Youve probably seen the term call to action mentioned frequently in marketing lingo - so what does it mean?

In web marketing; a call to action is simply an instruction from the marketer/site owner to the reader/viewer/visitor regarding what that person should do; and the desired action is of course stacked in the marketers/site owners favor; e.g. - a sale, a subscription, a newsletter registration or a click.

The simplest and probably most commonly used call to action online is click here - over 1.5 billion instances of this occur on the web the last time I checked.

If you have an ecommerce site, you dont want people to just browse or just click, you want them to buy; and to tell others about you.

It may seem odd, but generally speaking, people need to be told what to do. Its rooted in our upbringing where for many years, we are instructed on what to do and when. It continues on in our working life and relationships. We might like to think we are individuals who answer to no-one; but even the most rebellious person can be persuaded to take a course of action they may not have chosen to otherwise.

As a very basic example, lets say you have an item for purchase on your site with all the details and a price, and a button that says buy. Thats a call to action.

But it may not be enough. When should the person buy? Next week, next year perhaps? You want them to buy it straight away before they drift off to another site and purchase the item there. So, in this example, buy now would be a more powerful term to use. Limited stock, buy today! is even more powerful; but just remember to keep your call to action truthful.

In another example, if you have an email newsletter, you might assume that people will forward it onto others. Sometimes they will; but often they are focused on themselves rather than on their friends. Mention this in a prominent position:

Forward this newsletter on to your friends and colleagues!

.. and believe it or not, it does actually work.

There are all sorts of calls to action; some subtle, some quite pushy - youll need to figure out what works best for your audience. Slowly turn up the persuasiveness until it no longer works, then backtrack one step - and there will be your sweet spot :). Go overboard from the outset and you may alienate many people.

Michael Bloch has been working the web as a successful marketing and development consultant since the late 90’s. Michael owns and operates TamingTheBeast.net; a popular Internet marketing and ecommerce resources site providing online business owners and affiliate marketers with valuable free advice, articles, tutorials and tools.