9 Types of Call to Actions (CTA) and How to Implement Them on Your Website
The main goal of online businesses, blogs, and other types of websites is to convert users into leads, leads into customers, and customers into promoters. When someone visits your website, you want to draw them in and show them why they need you. This can be done with something called a CTA, or a call-to-action. CTAs are a useful tool to make visitors take an action and potentially become a new client or customer.
Whether you’re a startup company launching a new website, a seasoned blog writer, an e-commerce site, or any other type of website, we’ll go over everything you need to know about CTAs. Read through for a thorough understanding of what CTAs are and the best ways to incorporate them on your website.
What is a CTA?
A call-to-action is typically a button with a piece of text, image, or graphic that prompts your audience to take an action. The purpose of a CTA is to make visitors to your site to do something, such as making a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, or register for an event. When carefully designed, a CTA will attract the eye and encourage your audience to click. Without CTAs throughout your website, visitors will have less motivation to interact with your company and brand.
However, CTAs don’t follow a one-size-fits-all model. No matter what your business is, you need to carefully craft a CTA that’s unique to your brand and encourages visitors to engage with you. There are numerous types of CTAs you can embed throughout your website, just make sure not to go overboard and look spammy.
Call-to-actions are highly important to have not only on your homepage, but also on your landing pages, product pages, pricing pages, and even on your about us page. These CTAs signal to users that your site is easy to navigate, well-designed, and trustworthy by getting them where you they need to go.
Call-to actions should essentially read the users’ mind. When going to this page on your site, where will the user want to go next? The answer to this question should be where your CTA directs them. Here are nine types of CTAs you can use on your site!
Different Types of CTAs
There are many types of visitors that come through your website. You have newcomers who have either never heard of your brand, or have but never interacted with you. You have leads who are visitors that are interested in your brand but have not yet converted. You have customers who buy your products and services, and you have promoters who are customers that are so in love with your brand, they tell everyone about it.
Because you have so many different types of visitors, you need different types of CTAs to appeal to each audience. The end result is to push newcomers through the marketing funnel to become customers and promoters who actively interact with your brand.
As you begin to design or revamp your website, these are some of the best CTAs you should incorporate:
Read More CTA
User experience is crucial when it comes to web design. For example, when someone visits your blog page, they don’t want to have to scroll through an entire blog post just to reach the next. This is where a “Read More” button will come in handy. When you post a blog post, white paper, press release, or study, include a short excerpt of what the post is about, with a “Read More” CTA that users can click to continue reading. This will increase space and allow more blog titles to fit on the page that readers can click on. Besides, this approach is good for the site’s speed optimization.
Lead Generation CTA
As stated, your website’s goal is to generate leads to convert to customers. A Lead generation CTA can take many forms, such as “Start a Free Trial” or “Download a Free EBook.” Lead generation CTAs should be placed where new visitors visit most, such as the home page, or landing page, or blog. It should be eye-catching and show visitors why the button is worth clicking on.
Purchase CTA
All businesses want to make sales. One of the best ways to do so is with a Purchase CTA. Take Intuit ProSeries, for example. In the image above, they have a “Buy Now” CTA that clearly articulates how their ProSeries tax software can help users file their returns faster than ever. You’ll also see they even have a Lead generation CTA toward the top where it says, “Try it free” to encourage new visitors to test out their services at no cost.
Form CTA
A Form CTA is a great way to collect a lead’s contact information. With a Form CTA, you can have visitors fill in their name, email address, and telephone number to add to your contact list. Once collected, you can send them demos, newsletters, deals and promotions, free consultations, and so much more. This type of CTA leads directly to a form allowing you to collect potential customer data.
Learn More CTA
Sometimes, you want your visitors to get a better understanding of the products or services you offer. A Learn More CTA can simply say, “Learn More,” or something more unique like “How it Works”. Learn More CTAs are great at informing your customers on how your product or service will better their lives.
Event CTA
From online webinars to galas and fundraisers to charity events, an Event CTA will boost your attendance. An event promotion CTA is a great way to raise awareness about the event you’re hosting or attending yourself. You can place it right on your homepage a few months in advance from the scheduled date, on your sidebar, or in email campaigns.
Subscribe CTA
If you send out weekly newsletters or host a daily podcast, a subscribe button will be your best friend. A Subscribe CTA will encourage visitors to subscribe to your email list, newsletter, or other offerings. Take a look at food blogger Emilie Eats Subscribe CTA below.
Social Media Sharing CTA
Social media has taken the world by storm and is giving businesses new avenues to reach more customers. A Social Sharing CTA will allow visitors to share something on your website. You can place a Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, or any other social media platform icon at the end of a blog post or landing page. Social Sharing CTAs can also make one of your posts go viral, which can boost your brand recognition. Or, you can post social icons that link to your company’s own social profiles to increase engagement.
Personalized CTA
A Personalized CTA can be any type of CTA mentioned above, but can be tailored to the individual. A personalized, or smart CTA can adapt to each visitor based on their location, browser language, and whether they’ve visited you before. In fact, a Hubspot study found that Personalized CTAs perform 202 percent better than basic CTAs that do not change based on visitor attributes or demographics.
How to Create Successful CTAs
Now that you know what a CTA is and the different types, it’s time to create your own. Follow these steps to design the best CTAs for your website:
Step 1: Determine Your End Goal
What do you want to accomplish with your CTA? Do you want visitors to buy something? Or share a post to their Facebook page? Perhaps, you want them to subscribe to your newsletter. Who’s your audience? These are just some of the questions you should consider when creating a CTA.
Step 2: Make It Punchy
CTAs shouldn’t be long. They need to grab the reader’s attention and encourage them to take action. Your CTA should be clear enough to inform visitors what will happen when they click the CTA, should give them a reason to click the CTA, and should use simple words to avoid confusion. Examples include “Join Now,” “Download,” “Subscribe,” and “Read More”.
Step 3: Be Creative
Your CTA should grab the attention of those who visit. Attention spans are short, and no one wants to spend time searching for a contact page, product information, and so forth. To draw visitors in, be creative with your CTA. Include attention-grabbing colors that pop off the page and stand out from your theme. Use images that provide information on the CTA without using words. Or, create your own custom graphics that make your CTA engaging.
With these tips, you’ll be on your way to creating perfect CTAs for your website. Remember, keep it short and sweet, and don’t be pushy. You don’t want your visitors to feel as if they’re being attacked when they visit your website.
Wrapping Up
Call-to-action buttons are one of the easiest ways to convert leads to lifelong customers. A CTA button will prompt visitors to your website to make an action, which, in turn, will boost your company sales. There are numerous types of CTAs you can place throughout your site, such as “Learn More” and “Join Today” that will increase engagement. By designing carefully crafted CTAs, you’ll be able to boost conversion rates and grow your company fast.
About the Author
Spencer Johnson is a content writer from San Diego, CA, currently writing for 365businesstips.com. With a Bachelor’s of Art in Secondary Education and History and a Master’s of Art in Educational Psychology, Spencer has a passion for educating readers on a variety of topics.
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