Does your website design integrate a call to action? It should. If your website is just a plain piece of paper (or stylish stationary) with information, then users are simply going to get the information they need and leave. By integrating a call to action in your website design you can dramatically increase the number of users that participate on your website.

A call to action is simply a statement that instructs a user on what to do: register, sign up, get a newsletters, etc The trick to an effective call for action is positioning.

There are a few rules you need to keep in mind when positioning your call to action:

• Keep it above the fold. In fact, keep it -- and the link you want your users to click on -- near the top of the page. You'll want your call to action to be one of the first things your users see so you can almost guarantee that every visitor will at least red it, if not act on it.

• Make the text stand out. Blending works great with contextual ads, but sucks for a call to action. Red, bold text usually works best, but it depends on the overall design of your website.

• Make your call to action a link. If you want them to sign up for a newsletter, then make sure your call to action is a link to the registration page. Just because you have a signup form under the call to action doesnt mean people will actually use it.

• Use action words. Plain words -- like forums, newsletter, and website -- do not make a user want to jump at the opportunity to give you their information. Action words, on the other hand, do: now, free, register, hurry, today, soon, fast, etc are all signals to do something and do it fast.

Increasing the rate which users act on your campaign is simple: you need to tell them what to do, by effectively incorporating a call to action in your website design.