Depending on the purpose of your website, it’s likely that you’ll have various types of users coming to the site, all with different requirements.
There might some content on your site that will appeal to a cross section of those audiences. For instance, you might have a great story on your blog that you want to share with existing supporters via your regular email newsletter but which will also be interesting to new visitors on your site.
For a cold audience, offering users a simple action like signing up to an email newsletter can be a great initial way of engaging with them. Having the newsletter registration form on your blog page makes it quick and easy for anyone who’s interested in finding out more about your work to sign up. Once you’ve got them on board you’ll have more opportunities to tell them about your work and encourage them to take other actions.
If you’re also sending existing supporters to the same blog from your email newsletter, having the newsletter sign up form as a call to action on that page is a waste of the opportunity to engage with them. If you have alternative calls to action available, why not replace the newsletter sign up form with something more relevant for those users? You could encourage them to share the content on social media, donate to support your work or sign up to an event.
One of the great things about Drupal is that it can give you that degree of flexibility for your website. You can create a dynamic page template which will allow you to swap calls to action just by using a specific version of the link to a particular piece of content. You could have any number of different calls to action depending on your audience and channels.
By making it easier for supporters to engage with your website in a meaningful way you can maximise the potential of your audience. If you can avoid asking them to carry out an action that you’ve already done, you’ll ensure that you make the most of their time on your site.
