A good CTA (call-to-action) should work like a siren call to prospects, enticing them to take a desired action that will transform them from a prospect to a lead. Many marketers don’t give much thought to what that all-important CTA button says, but you need to be savvy about what will motivate people to redeem your offer. Even changing one little word can dramatically impact your conversion rate.
Here are some CTA best practices you should put into place on your website, blog, landing pages, PPC ads — anywhere you are asking people to engage with you:
Use first-person voice.
According to a recent study, CTAs that used the first-person voice delivered a 90% better conversion rate than those written in the second person. That’s right — changing one little word can make a huge difference! Some examples:
- Use Get My eBook instead of Get Your eBook
- Use Book My Free Consultation instead of Book Your Consultation
- Use Tell Me More instead of Read More
Marry action words with benefits.
CTAs are all about creating action, so use action-oriented words that tell people what you want them to do. But don’t stop there. You also need to tell them what they will get by clicking through.
Copyhackers blogger Joanna Wiebe discusses what she calls “friction words” — those that describe what people have to do, not what they want to do:
- High friction words: Sign Up, Buy, Submit, Give, Donate, Invest, Complete, Support, Sponsor
- Medium friction words: Join, Share, Switch, Find, Start, Visit, Learn
- Low friction words: Get, Discover, Reveal, Earn, Check Out (not in the shopping sense)
Sometimes these words can’t be avoided, but you can mitigate the friction by adding benefits — i.e., instead of Start Learning use Boost Your Brainpower.
Location, location, location.
Ideally, your CTA should be in a location that captures prospects when they are ready to take the action you want them to take. This calls for a little insight on your part as to where they are in the buying cycle. If they are on your testimonials page, they have more of an intention to buy than if they are on your home page, so your testimonials page is a good place for a free consultation CTA.
One of the best places for CTAs is at the end of a blog post or newsletter article. If you’re writing on a topic that is relevant to an eBook you offer, close out your post/article with a CTA for your eBook.
Stand out visually.
To be clicked on, your CTA button needs to be noticed. To make it stand out visually on the page, experiment with:
- Size: It needs to be big enough to read and click on mobile, since more traffic now comes from mobile than desktop or laptop computers. But making it too big risks “banner blindness” and people will look right past it.
- Shape: Ever wonder why so many CTA buttons have rounded corners? It’s psychological: our brains are wired to avoid pointy objects. Round off the corners on your rectangular buttons.
- Color: Color plays a huge role in attraction. There is no “magical” color that converts best, so choose a button color that contrasts with your page design.
- Image: If you are using an image in your CTA, be sure it is high resolution and relevant to your offer.
