Have you ever visited a website and viewed it, and then you wanted to do something like view the features of the product or purchase it, but you didn’t know exactly how to do it?
Or you viewed the information about a product, but then you didn’t know what to do next?
This was probably a result of no Call-to-Action.
What is a Call-to-Action (CTA)?
A call-to-action is meant to encourage the viewers of your website to take action. It is also a tool to help guide your users on where to go next or what to do next on your website. The most common type of CTA is an action button. It can be signing up, reading more about your product, or purchasing a product There are different types of CTAs, which we will be discussing in the next section. CTAs can drive a variety of different actions depending on the goal of the website, and the needs of the user.
Types of CTAs
Informational CTAs
Sometimes your goal on a page is to encourage users to know more about your product(s)/service(s). Your website is informational, there is nothing to be bought, so your main goal is to provide information to the user. At other times, your website may be an ecommerce website, and there is something to be sold. However, your website visitors don’t buy right away. They might need information or have questions in mind. Thus, in those cases, your webpage should contain CTAs that direct the user for more (e.g. Learn More, Show More, FAQ).
Example:
Transactional CTAs
This type of CTAs is usually for ecommerce websites, websites that sell software or websites that provide services and display their service packages on their website, where you want the user to make a purchase from your website. For this purpose, transactional CTAs are used, but their usage depends on the type of product you have. An ecommerce website should have CTAs that lead users to browse products,(e.g. Shop now, Browse collections, or different categories as CTAs such as ‘Browse Dresses’ or ‘Browse bags’), or “Add to Cart” CTAs for the user to add products to their cart. A website that is used to sell software, would have a CTA such as ‘Request Demo’. So the CTA really depends on what is your product or service and what your goal is (purchase, view, etc.).
Lead Generation CTAs
Lead generation CTAs are effective when looking to collect data about your user base. Businesses usually employ this type of CTA to gain their users’ contact information. You can offer something to your website visitor in exchange for their contact information. For example, ‘Download FREE eBooks that help you increase your sales as fast as possible!’ with a ‘Sign Up’ CTA where the user can add their name and email address.
For example, this website offers a free trial for their website visitors, in return for their name and email address.
Form Submissions and Contact Requests
Any time you have a form on your website, you need to follow it with a call to action. Different form examples include contact requests, requesting demos, or requesting consultations.
Why do we need Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons on webpages? Why are CTAs important?
The call to action directs your user into accomplishing their objective. When developing call-to-action buttons, consider the different user journeys your users will take and consider what you want the visitor to do, in terms of what your primary aim of the website is, and what goal the user is trying to accomplish. For example, signing up or logging in, completing a purchase, etc. You need to create those CTAs in a way to drive the main aim of your website; for example, driving the user to make a purchase.
A call to action also helps the user go by your website smoothly by making it clear what action to take next and moving the user down the funnel. If you do not provide CTAs when people need more information or need to make a purchase, and they’re lost, they will look elsewhere and leave your site.
A good UX practice is the smooth transitioning in the journey, rather than having the user click on all the available components while searching for what they are looking for. CTAs eliminate this confusion. Additionally, CTAs can be in the form of exit overlays that pop up as someone is about to leave the page or after a set amount of time, so putting your CTAs in the right locations at the right time can be really beneficial. CTAs create some sense of urgency, which encourages the user to take action.
So, do you really need a CTA? Yes, you do!
CTA best practices
- CTAs should be aligned with the goal of the website. For example, if a website is an ecommerce website that sells skincare products, a CTA should take the users to the shop page where they can add their products to the cart, which aligns with the goal of the website, which is the user buying skincare products.
- Use action verbs on your CTAs; “Request a demo”, instead of “Demo”. It needs to make it clear to the user what they need to do next.
- Be concise. Two to three words, or a short phrase at max.
- Use urgency for users to feel like they need to act now (e.g. “Sign up Now”, instead of just “Sign Up”)
- Call-to-action buttons need to be clear and distinguishable (e.g. colored button)
- Add CTA in more than one place on your webpage
Finally, you can experiment on your website to see what CTAs work best for you.
You can use our system METRIC (https://metric.qcri.org/) to test this out with a user study.