One secret to great marketing? Get visitors to read the next paragraph. There’s an argument that everything else flows from that.
Folks like me talk endlessly about calls to action, but the first real job of any website is to make people want to keep reading. It sounds obvious, yet so few companies do it well. Scroll through B2B websites and you’ll notice the same thing: headlines, images and call-to-action buttons, all begging for attention long before the reader has been given any reason to care.
We all know that nobody clicks “Buy Now” out of curiosity. They do it because they already want what we’re offering — and that desire doesn’t come from buttons. It comes from words, images, and ideas that spark interest, build intrigue, and make people feel that there’s something worth discovering just below the surface. The best marketing doesn’t push the sale; it pulls the reader forward.
A simple test: look at what appears on your website before a visitor scrolls. Does it make a visitor curious enough to scroll or click? If so, you’ve already done more than most websites manage. From there, every section should earn the next click by keeping the reader engaged and wanting more.
I’ve seen this described as building momentum. It makes the call to action far less critical. Engage first, and the response will come.