Calls to Action: A Crash Course

With web design at the center of our focus this year, our blogs have tended to reflect this so far in 2023. We’ve discussed web design trends and the many areas that fall under the wide umbrella of web design. We’ve even gone so far as to discuss leads and lead generation, which can definitely factor into the design of your website. Today we are moving on to another term that should be on your radar when it comes to how your website is structured and that is the idea of a call to action (CTA). A call to action is a marketing term that refers to the next step a marketer wants its audience or customer to take. So, let’s talk further about CTAs and look at how a good digital CTA can be useful on your website. 

Types of CTAs: 

Since a call to action is supposed to move a customer or interested party to the next step, CTAs can widely vary. They can focus on lead generation, product discovery, or even sharing on social media. 

For our purposes, we’re going to break them down into two broad categories: a soft CTA and a hard CTA. Soft calls to action would be a less urgent call that typically eases a party into more information. For example, a soft call to action might look like inviting a customer to read more or learn more about a particular service or product. A hard CTA is typically more direct or urgent and can involve language like “buy now” or “donate now.”  

What are some examples of a CTA? 

To be perfectly honest, we all encounter more calls to action on a daily basis than we probably realize. They’re not limited to a digital space; after all, CTAs are a marketing tool. However, we encounter them often on digital media, and with digital media, you have the advantage of a CTA being clickable or interactive. Every button on social media or a website that says “learn more” or “sign up today” is a call to action. 

Some of the most common ones you probably encounter include: 

• Sign Up

• Read more

• Subscribe

• Try For Free

• Get Started

• Buy Today/Buy Now 

• Learn More

• Join Us

Even if they’re not using these exact words, the gist is the same. All of these are methods to move you (an interested party) closer to being a customer. 

What are the benefits of a good CTA? 

A good CTA leads someone to action, so that in itself is a benefit and your ultimate goal. However, there are some other more specific benefits to a good CTA. For one, a good call to action helps give direction and clarity to your marketing and messaging. They give prospective customers clarity as to what the next step looks like with your company. They can help build up your audience, and they can help increase your leads or sales. 

Calls to action have so many uses and are a vital part of any marketing campaign as well as any digital interface. This blog is really just a quick crash course in calls to action, but later this month we’re going to talk about what it takes to build a good CTA and some great examples that we’ve seen along the way.

In the meantime, if you have questions or an interest in our web design process, you can find more information here.