Calls to action (CTAs) are arguably the most important component on a landing page. They drive users to take action, help improve your conversion rates and grab attention. If your CTAs hit all the high points, you’ll find you have more business than you can handle. When they don’t, you may flounder a bit.
You work hard to drive traffic to your website and find new leads. You want your website to engage visitors and collect information from those who are truly interested in buying from you. CTAs are a big part of the sales funnel and help take your users on a journey toward becoming clients.
What Is an Effective CTA?
Insider Intelligence recently reported a prediction that e-commerce sales will reach $1 trillion by the end of 2022 in the United States alone. The pandemic forced many people to shop online. Some decided they loved it and have never looked back. COVID-19 accelerated how fast e-commerce grew between 2020 and 2022, but it shows no signs of slowing.
An effective CTA includes the following:
- The right language. Use “I” or “you” to grab attention
- Action verbs
- Short and to the point
- Colors that grab attention
- Contrast with the rest of the page
- Placed in the perfect position so the user finds it easily. Usually, this is above the fold.
- Big enough to see
- Adapts well to mobile devices and is easy to tap with a thumb on a small screen
The clickthrough rates of CTAs vary widely by industry. It’s next to impossible to nail down an average. Your best bet is to compete against yourself, tweaking and changing until you hit a rate that makes you happy.
One way to gain inspiration is by studying how other brands created highly successful CTAs for their landing pages. Here are four we think you’ll find intriguing.
1. The Budgetnista
Source: https://thebudgetnista.com
The Budgetnista, Tiffany Aliche, utilizes a striking CTA on her website. First, it is at the very top of the page, in the slot where most readers look first. She starts with a question that reads, “How good are you with your money?” She then invites the user to take a quiz and in exchange, they get something in return–a financial wellness score.
Finally, the CTA button is a vivid yellow, the only splash of that color above the fold. It is a large button and uses the words “Click Here to Start.” We don’t always love the words “click here” for CTAs, but it works in this instance because of the other text surrounding the button. The page provides that rules are made to be broken.
Tip: Place your CTA in a location where the user is most likely to see it and click it. If you’re offering something free, putting it at the top of the page works well. If you are asking them for something, such as to make a purchase, you may want to place it further down the page so you can convince them first.
2. NoRedInk
Source: https://www.noredink.com
NoRedInk shows off how to use a CTA if you’re offering something to your site visitors in exchange for their contact information. The focus is on what they’re going to do for the user rather than just to grab an email address. The user sees the clear advantages to trying out the platform for their students.
The site then uses the word “Free” in the CTA so that users are enticed to sign up and learn more. The idea is that once you get leads to try out the platform, they’ll want to utilize the many advantages of it and sign up for a premium account.
Tip: Offer your users something in exchange for their personal information.
3. New Balance
Source: https://www.newbalance.com
New balance does something pretty interesting on their landing page. Rather than try to collect buyer information or offer them something, they share their life philosophy about the importance of conversations. They celebrate diversity with a look at black women in particular.
Not how they talk about some of the typical conversations one might hear and how women should support each other. They then add a CTA button titled with a single action verb. It reads, “Explore.”
The CTA button itself is transparent in the center, showing the background with a red outline and red text. The button itself isn’t very attention grabbing, which puts the focus on the text above it and the video playing to the right.
When one clicks on the button, they get stories about real women, the company’s philosophy and the things they’re doing to celebrate diversity.
Tip: You don’t always have to sell something to utilize an excellent CTA. Sometimes you can share important or trending information about your company or the world.
4. Tenzr
Source: http://tenzr.ouiwill.com
Tenzr keeps things pretty simple. There aren’t a lot of different options on the page. Their goal is to filter down visitors to those truly interested in getting digital therapy for carpal tunnel and similar issues and signing them up.
Because their goal for the landing page is hyper-focused, there is an image, headline and a CTA button to the top right titled “Start Now.” They don’t spend a ton of time explaining. If you need that, you can scroll down. They get right to the point.
Tip: You don’t always have to explain everything up front. Sometimes people just want the solution and need to know how to get started. Keep it simple and drive traffic straight to your CTA.
Test Your CTAs
The best way to improve your CTAs on your landing pages is by split testing them. Change the color and see how users respond. Try different wording, placement, colors and surrounding images and text.
Ideally, you’ll consistently tweak your CTAs until you hit the conversion numbers you desire. It takes time and effort to come up with the perfect CTA for your landing page, so never stop trying new things.
