Without a Call to Action, or CTA, your content probably won’t achieve any of your goals. But even when you do include them, your CTAs might not be performing as well as they could be. A good Call to Action won’t just be a load of ‘Buy Now’ buttons plastered all over your site. There are a number of important factors to consider, such as the colours you use, where the CTA is, and having a sense of urgency.
So if you’re looking to improve your CTAs in order to increase your success rate, we’ve listed a few tips below to help you get started.
Make it Visible
Your primary goal will almost certainly be getting customers to perform your CTA. So it’s therefore essential to make it visible. Keep the CTA near the top of the page if possible, otherwise customers could visit your main page and quickly navigate away from it before even seeing the Call to Action.
You need to make it clear what you want your customers to do, which generally means a big button! A lot of websites also use a static bar for this button, so that their CTA can always be seen, even when scrolling through the page.
Vary the Content
Throughout your website, it’s a good idea to vary the wording of the Call to Action slightly, to make the content a little more interesting. So rather than lots of ‘Buy Now’ buttons, try ‘Find Out More’, ‘Add to Basket’ or ‘Get Further Details’. People don’t like to feel pressured to make a purchase, so it’s key to give a variety of options.
When it comes to content, you also need to keep the CTA short. Generally, your Call to Action shouldn’t be longer than around five words, to ensure it’s easy to read and grabs the customers’ attention. As it’s a Call to Action, it’s important to use action words too – ‘Buy’, ‘Get’ or even ‘Find’ will encourage your customers to take the appropriate action.
Colour is Key
As mentioned above, your CTA needs to be visible. This means that you don’t want to use colours that fade into the background when designing your CTA. Try to use contrasting colours to the background, to make the Call to Action bold and easy to find on the page.
Of course you’ll also need to consider your branding when deciding on a colour scheme. For instance, if your main two colours are navy and lilac, a Call to Action button in bright orange would probably look out of place. You don’t have to match the colours exactly to your brand, otherwise the CTA might not stand out, but just be mindful of keeping on brand.
Have a Sense of Urgency
One of the best ways to motivate your customers to take action is to include a sense of urgency in your CTA. If they are told that they only have a limited time to perform the action, they are much more likely to proceed quickly.
For example, rather than just mention the fact that you have a sale on, let your customers know that they can get 25% off products for 48 hours only.
Overall, you just need to remember to make your CTA visible on the page, using a colour that stands out, while making sure the content is short and has a sense of urgency. And if you keep experimenting with different options, you’re bound to find the CTA that best suits your organisation, and gets you the most profitable results.