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3 Considerations for Successful Calls-to-Action

Writing, Designing, And Placement For Maximum Conversions

Calls-to-action (CTAs) are everywhere on the web, enticing visitors to “click here,” “give it a try,” or “act now.” They are a successful way to convert site visitors into sales leads by creating a clear path to the solution or product you are offering.

There are several things to consider when designing and placing calls to action on your website, and a thoughtful approach will help you generate your most compelling CTA’s and create new leads for your business.

Consider these three components when designing CTA’s for your website:

1) Voice

Pay close attention to your writing voice. Calls-to-action should be short and to the point. You won’t have a lot of words to play with so make sure what you write is with a deliberate voice.

Two voices that are effective for calls-to-action are the second person, “you,” and the voice of your prospect. For example, writing “start your free trial today” will get better traction than “try our service for free.”

The second person voice has the effect of speaking directly to your prospect. If you stick in the first person rut – using “I” and “our” – you’ll always be talking about yourself and your company. Prospects are more moved by understanding how they will benefit from engaging with you.

Using the voice of your prospect is another way to speak their language. Check out Crazyegg.com, a web analytics company that provides websites with heatmaps that show exactly where visitors are navigating and clicking on their website.

Crazy Egg uses a simple, “Show me my heatmap,” as a CTA. They know that this is exactly what customers are looking for when they arrive on the homepage so they deliver it to them as directly as possible. It’s a bold and fun way to engage with potential customers.

Whatever you are hoping your viewer will do, make it as clear as possible.

A CTA shouldn’t be a way to lure a visitor to a place they don’t want to go, rather it is a clear, bold, and sometimes fun way to get them what they want more quickly.

2) Design

A CTA should be an obvious call to your visitor, one that stands out and cannot be missed. If a prospect has to search around for it, then it is not serving its purpose.

A CTA can, and should, fit within your brand, but stand out enough that it doesn’t get lost amongst other website copy and images. Contrasting colors, buttons, a succinct message, and unique graphics will all help your CTA jump out at visitors and attract them to take another step further towards becoming an invested customer.

3) Placement

Once you’ve designed a killer CTA, where do you put it on the page? There isn’t one answer here, because, really, you should be putting it in many places!

A CTA near the top of your webpage will capture those site visitors who are just glancing at your content and not scrolling down. A series of CTAs placed within the body of the content further down will capture those visitors who are actively reading the page’s content and reach them just as they are digesting the meat of the page’s message.

These two CTAs can be designed differently, even if they lead to the same place. Having both allows you to reach the glancers and the readers.

You’ll also want to be nimble enough in your webpage design to place new CTAs front and center when you have a special offer. For example, businesses that offer a limited time discount will want to place a CTA about it prominently for the duration of the offer.

Some CTAs are best placed as static top-of-page buttons that appear throughout the pages of your site. This is a great strategy for businesses that rely on subscriptions, giving prospects an opportunity to subscribe no matter where they happen to be on the site. Another CTA that functions well at the top of every page is a “Contact Us” button.

Some technically advanced websites are employing a reactive CTA strategy, where the CTA appears as a pop up when the site visitor makes a certain mouse move, such as going up toward their browser’s back button. This technique attempts to re-engage visitors who are making a move to leave the page.

Successful calls-to-action are an essential part of any business website that has a product or service to sell. They guide site visitors to the next step in their buyers’ journeys and give you an effective way to convert website visitors into sales leads.

Thanks for stopping by,

Laura

Breezy Hill Marketing is a Vermont web design company and digital marketing agency specializing in inbound marketing strategy and building beautiful and mobile responsive websites for customers throughout the United States.

Shannon Briden

Account Manager
Shannon brings her MBA education and design background to find creative, innovative solutions to everyday marketing problems.

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