Chapter 4. Easily Implementable Changes to Improve Your Website

Abstract

Before we can talk about links or buttons, we’ve got to cover an important concept in online marketing. It’s called the CTA (“call to action”). Douglas Karr, writing for Martech, defines CTA: “A call to action is typically as a region of the screen that drives the reader to click-through to engage further with a brand.”

Whenever you ask someone to subscribe to your library’s newsletter, register for a program, or get further information, those are examples of CTAs. They’re very common online, but very few libraries have truly mastered how to make these attractive to readers. “Getting people to perform a click of a mouse button—or any desired action—however, is never easy. It takes careful planning and strategizing to get people to heed your CTA, let alone act on it.” It’s simply easier for people to ignore what you’d like them to do than to, you know, actually do it.