- Your Brand Better
- Posts
- No CTA? No Action. No Clients.
No CTA? No Action. No Clients.
Your website’s dirty secret: no one knows what to do next
Christine McMullin
January 13, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Why does your website exist?
It might seem like a silly question. But sometimes, it seems like people don’t remember that they want people to come to a website to DO SOMETHING.
That something is to guide people toward a goal—whether it’s booking a call, signing up for a newsletter, or buying something. But if you don’t ask visitors to take action, they won’t.
It’s like throwing a party but forgetting to invite anyone.
If you want to have a good party and have everyone raving about it, one thing is clear: you have to invite people.
70% of small businesses do not include a clear CTA on their website homepage.
That’s a lot of missed opportunities! If your site is missing CTAs, it’s not a website—it’s a digital business card gathering dust.
Why CTAs are non-negotiable
Think back to the last time someone broke into your house and gave you money, demanding that you sell them your services.
I don’t know about you, but that’s happened to me exactly never.
Your visitors are busy, distracted, and one click away from watching cat videos. They don’t have time to guess what you want them to do next. A clear CTA acts like a helpful guide: “Hey, here’s your next step!”
Without it, visitors bounce to the latest thing demanding their attention:
mac n’ cheese recipes,
dogs wearing sunglasses,
absolutely anything but your website.
Think about it: Would you walk into a store, look around, and leave if no one told you how to check out? That’s what happens when your website doesn’t have CTAs. People might love what they see, but without some sort of sign, they’ll wander off.
How to Test for Missing CTAs
Here’s a quick exercise: Pretend you’re a first-time visitor to your own website. Scroll through each page. Ask yourself, If I’m a potential client, do I know what to do next?
On your homepage, is there a “Book Now” or “Learn More” button?
On your About page, is there an invite to get in touch or start a conversation?
On your blog, is there a way to sign up for your newsletter or download something helpful?
If the answer is “no” or “uh… maybe?”—you’ve got some work to do.
What Makes a CTA Work?
Good CTAs are:
Clear: Tell them exactly what to do. “Book a Free Call”
Action-Oriented: Use strong verbs like “Download,” “Start,” or “Get.”
Easy to Spot: Place them where the eye naturally lands—above the fold, at the end of a section, or smack in the middle of your page.
Bad CTAs? Hiding behind vague language like “Explore” or being buried so deep no one can find them. Worse than that? Something that sounds like work.
Instead of these | Say something like this |
|---|---|
Learn (what is this, grade school??) | Discover (sounds like a treasure hunt) |
Read (ugh, it’s tl;dr for a reason) | Browse (sounds like a leisurely activity) |
Schedule (scheduling is for dentists or mechanics, which are both expensive) | Find a (sounds like you just happened upon it, like a $20 in the street!) |
Fix it in 5 minutes
Take a lap through your site right now. Pick one page and add a clear, actionable CTA:
On your homepage? Add a “Book Your Free Consult” button.
On your About page? Add a “Let’s Talk” link at the end.
On your blog? Add a “Get Updates” box at the top.
The key? Don’t make visitors hunt for it. Make it impossible to miss.
CTA Challenge: Go add one now. Seriously. Your clients are waiting to be told what to do—so give them that nudge. You’ll thank me later.
Ready to take action so that your customers will, too? Hit reply and tell me the one takeaway you have from today’s post. And if you’ve changed your website, I’d love to know that, too.