What makes a good call to action? CTA tips and 12 examples.

A call to action is a website essential. It’s one of the fundamental elements that goes into creating a great website. Good calls to action improve user experience and turn more website visitors into customers.

But 70% of small business websites don’t have any calls to action on their homepage. And of those that do — their calls to action aren’t always that effective.

Here, we give you all the tips you need to design and write excellent calls to action for your website. We’ll be looking at:

• What is a call to action in marketing and web design?
• Benefits of a good call to action
• What makes a good call to action for a website? CTA best practices
• 12 excellent call to action examples from across the web

What is a call to action in marketing and web design?

A call to action is also known as a CTA. It’s a clickable button, image or link that guides users further down your website conversion funnel.

As the name suggests, a CTA prompts users to take some kind of action. With a combination of persuasive text and eye-catching design, it gets users to click.

You can use calls to action across your website — and across your ads and content marketing materials, too. On a website, you tend to see calls to action in the following formats:

• Buttons on your web pages
• Forms you want users to fill out
• Banners at the top of a web page
• Sidebars or navigation bars
• Pop-ups and slide-ins

You can use calls to action to encourage users to add an item to their cart, download a resource, sign up for your mailing list or schedule a call. Ultimately, if you want your users to do anything in response to reading your website content, you need a call to action.

Benefits of a good call to action

Every business website needs eye-catching and persuasive CTAs. Because when you have good CTA web design and use the best call to action phrases, you experience a couple of key benefits.

A better user experience

Clear calls to action prevent user confusion. They guide users through your website and — because they make site navigation easy — they help you to provide a better user experience (UX).

Users know exactly where they need to click. There’s no uncertainty, so users are less likely to leave your site in search of a more user-friendly experience elsewhere.

Getting people to linger on and engage with your site also benefits your SEO. When Google and other search engines see that users like your site, you’re more likely to get a top spot in search engine result pages (SERPs). That means more visibility and traffic for your website.

More conversions

Good calls to action improve website conversion rates. They persuade users to click, buy, sign up, share your brand on social media or schedule a call. In fact, using a clear and specific CTA can increase conversion rates by 161%.

This means you get to guide people further down your conversion funnel. And you turn more website visitors into paying customers.

What makes a good call to action for a website? CTA best practices

Here, we look at all the things that make a good call to action. You don’t need to use these CTA best practices all at once. But they’re handy techniques to bear in mind when you craft your next website CTA.

Make your CTAs stand out

A good call to action jumps out at a website user. With the help of bold colour, typography and plenty of white space, it grabs the attention of users as they scroll your site. It stands out from the rest of your web page so users can see where they need to click.

Use animation

You can make your CTAs even more eye-catching with the help of hover effects and website animation techniques. Animated micro-interactions spring into life as a user scrolls. You can also use animations to show that a user’s call to action click has been successful.

Avoid complicated language

A CTA isn’t the place for industry jargon or complicated language. Use short, simple words as much as possible so your users know exactly what you mean.

Include action verbs

Good CTAs encourage users to take action by incorporating imperative verbs. Some examples?

• Buy now
• Shop the look
• Download the guide
• Start your free trial

These action verbs make it really clear what users are going to achieve by clicking.

Use your brand tone of voice

Extra points if you incorporate your brand tone of voice into calls to action. There are stock call to action phrases — like “Get started” or “Add to cart” — that we’ve all seen a million times before. Surprise your users with something a little different and your CTA will stand out.

Just be sure your call to action text is an authentic reflection of your brand — and never get so creative that users don’t know what your CTA actually means.

Address user objections

Think of all the reasons a user might have for not clicking on your call to action.

They might be worried that they’ll have to hand over their credit card details to get a free trial. They may feel that a special offer is too good to be true. They might be concerned that, if they give you their email address, you’ll be spamming them with promotional offers every day of the week.

You can reassure users by addressing these objections right before you ask them to click.

Use trust signals

Another way you can encourage users to click on your call to action is by including trust signals. Use things like testimonials, star ratings or the logos of other brands you’ve worked with. Put these trust signals close to your CTA button and you’ll give users the nudge they need.

Tell users what will happen

A user should be in no doubt what is going to happen when they click on your CTA. So be as specific as possible with your call to action text. Swap “Get started” with something like “Start your subscription” and users know exactly where the link is going to take them.

Make your user the hero

Write your CTAs in the second person (using words like you and yours) or in the first person (using words like I and me) and you make your website user the hero of your web page.

Here are some examples:

• Book your call
• I want travel tips
• Make it yours
• Reserve my spot

This language has an emotional impact on a website user. They feel empowered and excited to take action.

Explain the benefit

Always tell users what they stand to gain by clicking, whether that’s a free trial, exclusive content or a closer look at your services.

Also, bear in mind that people are more likely to click a CTA if it offers an immediate benefit. Your personal training program may help people get fitter and healthier over the long term. But if you can promise a quick win, you’re more likely to get clicks.

CTAs like “Get your 7-day workout challenge” or “Boost your energy levels in just one week” might prove more effective. Just make sure your claims are based in reality to preserve a positive brand reputation.

Create a sense of urgency

Next on our list of CTA best practices? Creating a sense of urgency.

Use words like “today” and “now”. Also, incorporate incentives. For example, “Sign up today for [a limited-time offer]”.

Alternatively, you can highlight scarcity. Show the (small) number of items left in stock right next to your call to action button to encourage users to click.

Tap into user emotions

A good call to action creates an emotional response for a website user. That’s because — when a user feels an emotional connection — they’re more likely to take action.

You can tap into user emotions by making your website visitors feel seen and understood — and by helping them to imagine the amazing things clicking on your CTA could achieve for them or people they care about.

Do A/B testing

The text, colour and placement of your call to action all influence its conversion rate. So don’t leave it to chance. Test different CTA variations, count conversions and then use the CTA version that gets the most clicks.

12 excellent call to action examples from across the web

Now you know what makes a good call to action, let’s see how a variety of brands are putting these CTA best practices into action.

1. Aurora Nights

This CTA from northern lights travel company, Aurora Nights, could read “Book now” or “Plan your trip”. Instead, we have the phrase “Plan your adventure”. This call to action creates a sense of excitement. It encourages users to think about all the things they’d like to experience on their northern lights holiday.

2. Surreal

Surreal Cereal keeps this pop-up CTA on-brand by using its playful and conversational tone of voice. It offers a discount in the form of a question. It then lets users answer “Yes, please” or “No, thanks”. Design comes into play, too. The “Yes, please” option is bolder and more obvious than the “No, thanks” option, so it draws user attention in that direction.

3. Xenia Students

On the Xenia Students website, users get lots of information about student accommodation options. But — thanks to its bright pink colour and bold text — the CTA still stands out from the rest of the content on the page. Users know exactly where to click when they want to make a booking.

4. ZOE

Zoe is a nutrition and gut health company. This is a great call to action because:

• it promises something for free
• it tells users the immediate benefit (start improving your gut health today)
• it tells users exactly what they’re going to get (a series of emails and recipes)

5. Gousto

This CTA from Gousto is an excellent example of how to counter objections.

Gousto knows that vegetarian and vegan customers are unsure if meals will suit their dietary needs. And that people are reluctant to start a subscription because they think it’ll be hard to cancel. So the call to action addresses these concerns and gives users the reassurance they need to click.

6. Loaf

In these call to action examples, Loaf enjoys the best of both worlds. The CTA text is simple and crystal clear. When users click, they’ll be taken to a page of relevant products. But Loaf still manages to incorporate its quirky tone of voice by creating an evocative headline above each call to action.

7. RNIB

Another great call to action example. Here, charity RNIB is asking users to donate money. To show users exactly what they’re signing up for, the call to action can be personalised. Users get to decide their donation amount and payment plan before they click “Donate”.

8. Samsung

This Samsung CTA provides users with two options. They can “Learn more” about this product or “Buy now”. By giving users a choice, Samsung encourages users who are ready to buy — and those who aren’t — to stay on the website and continue their journey.

9. Duolingo

Duolingo manages to explain the benefits of clicking on this CTA, while still keeping the text short and sweet. And for anyone struggling with their maths skills, the call to action “Get better at math” is emotive and persuasive.

10. Match.com

Here, Match.com uses social proof to encourage user clicks. Because if 2.6 million people have found their match on this site, you could, too. The CTA text — “Start your own story now” — is emotional. It helps users to imagine what that love story might look like, making them even more likely to click that button.

11. Skin + Me

In this call to action example skincare subscription company, Skin + Me, uses emotive, on-brand text. It uses the word “your” to create a sense of empowerment. It also incorporates a trust signal in the form of its “thousands of five star reviews”.

12. Sonder and Tell

Sonder and Tell, a communications and branding agency, encourages users to sign up to its newsletter with the help of a glowing testimonial. It also uses CTA text in the first person, which puts users right in the driving seat.

Using good CTAs to improve your conversion rate

We hope these tips and CTA examples have given you some inspiration for your own site. Good CTAs can make all the difference to the user experience on your website — and your conversion rate.

Want some help crafting effective calls to action for every page of your website? The Radical team can help with:

• Creative web design
• Call to action animations
• Website copywriting
• Website branding

We can make your CTAs stand out with eye-catching design and persuasive copy so more people click and buy from your brand.

Want to boost your website conversion rate? Speak to the Radical team today to chat about your website project.

Call to action FAQs

How many CTAs is too many?

That depends on what you’re trying to achieve on any given web page.

On a product, service, landing or contact page, a single call to action works best. If you do include multiple calls to action, ensure they all lead to the same place. This prevents users from becoming distracted and maximises conversions.

Your home page is a little different. Here, you can include multiple calls to action. This allows users to take their preferred route through your website and it aids the user experience.

What does CTA mean?

CTA stands for call to action. It’s a clickable button, phrase, image or link that persuades web users to take a desired action.

Calls to action can persuade website users to do lots of different things — like downloading a resource, signing up for emails, scheduling a call or buying a product.

With eye-catching design and persuasive text, they move users further down the conversion funnel and closer to your primary conversion.

Where should you put a call to action?

You can put calls to action on your web pages, adverts and content marketing materials.

On a website, there are lots of places to put a call to action. We recommend putting a CTA above the fold. That way, users don’t have to scroll down to find out what they should do next.

Also, put a call to action at the bottom of your web page — so users who scroll all the way to the end can then take action.

You can space CTAs throughout a web page. Or, alternatively, you can use a sticky CTA. This call to action travels down the page with users as they scroll. And it’s particularly useful on product and checkout pages.