As you create your website, think about what information is relevant on each specific page. For a page that is dedicated to explaining donations to the charity, then provide clear directions as to how they can do this or what to do for more information. A page that explains the various events happening for the charity may also give clear directives as to who to contact about an event.
Aren’t I Just Repeating Myself?
Do not be tempted to make the assumption that if someone is visiting your website then they will look at every page on the website to find the relevant information; on average a user will spend only a few seconds on a website before leaving, unless they can find the relevant information easily then they are unlikely to stay for long.
Call to actions are not just techniques that sales teams use to sell a product, they are vital in everyday life to help navigate people to the right information that they are seeking. They help the user of a website to take the next actionable step into the right direction.