Day 7
What Do You Want Your Readers to Do Next? Compelling CTA.
Hi everyone and welcome to Day 7 where we will concentrate on our readers.
You’ve written a blog post and you’re ready to hit publish. You just know your readers will love it. Before you actually hit that publish button, take a minute and think about what you want your readers to do when they’re done reading your post.
What do you want them to do next? You have quite a few options here. Maybe you want them to leave you a comment. Maybe you want them to share your post on Facebook or Twitter. Maybe you want them to read another post of yours. Maybe you want them to sign up for your email list. Maybe you want them to buy something (either your own product or something you’re an affiliate for). This is not an all-inclusive list, but we have the big actions covered.
The one thing you don’t want to do is leave them hanging at the end. Not only is it not beneficial to you if all they do is “x” out of your blog, you’re also doing your readers a disservice if you leave them hanging. You’re taking them on a journey with your post, now tell them what they should do next. It’s part of your job as a blogger.
It’s called a Call to Action (CTA) and usually comes toward the end of your blog post. It doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it should be clear and convincing. Sometimes you want to push hard and get a little aggressive, but most of the time, keep it easy and casual. Let’s run through a few CTA examples.
Ask Them to Comment
What are your favorite ways to end your blog posts? Do you use a particular call to action? Leave me a comment below and let’s talk.
Comments work well on posts with maybe a bit of controversy. Or posts where you are teaching some tips. What is your best tip for teaching your dog to sit? for example.
As we mentioned on day 4, your readers can give you ideas for future posts. You can encourage them to add a comment to give you more ideas.
Is there anything I missed on creating blog titles? Leave a comment and let me know.
Or
Would you like to learn more about creating blog titles? What else would you like to know? Let me know in the comments box.
Connect on Facebook
Got questions about crafting calls to action? Let’s talk about it on our Facebook page. (Link to your Facebook page).
Make a Product Recommendation
There’s a lot more to be said about crafting a strong call to action. Take a look at this guide to learn more.
This works great with your own products. It also works well with products you have talked about that you use yourself.
Invite Them to Join Your List
I have a lot more to share on the topic of blogging and would love to email you with more tips and strategies on a regular basis. Just enter your name and email below and we’ll get started right away. As a thank you, I’ll even send you my guide to writing strong blog post titles that will grab your readers’ attention.
If you have no other calls to action in mind, you should aim to get your readers on your list.
Calls to action aren’t hard to write and they give your readers clear directions on what to do next. Before you hit publish on your next blog post, make sure you have a clear CTA at the end.
Let’s Recap
Start looking at your Calls to Action.
Think these things through before you create each of your new posts.
- Think about the main aims of your blog. Do you want to build a list with an aim of selling recommended or your own products? Do you just want an engaged audience, for now.
- Decide on different types of CTA that you will want to use.
- You could start making a list of the different comments you are going to start using for different situations.
- Decide on the purpose of your next post.
- Decide the CTA for this post.
- Draft your call to action.
- Give it a go on your next post!
So, this is your tip for Day 7. Give it a try and see what you can do to engage your readers or increase your list. Let us know what works for you.Any questions or problems, ask in the comments box below. I will be in touch tomorrow with another tip.
Previous Days Posts
Click here for the post from Day 1
Click here for the post from Day 2
Click here for the post from Day 3
Click here for the post from Day 4
Click here for the post from Day 5
Click here for the post from Day 6
Disclosure: Please note that some of the links are affiliate links. This means I will earn a commission at no additional cost to you, if you make a purchase after clicking through my link. I have experienced these companies, and recommend them because I find them useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you buy something through my links. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or they will help you achieve your goals.
Hello Penelope, I have a question about the CTA. I write a lot of poetry. How do I write a question to encourage others to comment at the end of a poem? It’s harder with poetry. Is it appropriate to say, “What stood out to you in this poem?” This may get a little repetitive after a while though. Please let me know. Thanks. 🙂
Hi, Carly and great question. I think it depends on the type of poem. You could certainly say things like ‘what stood out’ but yes that could get a bit boring. I think it would be good to actually reference the poem in some way. Say it was about how lovely cherry blossom is. You could end with a personal note saying ‘I wrote this poem because I walk past an avenue of cherry trees that are in full bloom at the minute. What are your favourite sights and smells that signal spring is really here?’. Or if you were writing a poem about being happy, end by saying ‘well that is how I am feeling at the minute. What people or things make you feel happy?’. I think you just need to add a personal commentary at the end of the poem about why you wrote it, how you were feeling, what happened to make you write it, then you can link the request to comment to that rather than the poem itself. Does that help?