Do you have a blogging strategy? Whether you are blogging on your own website or on other online publications like Medium or LinkedIn, the thing that will make your content successful is a strategic CTA – a call to action.
No matter where you write, your post should always end with some form of call to action that gets the reader to do something and not forget about you. In this post, we’re going to look at 6 great CTAs you should start using in your blog posts right now.
On-Site CTAs for Your Blog Posts
First, we’re going to focus on calls to action you can place on your own blog and website.
1. Get readers to read more of your content
The longer someone stays on your website, the more they’ll get to know you and your business. Hence, the first call to action you can add to your blog posts is one that gets readers to click through to your other posts. This can actually be done throughout your blog posts simply by linking related topics to related keywords.
By doing this, you do a couple of things. For starters, if the reader gets into your article and then realizes they aren’t that into it (which happens no matter how great of a writer you are), it may get them to a topic they are interested in. Second, it shows them that there is a lot of great content on your website to explore. If they don’t have the time to do that now, they’ll might bookmark your website to reference it for later or subscribe to your blog.
2. Get readers to share your posts on social
There are lots of places you can place social sharing buttons. But the most important place to put them is at the end of your post, because anyone who has completed your post has likely enjoyed it enough to share it. You can easily use them in conjunction with other calls to action (such as getting readers to leave a comment, which we will talk about next).
The key to success with social sharing buttons is to not go overboard with them. Some plugins and extensions will allow you to have social sharing buttons to every social network possible added to each of your blog posts. But in all reality, the most social referral traffic is going to come from sharing options for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and email. So make sure that those are the options you give people at the end of each of your blog posts when possible.
3. Get readers to leave a comment
Do you know what turns a blog into a community? The comments section. It’s a tough thing to maintain for some businesses, but if your business has the time to separate the real discussion from the drivel, then definitely allow comments on your blog and encourage people to leave a comment with a call to action. Just be sure to end your blog post with a question that sparks a conversation.
There are lots of ways to spark a conversation at the end of a blog post. You can ask readers if they have any questions. You can ask them what their experience with the subject of the post is. You can ask them how they plan to take action on some tips you suggested. You can ask readers if they thought you left anything out.
Ideally, you want to have a new question at the end of each post so your readers don’t become “blind” to it. This is true for most calls to action, for that matter. The more they see it, the less likely they are to follow it.
4. Get readers to subscribe
There are a variety of routes you can go when creating a call to action to turn a reader into an email subscriber. For example, if you have a newsletter where you send people your latest blog posts (with your latest listings too), you could say that if the reader liked this post, they should subscribe to your email list to get the next post delivered to their inbox in your newsletter.
An even better way to convince someone to subscribe to your email list at the end of a great blog post is to offer them an even better piece of content. For example, let’s say that your blog focuses on people looking to buy a home in a specific area. At the end of your posts, you could offer a free ebook on what to look for when buying a home in that specific area. Anyone reading your posts would likely be interested in that download, and anyone who downloads it would likely be a potential lead for your business.
5. Get readers to contact you
If your business relies on getting people to reach out to you via phone or via email about your listings or services, then end your post with a CTA that encourages readers who need your help to send you an email, give you a call, or schedule an appointment for a consultation. It’s a little more direct, but if you can take your reader to that next level in your sales funnel then you will really ramp up the value of your blog content as a whole!
6. Get readers to follow you on social media
The best way to get people to follow you on social media is to give them a reason why! If you want people who are reading your blog post to follow you on Facebook, add something at the end of your blog that entices them to keep up with you.
A great example of this is to add a “Follow Us” CTA at the end of a listing or a great blog post they just read about cool places to eat in your area. Example: “Follow me on facebook and you’ll be the first to get notified on new restaurants in your area.” Giving them an incentive and not just asking for a follow makes it easier to connect with someone.
