Tips and tricks for creating an effective call to action

Websites are not things that should be hastily thrown together in the hopes that they will attract some customers. Businesses spend thousands of dollars making sure that their site catches the eyes of visitors and provides an excellent user experience. Everything from the design and functionality of the website to the font type and text color are considered to ensure that it is as efficient as possible.
Calls to actions, or CTAs, is the copy that is used on your website, emails or other offers to entice and promote your visitors to take an action – whether that is downloading an eBook, entering a competition or filling out a form.
CTAs are an integral part of any effective inbound marketing strategy, and an incredible CTA could make or break your lead nurturing success.
Here are some tips and tricks to turn your CTA into a powerful conversion tool:
MAKE IT VISIBLE
There is no point in having a fantastic CTA if nobody ever gets to see it. Most viewers these days have a short attention span, and many of them won’t scroll down on a website, email or blog post – so it’s imperative that you place your call to action above the fold. That is in a place where it will show up on the user’s screen without them having to scroll down further to find it. It is even advisable to put your CTA twice on your page – at the top and bottom to ensure that it doesn’t get missed.
USE TIME TO CREATE URGENCY
Use words that place a sense of urgency in your CTA that will prompt the reader to take action. CTAs that have had heaps of success often incorporate discrete measurements of time in their copy. Phrases such as “Download now” or “Get our free eBook today” are much more effective than “Download here” or “Click for free eBook”.
MAKE IT POP
Using color and contrast in your CTA is a sure way to get it noticed easily, and the right combination of text and color will immediately draw the reader’s eye to the copy. If you have a neutral website, then think of bright and bold colors that will go well in your CTA, and if you have, for example, a blue-based website try using red or orange in your CTA to catch someone’s attention.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
We often see companies make the mistake of trying to make their call to action too clever. While clever can be good, it often over complicates it unnecessarily. There are no rules or regulations for how long or short your CTA should be, but in general, the best ones are between three and five words long. The shorter the sweeter and the more direct, the better.
USE VISUALS
Using visuals and images in your CTAs has many benefits and are more likely to capture a user’s attention.Evernote’s CTA design and landing page is an excellent example of a highly successful call to action that incorporates the correct color, contrast, placement and visuals that make it incredibly catchy.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: TEST, TEST AND TEST AGAIN
You are never going to know if your call to action is effective unless you know the results. Testing your CTAs is a great way to see if they are working or not, and will also give you ideas about what to use in your next one. HubSpot has a great free tool“Action Grader” which allows you to test the click through rates of your CTAs.
Your website is the place to attract customers and offers an excellent opportunity to collect information – your CTAs are an integral part of this. Combine a high-quality, well-designed website, an excellent offer and a compelling CTA and you will bring in the customers that you have been searching for.
At Rise and Shine, we use an inbound marketing approach to help companies attract their ideal customers by creating and implementing successful lead nurturing campaigns. If you would like to know more about lead nurturing and ways to get a better lead conversion rate for your company, download our new and exciting ebook 30 Greatest Lead Generation Tips Tricks and Ideas.