In the last episode, we covered UX vs. UI. We looked at cognitive overload and why luxury lives in the blank spaces. Today, we keep going on websites with three more questions. The call to action, the landing page, and whether Dear Diary belongs anywhere near your website.
Now, the first question. What is a call to action, and where should it go?
The call to action, or CTA, is the explicit instruction that tells your visitor what to do next. Book a consultation. Get a quote. Start a free trial. Buy now. Simple, direct, unambiguous. The visitor should never have to guess the next step. You tell them clearly and confidently.
Where do you put the CTA? Wherever your visual hierarchy has already guided the eye. Good web design takes the visitor on a deliberate journey — headline, value proposition, evidence, social proof — and delivers them to the CTA at the exact moment they’re ready to act. The call to action doesn’t interrupt that journey; it completes it.
But don’t make them hunt for it. Your primary CTA should be visible without scrolling. It belongs in your header. It should anchor the bottom of every major section. It should live on every single page of your site, regardless of what that page is about.
It’s important to remember: a visitor can land on your website through any door. Your about page, blog page, a case study. They should never need to be more than one obvious step away from taking action, no matter where they arrive. Repeat the call to action, then repeat it again and again.
Our second question. What is a landing page, and is it the same as my homepage?
No, they’re not the same thing, and confusing the two can be an expensive mistake. Your homepage is your front door. It welcomes everyone, points them in a dozen directions, invites them to explore.
A landing page is something else entirely. A landing page is a standalone, single-focus page, often stripped of navigation, external links, or exit routes. It exists for one reason: to take a specific stream of visitors from a specific campaign and convert them into a lead, a sale, a sign-up. Nothing else happens here. Nothing else should.
Think of it as a psychological trapdoor. The visitor arrives. There’s exactly one door in the room. It leads precisely where you need them to go.
And because landing pages live outside of your main site structure, they can be launched, tested, tweaked, or deleted without ever touching anything else. Great for a summer promotion, a product launch, a webinar sign-up. Each one gets its own page — clean, contained, and controlled.
But here’s the real power. It’s in the data. Send traffic to your homepage, and you can never be entirely sure why people left. Too many variables, too many paths. But send a thousand visitors to a dedicated landing page, and say 200 fill out the form. Now you know with mathematical certainty you’re converting at a 20% rate. You can measure it, improve it, and justify every dollar spent getting them there.
If your homepage is a helpful tour guide, your landing page is a focused closer. Stop sending your paid advertising traffic to your lobby. Send them to the room where the deals actually get signed.
Third question. Dear Diary: do I need a blog?
A blog is not a journal. Nobody’s coming to your website to read about your office Christmas party or how you hang in there on Monday mornings.
Done right, a blog is a search engine magnet. Every well-written, relevant article is another door into your website, another chance for Google to find you, index you, and serve you up to someone actively searching for exactly what you do. In SEO terms, that’s domain authority. The more consistently useful content you publish in your area of expertise, the more Google trusts your site as a credible source. That trust becomes higher ranking.
There’s an important caveat, though. An abandoned blog is worse than no blog at all. A last post dated three years ago tells visitors and every search engine that nobody’s home. That’s neglect, and neglect is not a brand message you want to be sending.
So the answer is conditional. If you can commit to publishing consistently, even once a month, a blog will work hard for your brand over time. If you can’t make that commitment, skip it entirely. A clear, current website with no blog beats a graveyard of three-year-old posts every single time.
Now, before we wrap, a quick one. There’s some exciting news coming soon about the book this podcast is based on, The Business Owner’s Guide to Branding, so keep an eye out for an update.
Next episode, we keep going. How often you should update your website, whether to use a mobile-first design, and whether a video belongs on your homepage at all.
That’s it for this episode of BRAND:NEW. Thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I don’t take your time for granted. If this helped you, share it with a business owner who needs it. And if you’ve got 10 seconds, please leave a rating. It would really mean the world to me. I’m Donovan. This has been BRAND:NEW. I’ll see you in the next episode.
A website can look beautiful and still fail at its one real job: getting the right visitor to take the next step. Three questions sit at the heart of that job.
What is a call to action, and where should it go?
Is a landing page the same thing as a homepage?
And does your business actually need a blog?
What Is a Call to Action?
The call to action, or CTA, is the explicit instruction that tells your visitor what to do next.
Book a consultation.
Get a quote.
Start a free trial.
Buy now.
Simple, direct, unambiguous.
Here is an example of a call to action:
COMPLETE THE FORM TO
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
"*" indicates required fields
Your visitor should never have to guess the next step. You tell them clearly and confidently.
The call to action doesn’t interrupt that journey. It completes it.
Where Should the Call to Action Go?
Wherever your visual hierarchy has already guided the eye. Good web design takes the visitor on a deliberate journey through the headline, the value proposition, the evidence, and the social proof, and delivers them to the CTA at the exact moment they’re ready to act. The call to action doesn’t interrupt that journey. It completes it.
Your visitor should never have to guess the next step.
But don’t make them hunt for it. Your primary Call to Action (CTA) should be visible without scrolling. It belongs in your header. It should anchor the bottom of every major section. And it should live on every single page of your site, regardless of what that page is about.
Remember that a visitor can land on your website through any door. Your about page, your blog, a case study. No matter where they arrive, they should never be more than one obvious step away from taking action. So repeat the call to action, then repeat it again and again.
No matter where they arrive, they should never be more than one obvious step away from taking action.
Is a Landing Page the Same as My Homepage?
No. They’re not the same thing, and confusing the two can be an expensive mistake.
Your homepage is your front door. It welcomes everyone, points them in a dozen directions, and invites them to explore.
A landing page is something else entirely. It’s a standalone, single-focus page, often stripped of navigation, external links, and exit routes. It exists for one reason, which is to take a specific stream of visitors from a specific campaign and convert them into a lead, a sale, or a sign-up. Nothing else happens there, and nothing else should.
Think of it as a psychological trapdoor. The visitor arrives. There’s exactly one door in the room, and it leads precisely where you need them to go.
Because landing pages live outside your main site structure, they can be launched, tested, tweaked, or deleted without ever touching anything else. That makes them ideal for a summer promotion, a product launch, or a webinar sign-up. Each one gets its own page, clean, contained, and controlled.
There’s exactly one door in the room, and it leads precisely where you need them to go.
THE REAL POWER IS IN THE DATA
Send traffic to your homepage, and you can never be entirely sure why people left. There are too many variables and too many paths.
But send a thousand visitors to a dedicated landing page and say 200 of them fill out the form. Now you know with mathematical certainty that you’re converting at a 20% rate. You can measure it, improve it, and justify every dollar spent getting them there.
If your homepage is a helpful tour guide, your landing page is a focused closer. Stop sending your paid advertising traffic to your lobby. Send it to the room where the deals actually get signed.
Stop sending your paid advertising traffic to your lobby. Send it to the room where the deals actually get signed.
DOES MY BUSINESS NEED A BLOG
A blog is not a journal. Nobody is coming to your website to read about your office Christmas party or how you hang in there on Monday mornings.
Done right, a blog is a search engine magnet. Every well-written, relevant article is another door into your website, another chance for Google to find you, index you, and serve you up to someone actively searching for exactly what you do.
In SEO terms, that’s domain authority. The more consistently useful content you publish in your area of expertise, the more Google trusts your site as a credible source. That trust becomes higher rankings.
The more consistently useful content you publish in your area of expertise, the more Google trusts your site as a credible source.
An Abandoned Blog Is Worse Than No Blog at All
There’s an important caveat, though. A last post dated three years ago tells visitors, and every search engine, that nobody’s home. That’s neglect, and neglect is not a brand message you want to be sending.
So the answer is conditional. If you can commit to publishing consistently, even once a month, a blog will work hard for your brand over time. If you can’t make that commitment, skip it entirely. A clear, current website with no blog beats a graveyard of three-year-old posts every single time.
This article accompanies Episode 23: “What Is A Call To Action? CTAs, Landing Pages, and Whether Your Business Needs a Blog” of BRAND:NEW.
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BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
"*" indicates required fields
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