If you’ve read our blog for any amount of time, you’re aware that here at PalmettoSoft, we think details are important. Even the smallest piece of text and the placement of seemingly unimportant graphic elements on your website have an effect on how the average visitor interacts with the site.
What Are CTA Buttons?
Call-to-action (CTA) buttons are relatively small in size compared to the rest of your website, but they are critically important parts of what we refer to as the “marketing funnel.”
Today we have some CTA button design tips for you to think about as you do your best to turn website visitors into paying customers.
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General CTA Button Design Tips
Before we get to the detailed, granular level, here are some general CTA button design tips from your web design agency in Columbia, SC.
Perhaps the primary goal is to make sure that your CTA buttons look like interactive elements. Interestingly, you can see the importance of this when you look at CTA buttons that websites don’t want you to click on.
A button for unsubscribing from an email list, for instance, is likely to be printed in the same font as the rest of the web page copy, maybe even in a lighter color to suggest that the button is “inactive” even though it’s not.
The border of the button is thin, and the background color matches the rest of the page to make the button as unnoticeable as possible.
Doing pretty much the exact opposite will get you a CTA button that grabs attention and invites a click.
Bold colors, eye-catching borders and button shapes, and an attractive font will ensure that your visitor will see and read that CTA button and recognize it as an element that they should interact with.
Did You Notice This Button?
Written Microcopy
Microcopy and the User Experience
“Microcopy” is the term that web designers use to describe short phrases of text that appear in different areas of your website.
CTA button text is a prime example of microcopy, and its quality can determine whether a visitor focuses on it long enough to process it mentally, or passes over it with barely a conscious thought.
On one hand, it’s important to keep this microcopy crystal clear so that the visitor knows exactly what will happen when they click the button.
On the other hand, people are used to seeing so many CTA buttons on so many websites in the course of an average day that you need to do something to make yours stand out. In most cases, it’s a good idea to try to steer away from the standard “click here” or “learn more.”
One caveat here is that when you’re creating a mobile-optimized website, your available space on a CTA button is likely to be very limited. One or two words might be all you can fit, in which case “click here” may be your best bet.
Integrity in CTA Button Design
Anyone who has spent time on the Internet is aware that there are a lot of scammers, hackers, and other bad players out there just looking for a chance to trick them into giving up all kinds of permissions and information. This makes it critical that your website be very honest, trustworthy, and straightforward with its visitors.
Before clicking on a button, a smart website visitor wants to know exactly what’s going to happen as a result.
Something like “Email us now” or “Visit our contact page” is great, but something like “Discover success” or “Learn the secret of marketing” will send up a red flag for that smart visitor. Make sure that your CTA button text leaves no question about what the button leads to, or visitors will avoid clicking on it.
These are just a few of the things that a great website design firm in Columbia, SC considers when creating effective CTA button text. We would love to help you create a website from the ground up that not only attracts visitors, but uses CTA buttons and other elements to generate meaningful leads as well.
