Call to action

What it means

A call to action, or CTA, is a button, link or sentence that guides a website visitor or reader towards a specific next step. It may be “Request a quote”, “Calculate your price”, “Call us”, “Subscribe” or “Buy now”.

Its purpose is to turn interest into action. A visitor who reads a useful text but does not know what to do next often leaves. A clear call to action shows them how to continue and so raises the page’s conversion rate, the share of visitors who take the desired step.

A good call to action is specific, concise and visible. It describes what happens after the click, uses a verb and sits where the visitor makes a decision. A landing page should have one main call to action, possibly supplemented by a less prominent alternative.

How it works in practice

On a service business website, such as an accounting firm’s, the typical main call to action is a contact form or price calculator. When revising clients’ websites, we consider where visitors decide and place the call to action there, for example below a service description or next to prices, not just in the footer.

The wording should speak the customer’s language from their point of view. “Get a quote within 24 hours” says more than “Submit”. On forms, it helps to show what the visitor will get and how long it will take, and to ask only for essential details.

Effectiveness can be measured through web analytics and improved with A/B testing, comparing two versions of text, colour or placement. Even a small change in button text can noticeably change the number of enquiries.

What to watch out for

The most common mistake is too many calls to action at once. If five equally prominent buttons compete on a page, visitors cannot tell which matters and often do nothing. One clear main call to action works better than a cluster of options.

Another risk is a call to action that promises something different from what follows. If a “See the price” button leads to a long form with no price, the visitor loses trust. The call to action and what comes after it must match the expectation it created.