Effective Call-to-Action Buttons in Website Design
I had an interesting conversation with a colleague this week. They mentioned to me a podcast they had listened to that said websites were purely for informational purposes, and that there wasn’t much difference between online and offline. Knowing that I was in the website design industry, she asked me what I thought about those comments, and as I tend to do I went on about how information is a portion of what a website can do for you. It’s been my experience that many businesses, brands, and solopreneurs are missing out on the full functionality and capability of what a website can do for you. Taking the position that websites are purely information can be developed over time when people do not see results from trying to sell items, or for trying to use a website as a sales funnel. Most of the time, that happens because of bad marketing and inept design. One area that causes people not to convert on their websites is because THEY NEVER ASK THE VISITORS TO DO ANYTHING and if they do the call-to action isn’t noticeable. It seems insane, but it happens, and it’s very bad website design when this happens. I recently did a website design for a client who was suffering from this very problem. They had recognized that their old site was outdated and was not really providing their visitors with the experience they wanted them to have. We redesigned them a website that helped to solve that problem, and to help them in converting visitors into customers. I recorded two short videos to show the old website design and the issues it had with the positioning, color, and frequency of the call-to-action buttons.A Bad Example of Call-to-Action Button in Website Design
The Right Way to Place Call-to-Action Button in Website Design
To see their full website go to: www.gcmbuilt.com.3 Ways to Get Results From Your Call-to-Action Buttons
Positioning. Where you put your call-to-action buttons means everything in website design. You want your call-to-action buttons to be placed where a visitor knows you are expecting them to make a decision. REMEMBER a website is NOT JUST AN INFORMATIONAL brochure, it is an interactive experience for your visitors. The interactive experience may be the difference between you making a sale or not. Around each corner and with each point you need to be able to ask your customer, “Are you ready to do business now?” I’ve said this for a long time, the worst that someone can say is no, but on the chance they say, “Yes!” wouldn’t you feel like a fool for not asking? Frequency. You want to have multiple call-to-action buttons. As I mentioned in my video you need to have primary call-to-action buttons and secondary call-to-action buttons. The secondary buttons are used to help a visitor ultimately come to a decision on your primary call-to-action. If you don’t have enough call-to-actions, a visitor can feel like they don’t know what to do now on your site and will just leave because they aren’t being directed along their journey. Color. As I mentioned in the video, your primary call-to-action buttons need to stand out! They need to pop, and they need to catch the attention of the person on your website. When thinking about what color you want your button to have a contrasting color that is the opposite of your primary design colors. In the video we used a very bright lime green color that definitely was a contrast to the maroon color of the rest of the site. Again, consider what psychological effect colors may have for people. Don’t use browns, dirty yellows, or colors that are bright but don’t make sense for your overall color scheme.[convertkit form=2236162]