Your website is one of the most important contact points with your customers no matter what your business and how in person or virtual your services are. You may have heard about the importance of ‘calls to action’ but be wondering how to incorporate calls to action in your web design in order to make the most of every opportunity as a potential customer lands on your web page.
Your customer may have heard of you through word of mouth, via a search online or is an already valued customer, they will arrive at your website wanting more information, possibly wanting to pay you straight away, or at least wanting to get in contact with you. You need to make that process very easy for them to achieve. If they have to search for too long for the one thing that they want, they may give up and head off to look somewhere else.
In order to do this, two aspects of your call to action are very important. Firstly, where you place your call to action buttons and secondly, what they look like.
Prominently position the action you wish your customer to take and make it really easy to find. Key contact information is best placed at the top of the page and or on the left hand side, especially your phone number as it is often the first point of contact if something is needed quickly. People often look to the bottom of a page form further contact details, so sticking to these tried and tested options encourages engagement.
Try to keep your page relatively clear without too much cramped clutter and overbearing images as this can hide the call to action. Keeping the page clean and simple can lead your customer to find the key information that they are looking for rapidly. Also think about keeping one call to action in view at any one time. For example, if your main aim is to get them to call you, your ‘or sign up to our newsletter here’ option should be further down the page to prevent confusion and encourage action to be taken.
Make your call to action buttons stand out from the page so that they catch the eye quickly. The colours used for the buttons should be brighter than the page background, but still be in keeping with your overall design. Using a large font that is clear and easy to read and a contrasting colour will separate the wording from its background.
Also, consider the language of your ideal customer. What wording would most entice them to do what you want them to do? Buy Now, Click Here, Call Now, Follow Us, Submit, Sign Up, Purchase Here…..make the button stand out the way they want to see it.
Remember that your overall aim is to encourage your customers to take action….make it as easy as possible for them to do that.