How great call-to-action buttons can grow your business
Tracking where business comes from and how customers find your website has become second-nature to most businesses. But are you missing a trick when it comes to converting your leads?
Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are a great way to boost orders, add subscribers to your email newsletter – therefore expanding your database – and encourage people to attend an event. And for such a simple action, the effects can be huge – one communications agency reported an increased click-through rate of 158% when they included CTA buttons in a marketing email!
Of course, it’s not enough to simply add any old CTA button and hope for the best. It must be appealing enough to persuade people that they need what you’re offering and induce them to click on it. Some companies eschew using CTA buttons, but the issue is not that they don’t work – it’s that their buttons aren’t attractive or visible enough to entice potential customers to click on them.
So how can you make CTA buttons work for you? Here are our top tips:
- CTA buttons should scream “Here I am!”
Websites need to grab visitors’ attention in under seven seconds, or the likelihood is that they’ll browse on. CTA buttons, ideally, should be obvious in fewer than three seconds or people are less likely to click on them.
Don’t be afraid to use large text in a colour that stands out – while it should still be consistent with your overall brand, this is the equivalent of a flashing neon sign with the sole purpose of grabbing attention.
- Review your position
Where you actually place your CTA is important too – think of those sponsored Facebook posts that appear in your feed and how obvious the ‘Like’ button is.
Your CTA button should be positioned somewhere it will catch attention.
Studies show that while people’s eyes move rapidly from left to right as they view web pages and read horizontally, they also scan vertically with the focus on the right-hand side.
So, generally, putting your CTA button on the right side of the page near the top is a good option. There are, however, always exceptions – depending on the content of your page or even your market area, sometimes it might be best to have your button elsewhere. Don’t be afraid to experiment – move your button around and see what works best, or ask your networks to give their views.
- Choose your words carefully
The point of a CTA button is to compel your lead or visitor to do something – whether it’s placing an order or signing up to your newsletter. You need to make them want what you’re offering.
Keep text short and to the point – users want to see what’s on offer immediately. Use active verbs that give a clear message straight away. ‘Click for your free trial’ or ‘Get a quote’ are better options than ‘Click here to sign up for our monthly newsletter’.
- Make it happen now
When we’re browsing the internet and see something of interest, we might bookmark it to read later. Sometimes we go back to it, but often we don’t.
With CTA buttons, if you don’t prompt action immediately, the chances of a visitor returning later are virtually non-existent.
So how do you create that sense of urgency? Words like ‘now’ are good, as they imply your offer might not be available at a later stage; in fact, there’s nothing wrong with adding a date to time-limit it. ‘Click now for your free trial – offer ends June 5’ instils the idea that if you don’t do it right away, you’ll miss out on something valuable.
- Make sure the landing page is as good as it can be
Your website might be great. Your CTA buttons are clear and attractive. People are interested in what you are offering and click on them.
But if they’re taken to a landing page that is cluttered, unprofessional or badly-designed, you could lose them instantly – undoing all your previous good work.
Reams of text in an aggressive or ‘loud’ font, too many colours, brand inconsistency with your website – there are many factors that can put people off taking that final step.
Make sure you focus on the whole process from the buttons to sign-up to be sure of capturing as many leads as possible.
Getting the design right is as important when it comes to your CTA buttons as for any other element of your marketing materials. Your graphic design agency can offer you invaluable advice and will be able to produce something that perfectly suits your needs. If you subscribe to Designs Unlimited, you can call on us whenever you like for a fixed monthly cost – which means you can change your buttons as often as you like to find the ones that work best for you. Get in touch if you’d like more details.