Proper attention should be given to call to action buttons, they are the driving factors that help you convert your visitors into actual clicks. Call to action buttons as it is related to user experience are those elements in your landing page that solicit or demands action from the user, so whenever you come across a button that asks you to learn more, downloads now or sign up now, that is simply known as a call to action button.
This is to say that a rich knowledge and understanding of how to color, how to scale, what language to make use of, and so many other factors should be possessed by the web designers in order to fully harness the potentials that the conversion rate can yield. The process of doing this is not complicated but requires some level of creativity and forethought in order to create a potent call to action buttons.
Best Practices for Effective Call to Action Buttons
As I said earlier, call to actions button as related to user interface requires some level of creativity, forethought as well as planning and as such should be embedded in the prototype stage of the information structure of the web design so that every relevant information needed to create a catchy call to action button can be meticulously addressed.
Call to Action Practices That Work
- Text should be impulsive: you must try as much as possible to avoid boring and old English words in your call to action button, words like ENTER, SUBMIT, SHOW should be avoided in this 21st century once it concerns call to action buttons. Instead use GRAB, GET, CLAIM TRY, etc, these are words that demand impulsive action. Attention should be given to the kind of product or brand you are trying to promote because this is not a one works for all type of stuff.
Guidelines in Using Text
- Use plain but direct language that is easy to comprehend
- Use bold and large fonts for the main text
- The language should demand fast action
- Color and Shape: to make buttons more inviting and attracting, attention should be given to colors and the shapes of the button. Human dispositions and moods readily respond to the visual elements surrounding them. While choosing your color scheme and shapes bear in mind that once the eyes behold them, information will be rapidly sent to the brain which in turn triggers the secretion of hormones by the endocrine system which is solely responsible for a shift in emotions and moods.
This is a short color and shape guide
- The call to action buttons are supposed to be the largest buttons in the webpage
- Make the smaller call to actions buttons stand out by using contrasting colors for them
- Use colors that are less distinct, this will make the big call to action buttons to fit in better
- The color and shape used should be able to attract attention no matter how sophisticated the web design is.
- Find A Prominent Position: I don’t think that anybody wants to keep the call to action button in a position where it will be hard to find, but this area is also very vital, call to action buttons should be placed in very prominent positions where they will stand out, placing it at the tail of the landing page will kill your site and will not bring forth any conversion, on the other hand, top of the landing page does wonders, center of the webpage is another good location.
Guidelines
- Do not let the call to action button to be choked by other content on the web page.
- Inculcate the principles of rule of thirds and golden ratio while determining how much space to add
- Negative spacing avails your call to action button space to be unique from other contents in the webpage
- Create a Sense Of Urgency: There is something you should know about creating a sense of urgency, the more time you avail for your visitors to think about the offer, the more likely you will get a NO as an answer, this does not mean that you should deceive your visitors but the call to action button should be able to create the impression that time is not on your visitors side and that they need to act fast. That means that you need them to act on the spur of the moment. As we said these tips don’t work for brands, brands with high prized items may not get the best out of this when compared to free or low prized stuff.
Urgency Guidelines
- The call to action button should motivate the visitor to act instantly
- The call to action button should create no room for inquiries
- Be genuine and authentic, do not deceive your visitors.
- Tell the visitors what to expect: As the case may be, use the call to action button to throw more light on information that they need as it concerns the call to action button. Example if it is a free trial call to action button, then you can tell them how long the free trial will last, if it is a download button, then the size of the file, as well as the version of the file if necessary, should be given, so you see that if this is done, there will be no room for visitors to hesitate before clicking.
Information Guidelines
- Only add information that is relevant to user experience
- This information is not relevant to all call to action buttons but works better for download and free trial buttons.
- The information should not overshadow the main call to action text.
Conclusion
After all, said and done, testing should be done to ascertain whether the call to action button in the user experience is yielding as much conversion as expected of it. conduct A/B tests on them regularly so as to improve on your CTA button, while doing this, it is recommended that you divide the visitors into groups before showing them the progressive test results, with this you can determine which CTA is more efficient and which should be improved on.
After reading this blog, you should know that color, size and other factors mentioned above have a high impact on the call to action buttons and therefore each should be tested individually to ascertain which works best.