Action buttons allow visitors to interact on your website: if they are interested in your brand, content, product or service, it is the call-to-action (CTA) or call to action. action that allows them to move on to the next step. Although CTAs can be small in size, they are an essential gateway to converting and moving visitors down the sales funnel. This is why it is essential that you optimize them…
What is a call-to-action (CTA)?
The concept of call-to-action (or CTA for short) has been a key marketing term long before the days of digital marketing. When used in print advertising, the call to action is often a message directly encouraging consumers to take a specific action: for example, a message on the flyer saying “call now” or “book an appointment today “.
With digital marketing, calls to action have much more impact because clicking on them allows the customer to start taking the action encouraged by the CTA: when you shop online and see a button. call to action with the words ‘Buy Now’, clicking it will take you directly to the checkout to enter your payment details. This is why calls to action are so important for sales.
In general, a good call-to-action should:
- Be easily understandable and persuasive;
- Attract the visitor’s attention with their images;
- Allow the visitor to perform the action for which he came to the site.
There are several things to consider when optimizing CTAs. This article will go over the essentials to optimize your CTAs, thus helping to increase conversions. Let’s go !
1. Create the right context for your call to action
Before you start any design or button text optimization, you need to think about the context in which your CTA appears:
- How do visitors land on this button?
- What do they gain by clicking on it?
- How does it help optimize the user experience?
- How does it move the prospect down the sales funnel?
Remember, not all visitors to your website have the same interests. And your main call to action, meaning the action that is your brand’s primary goal, won’t resonate with your entire target audience.
To increase your chances of converting your visitors, you can set up several CTAs to:
- Meet the expectations and interests of different individuals;
- Increase conversion rates and click-through rates.
For example, on e-commerce sites, you will often have the choice between: “Add to cart” or “Click and collect” in the design of the checkout page. This allows the brand to meet the needs of online shoppers looking to convert into customers and visitors who just do research before visiting a store.
2. Build trust in your CTAs
Customers can spot a call to action a mile away. They know that clicking on a CTA will lead to some kind of engagement. Unless they’re completely sure about this engagement, they won’t click on it, so the message of your calls to action should be crystal clear to give customers the clarity they need to click. This will increase your sales by building trust. A good way to make your CTAs more relevant is to mention people to make your business feel more personal and to remind the customer that real people are waiting to help them. So instead of a call to action saying “Schedule a meeting”, say “Talk to us” now for example.
3. Don’t overwhelm your audience: keep it simple and to the point
The CTA is therefore supposed to be short, simple and to the point to avoid overwhelming your target audience with flashy messages that are too long and basically boring. Therefore, keep it brief and keep it memorable. CTA messages, such as “subscribe now”, “learn more”, “get started”, “join for free”, “buy now”, etc., tend to be more effective than long messages trying to explain your intent. Limit your CTAs to no more than four words if possible. Plus, if you turn that post into a button CTA that you strategically place on your website, it will be even more effective. In other words, it’s about sending the right message, at the right time and to the right place.
4. Choose where to place the CTA
The placement of CTA buttons is an important part of optimization. It depends on the circumstances, the situation and, of course, the preferences of your audience. That said, you will need to carefully consider where and how to place your CTA buttons. You need to place them in a way that everyone can see your CTA and remember it, but also avoid being intrusive and pushy about it. Here are some examples to consider:
- Included in your newsletter;
- At the top of your page;
- In a footer or in a blog post;
- Right in the middle of the page;
- Near the search bar;
- As a welcome pop-up on your landing page.
5. Use strong imperative verbs and clear language
When choosing the verb for CTA, focus on the desired action: buy, call, ask, etc. The verbs you use should provide direction and guidance to your users.
Again, be as clear and concise as possible to avoid confusion. Users should be able to understand and imagine what exactly will happen after clicking on your CTA. Avoid situations where they click “Register” and face an endless number of fields to fill out. In this case, it is better to be simple and use the text “Fill out the form” instead of “Register”.
Here are some examples of clear calls to action:
- “Buy the e-book”
- “Register in one click”
- “Download for Windows”,
- “Try free for 30 days”
- “Fill in the Google form”,
A first-person call-to-action copy also feels more personal and open. Don’t tell the user what to do, but rather offer to accept your offer. Here are some examples to inspire you:
- “Add me to your list”
- ” Keep me informed “
- ” Tell me more “
- “I want to see your best offers”
6. Choose a relevant wording for your call-to-action
The wording of your CTA should be crystal clear. The visitor must immediately understand why he will click and what will happen next with your writing. Do they want to download a resource? Register? Request a demo? Make an appointment?
To easily decide on the wording of your CTA, put yourself in the shoes of your visitors and complete the sentence “I want…”:
- Download an ebook
- Register now
- Request a demo
- Make an appointment
Avoid generic terms as much as possible such as “Learn more”, “Click here”, “See”, “Buy”, etc. They may correspond well to the expected action of the visitor, but they are completely overused online and far too impersonal. Stand out with something more original that uses action words to convert customers.
Your CTA must indeed be attractive, capture the attention of your visitors and encourage them to stay on your site. To do this, you need to give the visitor control of the process:
- Speak directly to the visitor or put yourself in their shoes : “Access your/my advantages” or “Download your/my ebook”.
- Use action verbs : “Start”, “Ask”, “Download”.
- Play on the sense of urgency “Now”, “As of today”, “Immediately”.
By using these words in your CTA, you make the visitor the main actor on your page and encourage them to convert.
7. Use responsive design
When we say responsive design, remember that it’s likely that at least half of your users are browsing your site or reading your emails on a mobile device. Before publishing, make sure you’ve checked the placement and appearance of your CTAs on a variety of screen sizes and software agents. An ideal position for your CTA is at the top of the page and in the middle column. This is where most people look when visiting a landing page.
8. Be creative
As mentioned earlier, for CTA optimization to work in your favor, you need to design them well. This is where creativity and innovation can be of great help. Visuals are your best friend in this business, so don’t hesitate to take advantage of their full potential.
For example, you need to choose the right color and graphic design for your CTA button. However, some companies go the extra mile to get really creative when it comes to optimizing their CTA. For example, some companies use the .me domain extension to customize an entire webpage and turn it into a giant CTA.
Most people think that CTA optimization is all about visuals, but no one said you can’t take it a step further and use a domain to your advantage. The thing is, consumers love things that are creative, innovative, and well-designed. Plus, they like to see something unique once in a while. Surprise your audience with creativity and your message will be well received.
9. Use contrasting colors and white space
To be effective, you need to make sure your CTA stands out from everything else on the page. As seen earlier, using contrasting colors is the easiest way to achieve this. If your CTA is the same color as the rest of your text, it will blend in with the background. Using lots of white space around your CTA also helps it stand out more. Size also matters, so make your CTA text larger than the surrounding text.
10. Test and refine
It is unlikely that you can create a perfectly optimized CTA from the start. Instead, it’s an ongoing process, and you should continually test and improve your CTAs as you learn more about what’s most effective on your audience. A/B testing is the best way to do this: split your audience in half and show them two different versions of your CTA. The version that converts the best wins.
Attention ! There’s no point in having a super effective CTA if the user clicks on it to land on a brocken page. Once you’re done creating your web page or email, be sure to click through all your CTAs and check that the links are going to the correct page and that all the forms are working correctly.
To conclude…
Optimizing your calls-to-action is a great way to boost sales on your site. You should always be very careful about how you phrase and present your call to action as well as where you place it. Beyond direct sales, it is also extremely important for increase the reach of your marketing strategies and build quality, long-term relationships with customers.