Recently I had a client ask me to show her how to create calls to action within her content. You see she was sending me tons of articles to post on her website filled with excellent information but they had no purpose.
Content without a purpose is a true waste.
It’s a waste of time, money and effort.
You MUST lead your visitor to the next step and YES that means tell them exactly what to do with words like:
- click here
- go here
- click this link to..
- get this now at…
- sign up for x by clicking below…
Web Content Writing and Optimization Increase Business Sales
There is no exact formula that I can tell you.
This is all about creating a flow through your site that leads your visitors to a specific end result. Not every call to action NEEDS to link to a buy now but you should always tell them what to do next. Other calls to action:
- sign up for the newsletter
- read more posts like this (I wouldn’t use this too much)
- get the free sample
- sign up for the free trial
- check out the benefits
- read the review
- etc, etc, etc
Sure you can add a ton of content and wait for sales – but that’s not gonna just happen!
Think of it like this: If you had 500 TV stations but no TV GUIDE would you really spend your time flipping through those stations to find what you wanted? Most people wouldn’t have the patience and they’d probably just go read a book or do something else.
You also have to realize there are two main types of content:
Informative web content answers a question the reader has. It gives quality info. It should lead to a next step but most often doesn’t lead to a direct sale. An example might be if someone were looking for information on how to live gluten-free. They may not want to buy anything. If there was good information on how to live gluten-free, they’ll take it and leave if there is no call to action. But – what if you told them you would give them some awesome gluten-free recepies – all they had to do was sign up below. Then you’d have their attention and you could repeatedly contact them – you’d send them good receipes but you’d also send links to where they would buy special gluten-free ingredients (with your affiliate link embedded!)
Commercial articles are the money articles. These are the articles for people who are ready to buy. For example that same person on a gluten-free diet may be looking for specialty foods to buy online. So they type words into the search engines that help them find what they are looking for. Maybe they want to know ‘where to buy gluten-free specialty foods’. So in response you write a commercial article that is informative and leads them to a specific place where they can find exactly what they are looking for and you can make a commission.
[credit must go to Lynn Terry here for the categories of informative vs commercial articles/posts]
It’s really important that when you craft each article you decide what it’s purpose is. Creating articles just to populate your website is NOT an affiliate marketing plan.
You also need to watch your website tracking.
You need calls to action but they’re not going to get anyone to buy if you don’t have enough visitors. To get good search engine rankings of you ‘money pages’ (those commercial posts) you’ll also need incoming links to the specific pages.
Social media is a start but you can get links from many websites and you’ll want to make sure you have a link building plan and are continually building links to the pages you want to rank well.
Here are some examples of calls to action:
Basically what it comes down to is advertising. A call to action is an ad within your content. But if it’s a highly relevant ad then your readers will happily check out what you are suggesting.
Other tips:
- You can simply use hyperlinks (that is links on words like this: affiliate marketing) on words that will grab people’s curiosity or tell them more about a product, topic, etc.
- One call to action is not always enough. You may want to tell them, give them more information and then tell them again within the same page.
- Always, always, always match the content perfectly to the offer. This is really key. Relevant offers make sales. You’re not out to change someone’s mind. You’re out to meet them where they’re at and provide them with what they’re looking for.
- Use internal links to pull people through your own website. Link to relevant pages when it’s appropriate.
So that’s how write and optimize your web content to make sales online. There’s no one sweeping formula here. The key is to create content that fits fantastic-ly with your readers and provides them with the further resources they need – be it a product, a report, a newsletter or whatever.
p.s. The post you just read was definitely an informative post. You probably weren’t looking specifically to buy anything when you started reading it. None the less I’m going to tell you about further reading I highly recommend if you want to make your way in the world as an affiliate marketer. It’s Rosalind Gardner’s Super Affiliate Handbook and it’s kinda like the bible of affiliate marketing. Calls to action work but there’s a lot more to it – check it out by clicking here.
Let me know if you have any questions by posting a comment below!
p.p.s. Want a DOWNLOADABLE Version of this post to print or save to keep handy? Here ya go:
Click here to download pdf
It’s about making affiliate marketing referrals and experiencing guilt as a result, instead of just using a straight, non-affiliate link.
After many years of experimenting with various businesses I got a real good idea of what I DIDN’T want from a business. I developed a uniquely personal set of things I did want from a business that were important to me and with each new business I got closer to that goal:
Over the last week or so I’ve been collecting opinions and blog posts on how this will affect my business, your business and the face of internet marketing.
I recently got a question from one of my customers about how to attract more affiliates. 
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