By: Farrah Pilling

What makes the best website? Some would argue a beautiful design, others the most up-to-date information. Ultimately, it’s a website that’s the most convenient. Any website can improve with proper call-to-actions.

The importance of convenience

Don’t believe us? Imagine you’ve just put your children to bed, you’re exhausted from a late night at work, and unfortunately your A/C isn’t working in the middle of a Florida summer. It’s nine o’clock at night and you need someone to fix it tomorrow morning, but you won’t be able to be home. You search online for “fast A/C repair” and glance at the recommendations, clicking on three websites that have the highest ratings.

The first website has a friendly picture of the family business on the homepage, stating their great customer service and testimonials from previous clients. You like supporting local businesses, but you decide to move on to the second website. They are currently advertising their low prices and you see their contact information clearly on the navigation bar. However, this isn’t helpful because it’s past business hours, and you won’t get a call back until you are already at work the next day. Finally, you click on the last website and immediately something catches your eye: “Book an Appointment Online.” You click and notice an opening for tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. Not only will they be here promptly but you won’t have to be present for the repair. You enter your information and confirm the appointment.

This story happened to our founder and CEO, David Flores. Out of all the companies he chose, he prioritized convenience over price or reviews. 

Providing direct solutions

Research shows that the average consumer only spends about 15 seconds on a website. When analyzing your own business, try to think about what is most convenient for your customers to make those vital seconds count. A call to action is the best place to start. Whether it’s to “schedule an appointment online,” “buy now,” or “contact us,” a call to action can bridge the gap between what is convenient for your audience and business success.

A call to action, or CTA, is something that web designers use to encourage consumers to react a certain way. It directs your audience towards a certain action such as buying a product, which both helps your business and aids your consumers. In the example above, the goal was to hire an A/C repairman for the next morning. By having a CTA button to “Book an Appointment Online,” one company provided a direct solution.

CTAs can aid in other ways than one. Not only do they deliver solutions for new customers, but they can provide convenience for existing customers as well. If we use the example above, the same button can give a returning customer a quick way to schedule a repair. Keeping current customers happy is just as important as creating new ones, and leads to a stronger, more profitable business. However, depending on your business, you can utilize multiple CTAs to encourage different actions. 

Walmart: Making the call-to-action count

Let’s take a look at Walmart, who is currently number one on the Fortune 500 list for total revenue generated. Their already successful company has skyrocketed as consumers demanded a new type of service amidst the global pandemic. How have they utilized CTAs for new and existing customers? 

When you first arrive on their homepage, you are greeted with a CTA encouraging you to “Shop now” for the latest school supplies. In the upper right-hand corner, returning customers can access their account, check their likes on items, and view their cart with separate buttons. There are also new options for pickup and delivery available via a “Start your order” button, a “Try it free” button for their Walmart+ shipping service, and the ability to “Learn how” to save 5% cashback with the Walmart credit card. All of this information is clear and available when you first arrive and makes the fifteen seconds consumers are willing to spend on a site extremely valuable.

Bridging the gap

When analyzing your website, remember: the difference between a pretty website and a successful website is convenience. Focus on making sure your website is catering to the direct needs of your consumers, and provides them with the ease and efficiency of utilizing it. Using CTAs will help drive your audience to engage with your platform while also giving them quick access to useful links. As both your business and customers evolve, make sure to bridge the gap between your service and their needs.

One of the reasons why we developed Further websites is to make it easier for your visitors to find your company and interact with it. We hope you take a minute and review our Further website next time you’re looking to improve your website.