End every page with the obvious next step for someone who has read it all: a way to book or call, examples of the work, or the related service. One clear step, specific to the page.

Where the page stops

A heating company's heat pump page runs to about nine hundred words. How heat pumps work, which sizes suit which houses, how loud they are, what maintenance involves.

The last paragraph is about changing filters. Below it sits the footer: an address, a copyright line and four social media icons.

Somebody who reads that far has given the page several minutes. They are as interested as any visitor the site will get this week, and the page has stopped talking to them.

On a phone, the menu is behind an icon at the top, a long scroll away. The back button is much closer.

The reader at the bottom

Visitors who skim leave early, from the top of the page. The ones who reach the bottom are readers, and readers are usually deciding something.

They want to know whether you can do it for their house, what happens if they ask, and roughly what it costs. A page that ends without addressing any of that sends them looking.

Looking means scrolling back up, opening the menu, guessing which item leads to a quote, and hoping the form asks something sensible. Each step is a chance to stop.

The bottom of a long page is one of the best places on the site to ask for something, because mostly the interested get there.

What each kind of page should end with

The fourth is the one most often missed. Blog posts bring in visitors from search who have exactly the problem the business solves, and they usually end with a list of recent posts and a cloud of tags.

The post explained the problem well and never mentioned that the company fixes it.

One step, written for that page

A generic banner saying contact us today, repeated at the foot of every page, becomes furniture. Visitors stop seeing it by the third page.

The ending works when it continues the page. A heat pump page ends with booking a heat pump assessment, not with a general invitation to get in touch.

Name the action specifically and say what it involves: a free visit, about an hour, a written quote within two days. A button that says learn more promises nothing in particular.

Offer one main step, with at most one quieter alternative beside it, such as photographs of recent installations. Five options at the bottom are as unhelpful as none.

The phone number belongs there too

The number in the header is a long way up after nine hundred words on a phone.

Repeat it at the end of the page, set up so a tap starts the call. Someone who has decided to phone should not have to scroll for the number.

Add when someone will answer. A visitor reading at ten at night wants to know whether calling now reaches a person or a voicemail.

Answer the question before asking

People hesitate at the bottom of a page because committing feels open-ended. They do not know what the next step leads to.

Two or three short lines remove that: what happens after they ask, how quickly you reply, and whether anything costs money.

A sentence such as "we call back the same working day, and the visit and quote are free" does more than any button colour.

A worked example

A timber frame company had a gallery of about sixty finished homes, barns and pavilions, and it was one of the most visited pages on the site.

Analytics also listed it among the top exit pages, the pages people were on when they left.

On a phone, the reason was plain. The gallery ended at the last thumbnail, followed by the footer, with no number, no form and no word about what any of the work cost.

The gallery had been built to show the work, and it did. Nobody had decided what a visitor impressed by the work should do next.

The company added a short ending under the photographs: a line inviting enquiries about a frame like these, and a button to the form with the type of project already chosen.

A phone number that dials with one tap sits beside it, and each project's caption now links to the matching service page.

The pages people forget have an end

The error page shown for a missing address is often the most neglected. It should offer the main services, a search box and the phone number, not just an apology.

The thank-you page after a form is sent ends a conversation that has barely begun. It can point to the gallery or the FAQ while the visitor waits for a reply.

Finding the dead ends

Start with Analytics. In Universal Analytics, the Exit Pages report lists the pages visitors were on when they left the site.

Every visit ends somewhere, so exits alone are not a fault. Fix first the popular pages with nothing after them.

Then open every page on a phone, scroll to the very bottom, and write down what is offered there. A spreadsheet with one row per page makes the gaps obvious.

The counter-case

Some pages should end quietly.

Care instructions, warranty details and payment information are read mostly by existing customers, and a sales push at the bottom reads as tone-deaf. A line saying who to call with questions is enough there.

A short news item or a legal page does not need a booking button either.

And a page should not ask after every paragraph. One step at the end of a page beats six scattered through it.

Everywhere else, end each page with the one step its reader is most likely to want next.

The fix, page by page

  1. Open each page on a phone.
  2. Scroll to the very bottom and note what is there.
  3. Name the one next step for that page.
  4. Write it as a specific action, not learn more.
  5. Repeat the phone number where a thumb can tap it.
  6. Link the related service or examples.
  7. Start with the pages people leave from most.

Step three is where the thinking happens. Deciding what a reader of this particular page wants next is the real work; the button is the easy part.

The menu a visitor falls back on is the subject of hamburger menus on a desktop screen.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the end of a page matter?

Visitors who reach the bottom of a long page are among the most interested, and usually deciding something. A page that stops there sends them looking, or leaving.

What should a service page end with?

How to get a quote or a visit for that specific service, what that involves, the phone number as a tappable link, and perhaps examples of the work.

Is a contact banner on every page enough?

Usually not. An identical banner on every page becomes furniture that visitors stop seeing. The ending works better when it continues the page it sits on.

How many options should the ending offer?

One main step, with at most one quieter alternative beside it. Five options at the bottom of a page help no more than none.

How do I find pages without a next step?

Check the Exit Pages report in Analytics for popular pages people leave from, then open every page on a phone and note what sits at the bottom.

Should every page end with a sales push?

No. Care instructions, warranty and payment pages are read mostly by existing customers. A line saying who to call with questions is the right ending there.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Service pages that end at the footer?

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