It’s a crucial (and largely underrated) part of writing website content: the call to action.

What’s the Point?
When users visit your site, they’re either looking for something specific (which is why you make your navigation incredibly user-friendly- so they can get in and get out.) or they’re interested in learning more about your company/product. Either way, what they don’t want is to reach the end of a page and think “Okay, what do I do now?”

Calls to action help increase conversions on your end, but they also make the visitor feel more confident about getting what they want out of your site. For example, let’s say you have a website for your party planning business. The visitor just read a page about the most important steps of party planning. You need to make it easy for them to take the next step. Give them a reason to spend a few more minutes on your site by guiding them through the process of learning, and then taking action. It’s as simple as including a sentence like this to your page. “Interested in how we can help plan your party? Schedule a consultation here!” Then link to your contact page which clearly provides the information they’ll need to get a hold of you, or link directly to the online form where they can submit their information and wait for you to get a hold of them. Easy, easy easy.

Internal and External Calls to Action.
There are ways to track what your users are doing online through various forms of analytics. That being said, you can vary your call to action. Maybe you want the visitor to simply click to the next page to read more about the topic. Or maybe your goal is persuade them to fill out an online quote form.

I like to distinguish these by whether or not the action taken will happen internally (read more!) or extend outside the site (Fill out this form for more information. We’ll be in touch soon!). If your site is content heavy, it’s beneficial to have these tidbits infused throughout the content on each page.

Working a Call to Action into Your Site.
There are a million and a half tips out there telling you how to write a strongly worded, effective call to action that will get visitors to drop what they’re doing and buy your product. But you know as well as I do that a call to action can be much more than persuading someone to buy something. The “Action” can in fact be anything. It can be big and loud, or it can be subtle and helpful. Both can be good choices depending on the context! First and foremost, you have to decide exactly what you want your visitors to do.

The Action, and How to Implement it.
Here are some examples of how to put into action the action you want your uses to take.
Action: Call the office for more information
Make it Happen: Link to the contact page, and/or list the phone number right there in the text.
Example: “Talk to an expert today!” “Call us!” “For more information, please call or e-mail us.”

Action: Fill out the contact form so someone can get in touch with you.
Make it Happen:  Link right to the form. Make it as easy as possible for the user.
Example: “Fill out the form below for more information- we’ll be in touch soon!”

Action: Schedule an appointment
Make it Happen: Link to the page where the user can either schedule online, or call someone direct to get it set up.
Example: “To schedule an appointment, give us a call or fill out the form here.”

Action: Read more
Make it Happen: Post a compelling snippet of the content on one page, and include a link to the rest of the content via a “Read more” link.
Example: “Read the rest of the story here.”

A good call to action can generate measurable ROI one way or another, so working it into your website is not only easy, but necessary.

We think it’s important to be okay with failure- and make the most of it. But once you’ve accepted it, and it actually happens, shouldn’t your (for lack of a better word) self-therapy continue? If it was your own failure and no one else’s, you need to help your teammates avoid the same mistake.

No need to get all mushy, but it helps to talk about it. Say it out loud- one way or another. Here are some ways I can think of to just that (without calling in a counselor).

• Write a blog post about your failure. Writing can be a powerful form of stress-relief, kind of like that enraged e-mail you’ll never send. Feels good to get it out, though, right? Plus, think of it this way- you’re being open and honest about what you’re dealing with, which helps other people who are dealing with the exact same thing.

• Ask for advice from your teammates. You could send an e-mail, or an IM, to your team- briefly explain what happened, and ask if they have any ideas for making the plan more successful next time. Not only does this build team unity, but it makes everyone feel welcome to share their ideas. If you’re asking, chances are someone wants to pipe up with an answer.

• Research it. Think you’re the only one who’s ever dealt with this particular failure? Find out. A quick Google search will probably point you in the right direction. If your failure was not the first in the entire world (which is probably wasn’t) you can learn from other people who have already talked about their mistakes. Then take your findings to a team meeting and brainstorm a little. Can you tweak the idea toward success? Is the most you learned from this failure is that this particular method will not work?

Even though you’re okay with failure, it will probably still bug the crap out of you. And that’s okay. If it didn’t bother you at least a little, you might question your passion for the project in the first place. Don’t try to suppress the emotions that will motivate you to get it right next time; the hatred for the feeling of failure might be just enough.

Failing doesn’t stop at the actual act of failing. It takes learning from it, dealing with it and talking about it.