If you don't have a call to action, you're doing it wrong

Let's get straight to the point. If you own or are planning on owning a web site for your business, you need to have a goal for why you need one in the first place.

Do you want to sell something? Are you promoting something? Are you creating awareness about your product (be it a good or service)?

All of the above?
No. All of the above is not an acceptable answer.

If you have one thing you want to offer your customers or potential customers, make that one thing the priority on your web site. Don't distract them with anything else.
If you have more than one thing, then simplify them into one priority.

That priority is your Call To Action.

I sometimes find it sad when my clients request to put anything and everything about their business into one website, then try to highlight EACH and EVERY SINGLE THING their business offer. Not many businesses realise how distracting and noisy the online world can be. Customers don't have time for distraction and noise. Customers want to find something and get their problems solved. So if your business would like to increase customer acquisition, make that the first thing they see above the fold of your website, and remove other distraction.

Think about this for a moment: when you market a house, for instance, do you go to a customer and start telling them everything about the house, like its size, number of rooms, facilities, and so on?
No.
The first thing you should ask them is, "Are you looking for a house?"
"Yes."
"Wonderful! What kind of house are you looking for?"
... and you and potential client start chatting and proceed from there.

So based on an outside-in focused approach, you adapt that into your web site. Allow your customers to reach out to you first without bombarding them with info that they aren't even looking for.

Have a free product they can sign up and try? Put that upfront as your call to action. Remove other distraction.

Giving a customer a single purpose will help them focus on using your website. Of course, this call to action should lead to a customer acquisition funnel that hopefully leads to profit, however you define profit for your business. Read more about how to create a perfect call-to-action here: https://neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-create-the-perfect-call-to-action/

Some of my clients are surprised about why I don't ask them technical things, like whether they need a database, or hosting for their website, or whether they want their site to be mobile-friendly (if you're a web developer and you need to ask that question, let me first give you a slap in the head for that stupid thought. Mobile responsiveness is a given in modern websites). I usually ask them that only after I know I can solve their business problem and know their budget.

My first question is always, "Why do you need a website?" Because, seriously, you can still do a heck of a lot with just social media services. The hardest part of a web site is in maintaining it. It is why I prefer to advise businesses that can't afford the time to update their sites, to just stick to social media and let their site be static.

Having said that, if you're selling something, you will realise sooner or later that you do need a web presence. So it's important for me to find out if my client has specific goals in mind when owning a website.

I find myself increasingly talking about my work in terms of how I solve others' problems, instead of what I'm good at solving. It's great to be able to share my experience in a more relatable way.

LIKE WHAT YOU READ? Then check out my previous post: https://steemit.com/recycling/@webgrrrl/upcycling-my-election-flags