The Call to Action Mistakes Killing Your Email Click Rates
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Every piece of copy you publish should have a call to action in it.
This includes the obvious pages, like your homepage and sales pages, but also your about pages, nurture emails, and more.
You have to ask for the sale, and CTAs or calls to action to exactly that.
This post and accompanying podcast episode discuss: what a call to action is, where to put them, what to write on them, and one common mistake I've seen on dozens of sales pages that absolutely tanks conversions.
What Is a Call to Action?
A call to action is anything clickable that moves someone closer to buying from you. I always recommend buttons, but they could be in-text links or an image that looks ‘clickable’.
A CTA can lead people to something free ("download here") or something paid ("become a better copywriter in your business"). The point is that it gives people a next step.
Here’s an example:
And be the first to know when spots open up!
CTAs help people navigate your sales ecosystem.
A bad example: Think about the last time you went to a restaurant's website looking for the menu and couldn't find it. You couldn’t find a place to click, so you backed out of the website and either found the menu on Yelp, or found a different restaurant.
A good example: Think about when you were last searching for a service provider. Perhaps it was a brand photographer near you. The one you booked with likely had a ‘book here’ link at the top of their website, and had prices clearly laid out on either the booking form, the services page, or both.
When CTAs are well placed, they are a service to your visitors. They will help you sell more.
Where to Put Calls to Action on Your Website
Every page you publish needs a CTA above the fold. The Above The Fold is the first scroll of your website.
Your homepage, your services page, your about page, and every other page on your website should make it easy for your visitors to say yes.
A good example: Many people forget to add CTAs to their about pages. On your about page, something like "When you're ready to work together, click here" or "See my portfolio here" is a great way to keep people clicking around your website and closer to working with you.
Where to Put CTAs on a Sales Page
Did you know there’s a ‘right’ place to put CTAs on a sales page?
I'll open a sales page to rewrite or review it inside Copy On Demand, and there will be one button above the fold and then nothing to click on until the investment section. That's a long way to scroll with no invitation to buy.
On a sales page, you want a CTA button roughly every two to three sections.
The exception is that you do NOT want to put a CTA in the problem sections. When you're describing the pain your buyer is in, you do not want a "buy now" button sitting right there. You want people to take action from a place of potential, not fear. Save the buttons for the sections where you're painting the picture of what's possible.
And write CTAs that people can’t wait to click on
At minimum, every sales page needs:
A CTA above the fold
A CTA near the investment/pricing section
A final CTA at the bottom of the page ("You made it this far — if you don't join now, when will you?")
If your page is longer and has sections about what's inside the offer or what clients are saying, add buttons there too.
Where to Put CTAs in Sales Emails
Buttons get clicked more than in-text links. Statistics show buttons outperform in-text links in emails by around 50%. Statistics also show that less than 5% of people read every word in an email, and only about 70% of readers will make it to the bottom of an email.
So if your emails have a blue underlined link at the bottom and nothing else, you're leaving clicks on the table.
Here's what I recommend for service-based businesses:
At least one button in the first 50% of the email
Button color that reads clearly on both white and dark backgrounds
Make the button super on-brand so people want to click it
E-commerce brands do this well. Look at any email from your favorite product brand and you'll see multiple buttons, clear imagery, and minimal text blocks. We don't all have product photography to work with, but the principle holds: make buttons obvious and easy to click.
What to Write on Your CTA Buttons
Your button should make sense. As in, if you’re sending people to your services page, it could say “see our services” or “how we work with teams”.
On the flip side, if you’re sending people to a checkout page, it should not say, “learn more about how we work”, but rather “get the [course/resource/name of offer]”.
I’m a big fan of experimenting with your buttons. I’d try lots of different wording on your CTA buttons to see what your audience responds to.
For CTA button inspo,
Just remember: write from your buyer's perspective, not yours. You want them to download. They want to start budgeting, become a better copywriter, or grow their business. That’s why "start budgeting now" converts better than "Get the download." and "Become a copywriting baddie" converts better than "Buy my course”.
Always, in your copy, focus on the transformation.
Quick Recap
I want you to notice something about this blog post:
There were CTAs throughout, including in the top half of the post
They were on-brand for me
They were buttons, not just links
So, as you write your CTAs, remember:
Every page needs a CTA above the fold
Sales pages need CTAs every two to three sections, but not in the problem sections
Emails need at least one button in the top half
Buttons outperform in-text links in emails
Write button text from the buyer's point of view, not yours
If your current sales page or email sequence isn't getting clicks, a Can You Write This For Me? hour is a great way to get eyes on it fast. Starting at $497, we can audit and edit a full sales page including your button text, placement, and everything else. Learn more at https://canyouwritethisforme.com or reach out at nomadcopyagency.com/contact.
And if you want a full swipe file of CTA button copy you can use right now, grab Clickable AF CTAs.
Related episodes:
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