The goal of a call to action (CTA) is to capture the attention of your visitors and convince them to take a particular action. When developing a CTA, there are three important factors to consider: copy, design and placement. Start by developing great CTA copy. (Check out my last blog for my top tips for creating effective call-to-action copy!) Here, we will discuss successful design, and stay tuned for a future post on placement best practices.
Clients often ask, “What is the ideal size of a CTA?” The answer is, “It depends.” OK, not exactly what you wanted to read, but it’s true. The ideal size of your CTA will depend on your other page elements. While a CTA should be large enough to grab the attention of your visitor, it should not be so large that it overwhelms the page and appears spammy. Visitors don’t come to your website with the goal of searching out your CTA, so avoid designing your CTA too small.
Another common question we receive is, “Are multiple CTAs OK?” Survey says, Yes! But only when relevant. The acceptable number of CTAs on a page will depend on the purpose and goal of your page. If the primary purpose of the page, for example, is to have a visitor request a demo, then only provide them with this option. Landing pages are perfect examples of this: The form should be the only call to action provided to your visitors.
While multiple CTAs are common on a home page, remember the primary purpose of a CTA is to provide direction to the visitor. Try providing a CTA for each level of the sales funnel so visitors can click on the one that matches their comfort level the closest.
Having too many or irrelevant CTAs will confuse visitors and increase the chances of them leaving your site. If you have multiple CTAs on a page, be sure that the most relevant is sized and placed appropriately to reflect its importance to the reader.
Make your CTA stand out by using contrasting font and colors in the background. Contrasting colors draw attention, increasing the chances of visitors seeing your CTA. Also, be sure the background color of your CTA does not interfere with the visibility of the copy. As a best practice, avoid decorative fonts. Use fonts that are legible and easy to read.
While we love our designers here at Kuno, we know this resource is not always readily available to all marketers, especially at smaller companies. HubSpot published a great blog on how to create professional looking CTAs in PowerPoint. Or try using the new CTA builder in HubSpot for making professional-looking calls to action.
Do you have any great design tips you would like to share? Please post your ideas to comment section.
Photo credit: RobotSkirts
Shannon Fuldauer has a B2B and B2C eCommerce Marketing background including roles as Vice President of Marketing & Sales Support, and subsequently Vice President of Public Relations & SEO Services, for CareerBoard.com. She has expertise in digital marketing and advanced email communications.
