How to Craft Irresistible And Click Worthy Call to Actions
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.” - Leo Burnett
I’m sure you’ve all subscribed to many, many newsletters and opt-ins, I know I have over the years…
But do you know what made you sign up, or what made you click?
When it comes to Call to Actions (or CTAs for short & ease) it all comes down to several factors and we’re going to look into these today!
CTAs are super important for your blog and website because you want to be encouraging people who visit your site to want more…
So let’s get right into How to craft irresistible and click worthy call to actions your readers won’t be able to resist…
“This post does contain affiliate links throughout and if you make a purchase using one of my links, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you”
What is a Call to Action?
A call to action, or CTA, is a phrase or sentence that encourages readers to take a specific action.
This could be subscribing to your email list, commenting on your blog post, or clicking through to another page on your website.
CTAs are an essential part of any blog post because they help you convert casual readers into engaged subscribers and customers.
It can be a button, text with a hyperlink or just plain text.
Call to Action Basics
To create great CTAs every time, there’s some things we need to look at!
If you follow these simple things, you’ll be able to put together enticing call to actions which will create clicks left right and centre…
What Action do you want a visitor to take?
Before you start writing your CTA, you need to look at what it is you want someone to do!
What is your intention with your Call to Action?
This is really important because if you don’t know what it is you want to get from the CTA, how are your visitors supposed to know when they come across it?
Do you want them to:
Sign up for a newsletter
Opt-in to get a Freebie
Watch a Video/Webinar…
Once you know what you want them to do, it makes it easier to put it together and to look at the words you’ll use.
What will your visitor get from the CTA?
You need to make it crystal clear what your visitor is going to get when they click that button, text, image etc…
This isn’t a time to be cryptic or to play games, oh no!
You need to say exactly what it is they’ll get so that you don’t waste their time or end up delivering something to them that they weren’t expecting.
Keep it simple, concise and make sure you deliver to them what it is they signed up for in the first place…
Make sure it grabs attention!
When visitors are scrolling down your page, you want to make sure your call to action is making people stop and take note (and action)…
This is why they have to be enticing and attention-grabbing.
You can do this by including the following things:
Use a Preview Image of the freebie/video etc you want them to sign up to as images stand out
Use words that are persuasive, emotional, powerful and make them take action
Create a sense of urgency in your copy
Make sure it’s big enough to stand out amongst the other text and information on your post or page
Include a Verb
Going back to the “being clear and concise” here, using simple, strong verbs will make your call to action stand out!
Verbs such as:
Subscribe
Unlock
Get
Order
Begin Now!
Check it out!
Get a Taste of…
Try Now!
Be the first to know…
You get the idea. Anything that strikes curiosity and makes people think “I want to click this” is what you need to include…
People LOVE a Free Trial
There’s no doubt about it, people absolutely love a free trial to something!
It gives them a chance to try something out and see whether they like it and get on with it before they commit to it properly.
If you have a product or a membership, you could easily offer a free trial to it for 7, 14 or even 30 days!
Amazon is one of the best ones for offering a 30-day free trial to Prime.
I love how they use your name, so it’s personal, but also how they show what the price is and cross it out.
It’s all about putting you into a certain mindset and showing you what you’re getting for free!
There’s all kinds of things you can do with free trials to entice people to want to check what you have out.
Make sure your CTA is Simple & to the point
Your call to action needs to be simple and to the point!
Whatever it is you’re offering, you need to make sure that it comes across clearly.
Be Creative & Personal
Getting creative with your CTAs is fun!
Although we’re covering some fundamental basics here about what to include, there really is no set in stone way to generate an awesome, click-worthy Call to Action!
Be as creative as you want and see what excites people!
The only way you’ll know is to put them together, put them out there and test them to see what works and what doesn’t…
I love to play around with words and I always think about whether I’d click on my own CTAs when I’m creating them.
You can see in the landing page above, I’ve used words stating that the 4 tools I’m going to be talking about are ones I can’t live without – that’s a bold statement to make, but it’s true…
My blog needs those 4 tools like I need coffee ☕☕
To get personal with your CTAs, use words such as “You” and “I” so that they feel like you’re talking to them directly…
If you know your audience, then you’ll know what kinds of things will resonate with them and draw them in, so utilise this within your call to action!
Don’t just say “grab a copy”, say “Grab your copy”…
Test your Wording and change things up
I mentioned above that you have to test things out, so you can see what’s working for you and what’s not!
Some of your Call to Actions are going to flunk – it’s a fact…
Not every CTA you put out there is going to work and convert, so the only thing you can do is keep trialling not only different kinds of opt-ins and offers but the wording, design and style of them!
Everyone is different and perceives content differently, so one call to action won’t cater to everyone.
The great thing about having a blog is, that you have multiple pages and posts in order to hold several different CTAs, meaning plenty of opportunities to get people to sign up for your freebies and offers!
Within ConvertKit, I like to set up multiple forms for the same opt-in and see which one converts the best…
Sometimes I change the wording and sometimes I even like to create a completely different type of form, to see which people prefer…
Test all kinds of things out because all it takes sometimes is a small change in wording to make a big difference in the number of clicks you get.
Make your CTAs Stand Out
The final thing I want to mention in the CTA Basics is making sure every CTA stands out…
You can do this with the design mainly, as this is what will catch people’s attention first.
The colour of your buttons seems to be a hot topic, especially when it comes to whether certain colours are better than others!
Now there’s tons of research out there looking into which colour buttons work best and why, but does it really make a difference or even matter…
Some articles say Red’s the best colour, others say Blue and some say many other colours…
Who really knows because even if you saw higher conversions on a form that showed a red button than that of a form with a blue button – how do you know it’s the colour of the button that made the difference in the first place…
I wouldn’t get too hung up on the button colours or text colours, but by all means, test different ones out and see.
I tend to stick with my brand colours for buttons everywhere on my blog because they’re bright and stand out anyway, so when it comes to button colours and even sizes, just make sure they’re highly visible against the rest of your content.
As long as your Call to Actions, in general, are obvious to your readers and clear, you should see them work for you!
Where are the best places to put Call to Actions
Where you place your call to actions on your site is also something you need to think about, as there’s many places they can go!
Placing them where people are most likely to see them is the name of the game…
You may want to consider putting them in a prominent location, such as at the top of the page or in the middle of your content.
You may also want to experiment with different locations to see which ones work best for you.
Just a little tip – make sure your call to actions are easy to see and don’t get lost among the other content on your page.
If you keep these things in mind, you’ll create buttons that are sure to get clicks.
So let’s take a look now at where you can place your CTAs…
Landing Pages
Landing pages are vital for any blog and/or business and they’re super easy to design, especially if you’re using an email marketing software like ConvertKit.
You can choose from several templates and then just change the colours, images and text to suit you…
Landing pages are awesome because you get to include a lot more information than you can on a form within your posts.
You can explain in more detail what and why you want people to sign up for, making it easier to entice and excite readers to click!
CTAs Within Blog Posts & Pages
There’s several ways you can use CTAs within a blog post and you should try and mix things up to give your readers a variety of ways to join your email list.
I use a few different ways on my blog:
Exit Intent Pop-Ups
In-Line forms
Content Upgrade Short codes
Text that links to Pop Up forms
The ways mentioned above are used throughout my blog posts and pages.
Exit Intent Pop-Ups
I like to use Exit Intent pop-ups because I’m not a fan of having things popping up all over the place when I’m reading other blogs.
When someone leaves my site and they go to click the “X” in the browser tab, a form pops up on some of my posts.
I find exit pop-ups are a lot less intrusive to your reader and doesn’t take away from their experience of reading your content.
In-Line Forms
I use in-line, in-content forms a lot within my posts, usually within a big box that includes a preview image!
In fact, you’ll probably find one in pretty much all of my posts!
I find these types of CTA stand out really well amongst all the other content in my posts because they tend to have a coloured background for the box, which helps with the contrast.
Content Upgrade Shortcodes
Another form I love to use is the Content Upgrade shortcode.
It’s basically a two-step form that a visitor clicks on and it opens a pop-up for them to enter their name and email address to sign up!
I use a plugin called Thrive Leads to do this, which makes it super simple to create the forms.
I use one of their many templates, change the text and colours and boom – it’s all created and ready to be added to my post.
Once the form is created, you get provided with a short code.
You can either copy this (by clicking the big blue “Copy” button and then add it into a Short code block within your post (as seen in the images below)…
OR you can choose the Thrive Leads Short code block and then just choose the correct form you want to add in from the dropdown menu.
Text that Links to Pop Up Forms
The final way I use CTA forms is with just a line of text that either links to a pop-up or a landing page.
I’m trying to go through my posts and find a link to a pop up I’ve used via text, but my mind has gone blank and I can’t remember which ones I’ve used this CTA on lol!
They do exist though, so if you come across them and click on them, you’ll see a pop up appear…
Call to Actions Within Emails
Emails are a fab place to have calls to actions, as you already have your subscribers on your list and ready to listen!
More people are likely to buy from you when it comes from within an email, so you should take this opportunity to include CTAs which subscribers can click to your products/programs or affiliate products…
Most of the emails I’ve seen do this simply with a line of text, hyperlinked to wherever they want it to go.
Some emails also use big, bright buttons to click on or images as well…
The image above shows you a snapshot of an email sent to my list, where I wanted them to check out my SEO Starter Guide for Mompreneurs post.
I clearly stated they just needed to click on the image and they’d be taken there!
Whatever method you use, just make sure you make it clear and obvious as to what they need to do. Just tell them exactly what to do!
Sticky Bar/Header CTAs
Next up is the sticky bar or header, the one I see used tons on websites.
It’s where you can use the header of posts and pages to draw attention to something and they’re “sticky” because they stay there as a user scrolls the page.
They’re liked because they don’t hinder a visitor’s experience as they remain out of the way at the top of the content.
Sometimes they’re not sticky and they’ll remain at the top of the page without moving when the user scrolls.
You can see some examples shown below:
Because the top of the page is the first thing seen when a visitor comes to your site, it’s a great opportunity for you to place a CTA here for maximum exposure!
Call to Actions within a Sidebar
The sidebar is an awesome place to have all kinds of goodness for your readers.
It’s to the side and out of the way (so that it doesn’t hinder a reader’s experience) yet it’s still within eyeshot to showcase affiliate offers, your products/courses and freebie opt-ins!
I play around with the sidebar on my own blog. Sometimes I like to have it and other times I don’t…
My preferred way to share affiliate links is above the footer of my posts and pages.
Here I have the 4 tools I use all the time and love, so I have them shared on every post and page somewhere…
It’s great to have CTAs on posts and also on the blog pages that drive the most traffic, as you want to make the most of every post and page that’s read.
How do you write a Call to Action that’s Click-Worthy?
Well, there are a few things to keep in mind. For starters, make sure your CTA is clear and concise. You don’t want to confuse people or make them have to think too hard about what you’re asking them to do.
Also, make sure your CTA is relevant to the content of the page. If someone is reading about a new product, don’t ask them to sign up for your newsletter – they may not be interested!
You also need to make your CTA low risk. Don’t make them think they have to give away their left arm to get what you’re offering! Low risk, easy to get and to the point is absolutely necessary to get people to click…
So what else can you do and think about to get the best out of your CTAs?
1. Use action-oriented words
When creating your CTA, use verbs that encourage readers to take action.
Your call to actions are really important, especially as the words used within them decide whether someone clicks or not…
Use verbs that incite action – words such as “grab”, “get started”, “learn more”, “comment”, “subscribe”, “join” and “try it” etc…
Be clear about what you want the reader to do – click, comment, sign up…
When you’re clear about the action you want someone to take and you use words that encourage people to take action, they’re more likely to go ahead and click that button/link/image etc…
2. Use Power Words
When you’re trying to get people to take a specific action, using power words is a great way to do it.
These are words that have a lot of impact and evoke an emotional response.
Some examples of power words include:
Download Now
Subscribe for More
Join Right Away
Investigate
Check out
Choose
Order…
When you use these words in your call to actions, it can help increase the chances that someone will take the action you want them to.
So, if you’re looking to boost your conversion rates, try using power words in your CTA!
3. Use Urgency Cues
If you want your readers to take action right away, use urgency cues in your CTA.
Phrases like “now” and “today” imply that there’s a time limit for taking action, which can encourage readers to act quickly.
There’s something about a time limit which makes you think “I’ve got to get in on this right now” in case it goes away…
Some other things that make a great Call to Action?
As well as ALL the above, there are a few other things you can do to make your CTAs totally awesome, so let’s check them out now:
Offer benefits in your CTA
Let your readers know what they’re going to get if they sign up and click!
Explain briefly some of the benefits to help them decide instantly that they want in…
Go against the Grain
There’s nothing like going against the grain, the norm and the crowd to make your call to actions stand out!
Doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing is sure to make you differ from the rest.
Making people think about something that’s unusual or opposite to what they may usually think about can also be a fab way to get attention.
If you want to share something that’s maybe less than conventional, try it and see how it goes!
People’s curiosity often gets the best of them, meaning they just have to click to find out more…
Use Numbers
Numbers are also great to use within your call to actions.
Whether that’s to confirm facts and figures or to showcase the number of something they’ll get when they sign up!
People like to know how long it will take to get from A to B and also, including numbers represents the value they’re going to get!
So we’ve looked at lots of things which will make your CTAs awesome, but I didn’t want to round this post out without talking about some of the things that could hinder the performance of your call to action?
What could make your CTAs weak?
It's good to know what can make your call to actions great, but I think it’s equally important to know what could weaken your CTA!
It’s always important to know the pros and cons of things, that’s for sure.
Too many Call to Actions
Now I know I’ve said that you want to have calls to actions wherever you can, but that doesn’t mean you should plague your posts and pages with them…
Having one or two CTAs on every page is fine, with a sidebar housing some more too, but if you’re trying to place them here, there and everywhere, you could find people getting annoyed.
You could also come across as desperate if every other paragraph shows up yet another call to action!
Don’t overwhelm your readers and overtake the enjoyment of reading your posts by having too many CTA’s floating around. They won’t know what to click on which could result in them leaving altogether.
If you want to include extra, generate some exit intent pop-ups, as these won’t intrude and they’re a good way to catch attention as your reader’s already leaving your site…
I use ConvertKit (my email marketing software) to put together all of my exit intent forms!
Not enough Call to Actions on your Site
So you can have way too many calls to actions, but the opposite to that is not having enough!
Hiding a little CTA box in the corner of a post or page isn’t going to cut it!
People need to know you have something to offer…
You can easily have plenty of CTAs on your blog without going overboard.
Having a couple on your posts or pages, a slide-in which can appear after a certain amount of scroll time or an exit intent is absolutely fine!
Utilising your sidebar is also great to include even more CTAs and affiliate products you love, as it doesn’t detract from your actual post (because it’s off to the side outta the way).
Just be mindful of your readers and think about how you like to read blogs and the fact you wouldn’t want people’s offers shoved in your face every five seconds…
Unreadable Fonts
You want to make sure you’re always using clear, bold and most importantly r-e-a-d-a-b-l-e fonts…
You could have the most amazing message in your CTA, but if the fonts are squiggly – no one’s going to be able to make out what it says!
Avoid the super pretty fonts and just stick with simplicity!
You can also test out whether all capitals work, or whether using a lower case would work best.
I always use ALL CAPITALS within my actual call to action buttons, but I mix it up and try different things out when it comes to the copy on my call to actions!
Too much text within your Call to Action
If you want to make your buttons more visually appealing, try using images or icons in addition to text.
You can also use different colours to make your buttons stand out against the background of the page. Just make sure the colours you choose are complementary to the rest of your design and easy to see.
When creating your call to action, you can also experiment with different shapes and sizes to see which ones get the best results.
Buttons don’t have to be all the same shape and size – in fact, using a variety of shapes and sizes can make your call to action stand out more.
Just make sure you use enough contrast so that they’re easy to see against the background of your page.
Adding video to your call to action can also be a great way to increase clicks.
I haven’t experimented personally with a video call to action as of yet, but videos are a great way to engage readers and show them what they can expect if they take action.
Plus, videos are more likely to be shared on social media, which can help you reach even more people.
Keeping CTAs simple, to the point and as short as they can be will help you massively.
With shortness of time for everyone, you need to make sure your readers are grasping the concept of your CTA and what they’re going to get immediately.
Your CTA isn’t an essay, it’s just a short piece of copy that needs to be irresistible so that it can entice, draw a reader in and make them want to click!
Places, where you can include more text, are within landing pages and sales pages!
In fact, you want to explain more on landing pages and especially sales pages, because you want to give as much information as you can to help sway your visitors’ decision to click and/or buy…
Not enough text in your CTA
Of course, as well as having too much text, you could go the complete opposite way and have far too little!
Just because “short is best”, doesn’t mean it should be so short it doesn’t explain anything at all!
Just saying “Sign up” or “Grab this” without going into a little detail will also cause people NOT to click that button…
Try to get the right balance with your copy and explain just enough to let your reader know what they’re getting and why they need it!
Asking for too much information
Making your readers jump through hoops to sign up will end in disaster!
You don’t want to be asking for endless amounts of info! Just ask for their name & email address, or even just their email address if you prefer…
The reason I like to collect subscribers’ names is that I like the personal touch of including their names within the emails I write and send to them!
Unless the niche you’re in and your site warrants asking for additional info, don’t ask for it.
When you ask for too much information from your readers, they may not be willing to provide it.
Asking for too much personal information, such as name, address, and phone number can be a big turn-off.
Make it as pain-free for your readers as possible and keep the information you request at a minimum!
Being too Pushy!
I just wanted to add this one in quickly because I feel it’s important!
Don’t be too pushy in your CTA as it’ll only turn readers away!
Ask for what you want in a polite and respectful way. If you’re too aggressive, readers will leave your site, never to return again…
Bad Design
Too many colours, fonts and images can all cause your call to actions to be CRAZY!
Remember, we said that simple is the key and that doesn’t just swing across to your copy – it includes your design too.
Make sure you’re not overcomplicating the design with too many colour combos and font types. Just stick with one or two colours and fonts and leave it at that.
Also, try and create CTAs which are on-brand as this will make them congruent with the rest of your blog!
REALLY IMPORTANT – Your CTAs ARE NOT Mobile Optimised
Finally, it’s important to note that your call to actions need to be mobile optimised.
With pretty much everyone reading content on mobile devices, you’ll want to make sure your call to actions are easy to see and use on them!
Make sure your buttons are big enough to click on with your fingers and use clear text that’s easy to read.
If you use ConvertKit, their forms are always mobile optimised, so you don’t need to worry about how they’ll look on mobile!
Let’s wrap it up!
I hope this post inspired you to go create some awesome Call to Actions for your blog.
Ones that’ll have readers click, clicking those buttons and not being able to stay away…
So before you leave, let’s just do a quick recap of the super important points (well they’re all important, but you know – the main ones)…
Think about the action you want your reader to take
What will your readers get from your CTA?
Make sure it grabs attention and entices
Make it simple and to the point
Test your wording and change things up!
Trial different locations to see what works best for your and YOUR blog
Use Action Verbs, Power Words and words which draw Emotion
Include CTAs wherever you can (but don’t overwhelm them)
Make them obvious and stand out with good design!
Make sure they’re ALWAYS optimised for mobile devices
You’ll know if your call to action is working because people will be signing up for it and if not, then try tweaking and changing a few things around or even crafting a new CTA altogether…
