A call to action, or CTA for short, is all about getting your website users to perform your desired end goal. Every page, post, product or section of your site needs a call to action. Here’s what a call to action is and how to use them effectively throughout a website.
What Is a Call to Action: A definition
A CTA is a marketing term that refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience or reader to take. There are many different types of CTA but it’s frequently tied to clicking a link on a website. Here are a few examples of where CTA may be used.
- Encourage a customer to buy something, eg. a “Buy Now” button.
- Asking a user to get in touch, e.g. “Request a Call Back” at the end of a sales paragraph.
- A play button on a video is a visual CTA that indicates that a video can be shown.
- “Sign up to newsletter” in an email address input field.
- “Call Today”, with a clickable telephone number.
How to Use a Call to Action effectively
To be effective, a CTA should be obvious and should immediately follow the marketing message that convinces the user to perform the call to action.
Understanding Goals
Like all marketing, we must first understand our business, and/or website goals. There is usually one key action that we want our users to take on a website, either getting in contact or a sale. But there can also be minor goals and actions which we’d like them to undertake too; read more from a blog, download a case study or ask a question. The CTA for these secondary website goals can all add to the primary goal through building trust.
Goals can be defined for the website as a whole, but should also be for each individual page or post. Every separate web page should have its own CTA and may feature several depending on the context. Understanding the primary action for each page will help you determine which CTA will be most effective.
Format
The format of the CTA is an important factor in making it effective. The format is about where and how the CTA is placed.
- Within the text – this can work effectively if the copy is likely to be read in full and is geared towards those heavily invested in your text.
- Within the text and clickable – For a more actionable example of the above, include a text hyperlink.
- In a button – A CTA in a button is easy to spot and denotes an action as buttons are expected to be clickable.
Copy
Another important aspect is the Copy used. What’s the difference between “add to cart” or “buy now”? Would you choose “get in touch” or “contact the team today”? The choice of wording is vital to get right and can make your CTA a success or a failure. Employing a sales copywriter for service pages, case studies or product descriptions can ensure your CTA copy works effectively. Another option is to A/B text the copy. By presenting and measuring two different options you can select the best one for your user base.
Design
The design of CTA can highlight to users not only that the CTA is there but good design encourages them to action it. A button call to action is the most obvious option to highlight and change the design but a text-based call to action can also be improved with some details.
- Make your text highlighted. Bold, underlined and a different colour are the main ways to indicate the text is important and/or clickable.
- Font size should be large enough to read and have high contrast with its background.
- Button shape can determine how clickable a site is. Would you opt for square, rounded or round corners? What about borders and hover effects?
Discussing options with a UX designer can help you decide on the right changes.
Example of a call to action
CTA are a small but vital part of any good website. Now is the time to look at how your site is currently performing and see if you can make some improvements. If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy reading more from my resources blog. If you’re looking for help with your website and marketing strategy, get in touch with me today to check availability. Let’s grow your business together.