Call to Actions: How to Get Prospects to Click and Convert

Subscribe! Submit! Add to cart! Learn more! Sign up!

What do all of these have in common? They’re all types of calls to action that I’m sure you’ve seen on all of your favorite websites. Many of which you’ve most likely clicked on. As you go about website building, you’ll eventually want to add calls to action (CTA) on various pages throughout your site to engage with your visitors.

Any time you’ve signed up to join an email newsletter, created a new account, logged into a pre-existing account, or even added a new item to your cart, you’ve used a CTA to do so. It’s important that your website has various calls to action. For example, a CTA can encourage a person to click, visit a store, make a purchase, start a download, or visit an online store.

Not only do they drive your visitors into potentially making a conversion, but they also can increase the click-through rate of your website, which is the number of pages an average user views when they visit your site. It’s common for companies to utilize lead capture software to better manage the leads that come through CTAs on websites.

You want a visitor to do more than read your homepage and bounce off. CTAs are a great way to ensure a user clicks around and views several pages on your website.

How to write a CTA

A compelling CTA that converts starts with the correct wording. Keep these tips in mind as you write your next call to action. 

• Use strong action words: Buy, reserve, save, get started, subscribe, donate, download, learn more, and swipe up.
• Provoke emotion or enthusiasm: Buy now and get 40% off, limited-time offer, don’t miss out, and find a solution today.
• Lean towards urgency: Sale ends soon, now through Monday, 24 hours only, and this weekend only.
• Use your own branding: Find the right software with G2.

Types of calls to action

There are many types of CTAs that you could choose to have on your website, all with a different end-goal. Because of this, your brand can strategically place multiple CTAs around different areas of your website, on social network platforms, and advertisements.

Here are some examples of the types of CTAs you can implement and the brands that are doing it right.

Lead generation

Interested in turning visitors of your website into leads? CTAs are a great way to do so. 

These kinds of call to actions should be placed in an area of your website where there is a high percentage of new visitors. If your website has a blog, consider adding a CTA at the end of a blog post or a floating banner off to the side so viewers can subscribe to your content. 

To ensure your visitors notice these, make them eye-catching and give them a message that tells the user why they should click them. An example of a lead-generating CTA can be found below on Brianne Fleming's website. The CTA uses a pop culture reference to excite readers into receiving a niche discovery workbook. The CTA takes it one step further by changing up the text of the button – instead of something generic or overused, it opens for Gimme Gimme! to entice excitement.

Source: Brianne Fleming

In addition to lead generation CTAs on websites, they can also be found within advertisements, especially on social media. Here’s an example of one from the New York Times that not only helps to generate leads, but also lets customers know that they’ll be saving money with a special discount if they act fast.

Source: Instagram

Form submission

Once a user clicks your lead generation CTA, they’ll likely be taken to a landing page containing a form, which they’ll need to fill out before officially becoming a lead.

This is a two-step process because once they fill out the form, they have to click the submit button to send their contact information to your database.

It’s important that you further engage this user with an enticing and straight-to-the-point form. Consider changing the boring and overused “submit” button to say something else and provide further information. 

An example of a brand that uses a form submission is the online clothing store Madewell, which prompts visitors with insider perks if they sign up for their emails.

Source: Madewell

Learn more

The “Learn more” button is essential to any page of your website that displays content. This could be your blog, About Us page, press clippings, or featured article.

This type of CTA is a great way to get readers to continue reading content that isn’t fully displayed on your homepage. If the post is particularly long, include the first paragraph to get your readers’ attention, followed by a “Learn more” button or “Read more” to be taken to the entire piece.

In addition to freeing up space on your homepage for other content, this type of CTA ensures that particular articles get specific metrics, like traffic, instead of users just reading the post in its entirety on a homepage.

An example is how the G2 homepage has a “Learn More” button that viewers can click to get further information about G2 Track, our SaaS management platform that helps companies manage and optimize their software stack.

Source: G2

Social sharing

We live in a time when social media isn’t just a fun place to share your thoughts. It can also be used to market your website and all of its posts and updates. 

One of the easiest calls to action encourages visitors to share a piece of your website’s content with their friends via social media. This is a quick and easy way for potential leads, existing customers, and website visitors to engage with your brand in a low-commitment way.

Whether it’s an exciting news clipping, an announcement of a new product, or an article that took extra time and research, a social share button is an excellent CTA. Below, you can see that our article about mastering social media and connecting with your audience has social share buttons, allowing readers to post the article on their LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, in addition to sharing through email or a direct link.

Source: G2

Event promotion

Is your company throwing a big event or holding a conference? Do you want actual people to come to this event or conference? If yes, a CTA that promotes this event and raises its awareness is an absolute must-have for your website. Not only can you use it to drive ticket sales, but this CTA can be used to attract a specific type of audience.

If you want your customers to attend the event, put this CTA on the log-in or checkout page. If it’s an event for leads, consider adding this CTA on a sidebar to your blog or the article that gets the most traffic.

Below you’ll see an example featuring our Reach 2022 conference, which urges viewers to RSVP ahead of time to hear more about the pulse of software.

Source: Reach 2022

Interactive

One genuinely different and unique type of CTA is one that’s interactive and fun – but still engaging. Having a call to action in the form of a quiz, survey, or even a game isn’t the right fit for all brands, but one that makes this work for them is Stitch Fix. As a personal styling service for men, women, and children, Stitch Fix sends customers clothing, shoes, and accessories directly to their door based on the preferences collected from the quiz.

The entire experience is unique for the customer, starting with completing the style quiz.

Source: Stitch Fix

Similarly, BarkBox has an interactive CTA on their website, but instead of clothing and accessories, BarkBox urges dog lovers to take their quiz for a personalized box of gifts for their dog sent right to their door.

Source: BarkBox

Sense of urgency

Many CTAs lean on a sense of urgency to get views to click. This type of call to actions is commonly seen within advertisements, especially on social media. Below, you’ll see an Instagram advertisement from Starbucks with a CTA inspiring urgency for Red Cup Day, a one-day-only sale where customers who order a holiday or fall handcrafted beverage will receive a free, limited-edition reusable red cup.

Source: Instagram

It's time to take action

If you want your calls to action to work, you need to be more creative than slapping “click here” on a red button and hoping your website gets new leads or more traffic. While there are many CTAs you can add to your website, make sure you’re doing it in a way that sets your brand apart from the rest.

Not all leads are created equal. Find lead intelligence software to clean and verify lead information to help ensure all of your lead data is valid and useful.