Creating Call to Action Web Design

anatomy-of-a-cta-featureChances are you want the visitors to your website to do something when they arrive on your page – whether that means purchasing a good or service, give back to a charity or register for a special event. A call to action is an essential part of any website when you want your readers to participate in your request, but how do you entice them to follow through with an action? When you want to create a call to action within the web design, there are many considerations to make that will outline exactly what the reader should do. Don’t leave it up to them to figure it out, because Internet users today don’t want to spend much time figuring out how to do something or where they need to go to complete a simple task. Creating a simple web design in addition to highlighting the call to action is effective and enhances the user experience.

What is a Call to Action?


First of all, what is a call to action supposed to do? It’s designed to provide direction to your readers, drive traffic to a website and help you determine how the website is doing over time. A call to action isn’t just limited to a website that sells goods or services – it’s ideal anytime you want your readers to do something. Here are some essential tips at creating a call to action with web design:

  • Create a need

    – How can you expect browsers to complete an action if they can’t identify a need to do it? Think of an infomercial – these advertisements are great at showing you what is going wrong in life and how a unique gadget can make everything better. In addition, the web design also needs to include the benefits of going through with the call to action – in other words, why should the reader do what you ask?

  • Provide an incentive

    – While you want visitors to the website to go through with the call to action, providing them an incentive will help draw even more of a response. For example, incentives could be anything from a discount, gift or an entry into a drawing. Providing an incentive does not have to mean you lose money, either. If you are offering a discount on purchases or providing a branded gift, then your business gets the sales and exposure with the simple incentive.

  • Keep it simple

    minimal-desktop-wallpaper-simple-is-beautiful– When it comes to web design, you want to keep it simple. The same applies to the call to action message – when there is too much going on, the real message gets lost in the clutter! Keeping the call to action focused allows visitors to see exactly what the message is and encourages them to participate. The web design is vital in this aspect, too. If there are too many things for the user to do, such as click on links, fill out forms or visit other pages, there’s a chance they will become lost or frustrated in the process. Detail exactly what you need them to do by guiding them every step of the way.

  • Use effective language

    – Don’t overwhelm the visitor to your website with a large quantity of text. Keep it short and simple and use active words to convey the message – subscribe, donate, buy or call are all ideal options.

A call to action is important to create, but it also depends on the placement! Within the web design, keep the call to action prominent and high on the page, preferably above the natural fold of the design. Creating a call to action is an essential way to interact with your audience, but requires careful thought and planning to execute properly.

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