The Role of the Call to Action in Inbound Marketing

Updated October 10, 2023.

Without a good call to action (CTA), your blog post could fall flat. 

Excellent writing and a compelling story help make any blog post an interesting read for your website visitors. However, don't drop the ball when it comes to directing your readers with an action.

After all, the point of your blog post is to inform and direct action. Blogs are more than just an entertaining read! They are a critical part of your inbound marketing strategy.

When creating new content or performing a content audit on your website, take a hard look at your CTAs. Inbound marketing doesn't work if you don't use your call to action in strategic ways to encourage consumers to take the next step. 

Here's what you need to know about the CTA for your blog posts. 

What Is the CTA?

our call to action (CTA) is one of the most important parts of your post. 

Typically found at the end of the post, your CTA relates to the content of the post and effectively compels the reader to click a link for further action.

The CTA is the piece of your post that can turn a reader into a customer. It's called "conversion." 

Your conversion rate helps you track how well your content works to engage consumers and turn them into leads. 

When planning your post's content, be sure you think through to the end of the post and the action you want your reader to take. 

What Makes a Good CTA?

CTA's can be just about anything that makes sense for your business and drives further engagement. 

Keep CTAs short and to the point. Work them into the flow of a sentence or ending paragraph. Your CTA options are limited only by your creativity, offers, and how you can track the desired action. 

A few good CTA options include:

• Read More

• Click Here

• Download our Free Guide

• Contact Us

• Start Your Free Trial

• Sign up Now

Your call to action should feel like a natural next step for the reader. When your blog content leads the visitor through the article and compels them to follow your CTA, you've created a successful piece to your inbound marketing campaign. 

Where Does It Go?

We mentioned that most CTAs go at the end of your blog post or article. That's the most common spot. If you put a CTA anywhere, make sure it's there! 

Can you put a CTA anywhere else? Yes! 

• Place CTAs throughout your website. Each page should have an action for the reader. 

• Use buttons for your CTAs on your home page and landing pages.

• Make sure CTAs stand out from the page text. 

• Within a blog post or pillar page, add another CTA or internal link earlier in the article. You can also add a side panel with the CTA midway through your article. 

Be sure your call to action links make sense: never add links just for the sake of adding links. 

You can drive inaction from your reader by placing too many CTA links within an article or on a web page. When there are too many links and too many options, readers can get overwhelmed and abandon your page. 

Never Compete

If you have too many offers or actions you'd like your visitors to take on your website, you distract your target audience. 

Your CTA links should never compete with other CTA links on your page. 

Your home page is one strategic exception to this rule. When property owners or renters land on the home page, they need direction about where to go next. It's okay to direct people from the home page to different sections of your website to help them find a solution. 

Within a blog post or a landing page, stick to one offer and CTA. 

Track It!

Your call to action isn't serving its purpose if you aren't tracking it! Tracking your CTA helps you evaluate how well it works. 

• Is the offer good? 

• Is the CTA text compelling people to click? 

• Is the placement on the page effective? 

Tracking and collecting information through your CTA links tells you a couple of key metrics to help answer the questions above. At a minimum, your link metrics should tell you:

• How many people click-thru to the offer

• Once on the offer page, how many people complete the offer

Your CTA is a lead-generation tool. Use your call to action to collect names and contact information from new potential customers. 

Your CTA Can Make or Break an Inbound Campaign

We don't mean to sound dramatic, but your inbound marketing campaign really can depend on the effectiveness of your CTAs: it's all about the "action" of the call to action.

If you're not sure if your offers are effective or how to create compelling CTAs, let Geekly Media help! We're passionate about growing property management businesses. Our expertise lies not only with property management, but we're also experts with inbound marketing.