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How to Write and Design an Effective Call-to-Action

Are you finding it difficult to improve your conversion rate?

An ineffective call to action might be the answer to your problem.

Do you want to collect more email addresses? Do you want more people to subscribe to your newsletter? Whatever your end goal is, a well-crafted call to action can help you achieve it.

In this blog post, we’re going to discuss what a call to action is. You will learn how to effectively create one and start improving your conversion rate.

Let’s get started.

What is a call to action?

A call to action is a link or a button that convinces readers to perform an action. It can be found in websites and email campaigns.

Calls to action usually ask people to:

• Subscribe to a newsletter
• Sign up for a webinar
• Sign up for a free trial
• Download an ebook or other free materials
• Take advantage of a sale, discount or coupon

If you have ever visited a business website, you have most likely seen a call to action. To see an example of an excellent call to action, visit HubSpot.

As soon as you land on their website, you will see a heading, a brief subheading, and a call to action that tells you to Get HubSpot free.

The call to action is clear, stands out and draws the eye. It tells users what will happen if they click on it, and the white button can quickly be seen against the blue background.

Begin with a goal in mind.

Before you even ask visitors to do anything, you need to have a clear goal in mind.

What exactly do you want your call to action to achieve? Do you want to promote a particular product or service? Do you want more newsletter subscribers? Do you want users to download an ebook that shows off your expertise?

Do not stop there.

After the call to action, what’s next? Think of the big picture. How does your call to action help achieve your goals?

Let us say you run a travel agency, and you want to generate more leads. You can create an ebook entitled Ten Sydney Spots Tourists Don’t Know About, and offer it to site visitors. Your call to action can be “Download Ebook Now.”

The ebook contains information people can’t find elsewhere online. It proves to potential customers that you’re an expert in your field. They will be more willing to book a tour through your travel agency.

That is just one example.

You have plenty of options depending on your target audience and industry.

In a nutshell, begin with a goal in mind. Reverse engineer how to achieve that goal with the call to action.

Avoid being generic.

People encounter phrases like “Submit now” and “Click this link” so many times that they have lost meaning. If you use those two phrases in your call to action, you will most likely not see any results.

Keep it simple, but do not be generic.

Instead of telling people to submit something, tell them exactly what will happen if they click on the link. Will they get something in exchange? Will they be entertained, informed or inspired?

Make it clear to users what’s in it for them.

Copyblogger’s website has an excellent example of a call to action that gets the job done. It promises superior business results. All you have to do is enter your email address, and click on Get the Free Training.

Make your call to action enticing.

Wording your call to action right is necessary, but the work does not stop there.

You also have to consider aesthetics. This includes colours, the font and placement.

A call to action should not be hard to find. In fact, it should draw a visitor’s eye as soon as they land on a website.

You can accomplish this by using contrasting colours for your call to action and its background.

To see how this is done, visit HubSpot’s webpage. Their call to action is a white box against a blue background. It draws the visitor’s eye as soon as the webpage loads.

Users do not have to exert effort to look for the call to action. HubSpot makes it as easy for them as possible, ensuring they click on the call to action before leaving.

You also have to think about where you place your call to action.

In the digital world, there is something called above the fold. It refers to everything you see on a webpage before you have to scroll down.

As much as possible, your call to action needs to be above the fold. Users now have shorter attention spans than ever. Make sure to tell them everything they need to know before they even scroll down and lose interest.

A good structure for your above the fold call to action should include:

• Heading – This summarises what your business does for people.
• Subheading – This expands on the heading and filters out users who are not part of your target audience.
• Call to Action – This convinces users to do something after they read the heading and subheading.

Conclusion

Creating a call to action may look simple, but it requires a lot of thought and effort.

You need to consider the call to action’s main goal, how to phrase it, and how it looks on the webpage.

If you create an effective call to action, it could propel you closer to your business goals.

Need help crafting a call to action? Get in touch with Cornerstone Digital, a Sydney web development company. Call us on (02) 8211 0668 or email us at info@cornerstone-digital.com.au.

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Darlyn Herradura

A self-professed book and digital marketing nerd, Darlyn Herradura focuses on building trust between customers and businesses with the written word. She understands that creating valuable content is the best way to get found online and happily spends her time doing that.