A call to action is anything on your page that tells a user to take some kind of action, which can be anything from filling out a form to making a purchase. Some you may be familiar with are “donate now” and “contact us”. Calls to action are useful to websites because they create a purpose for the site and provide a way for conversions to take place. It is also a good marker in determining how successful your site is, particularly during an SEO campaign. While having a call to action on your site is important, period, there are a few ways to make a call to action more effective. Any reputable web design and development company should already be aware of this and able to implement any of these techniques for you.
Size
Both the size of the text and the button can be slightly bigger than the other text on the page in order to draw more attention to it.
Color Contrast
Having the button a different color than the background color attracts the eye.
Placement
Strategic placement of a button can give the call to action more importance or accessibility. Good locations are in the center of the page, at the very top of a page, at the very bottom of a page, and beneath a chunk of text or a header.
Spacing
A call to action button shouldn’t be hedged in by a mass of text. There should be a pillow of space around it. When a button is placed in the center of an empty space, it becomes both more conspicuous and more important to the user. You can also create the illusion of space by creating a contrasting border around the button, which mimics the outline otherwise created by empty space.
Qualifying the Command
Sometimes it is a good idea to give more information about the call to action. A school may place its “Request Information” button below a snippet about the advantages of attending that school. A download button may have a line below it like “compatible with Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.5”.
Several Options Together
Sometimes you may want to place several buttons together with different calls to action. That school may have a “Request Information” button beside an “Apply Online Now” and a “Contact a Representative” button.
Icons
To further illustrate the action, you could place a relevant icon or graphic on the button to increase visual appeal.