Effective Website CTAs

A Call To Action (CTA) can either be a button or a text link on which you want your web visitors to click. It’s easier said than done—especially if you don’t apply the basic rules that produce better results. Often times they are hidden or just hard to find.

Below are a few rules to follow, as mentioned in the June issue of Promotional Consultant digital magazine.

1. Make it clear and self evident (Grandma Test)
Here is a way to find out if you did it right: Ask your 80-year-old grandma to look at your website and point out where or what to click on to renew/purchase/get more info. If she tells you where the button is within 10-20 seconds, you nailed it. Anything above 20 seconds is starting to be a concern. If it takes more than a minute before Grandma finds the button, then it’s time to start over. Here are some tips to make the CTA stand out: Make the color of the CTA contrast with the colors of your website, and consider the placement of the CTA to follow the path of the viewer’s eye. Also, make sure it fits the average browser size, and consider the flow of the page for CTA placement.

2. Get started vs. Click here
Some tests show buttons that read “Get Started” vs. “Click Here” will produce better results–in some cases 40 percent more clicks. The words on the buttons matter more than you think. Choose the right ones and you will increase your results.

3. Choose the right color buttons
Another test showed that a red button will consistently get better results than a green one. It’s most likely because red pops out of the page better than green. A red button will also imply more importance.

For more tips about CTAs, read the complete article from PCT‘s sister publication, Promotional Consultant magazine. PCT returns on Monday. Until then, have a great weekend.

Source: Antoine Dupont is president and COO of Admin eSolutions, a web design and content management software company that creates transaction-ready websites for small businesses, nonprofits and associations, among others. Located in Delray Beach, Florida, Dupont has worked in the events marketing and technology sector since 1998 assisting businesses and nonprofits to achieve growth and higher levels of efficiency through the use of marketing and technology.