Button Design Tips: How to Gain Clicks from Your Visitors
Whether you’re a designer, marketer or a small business owner, you’re probably already familiar with call-to action buttons. As a powerful sales and marketing tool, CTA buttons are frequently used to boost sales and grow leads. In a nutshell, a call-to-action (CTA) button is an interactive element of any user interface that aims to engage people to take certain action. With CTA buttons people are invited to purchase, contact you, subscribe, etc. For this reason, button design is essential for creating CTA buttons that convert. When designed right, CTA buttons are inviting and easy to notice. Most often button design is followed with call-to-action messages such as “Learn more”, “Find out”, “Buy now”. But the right combo of colors, lines and fonts is what makes a difference. When button design is done right you may attract the attention of potential clients and encourage them to click or take any other desired action. If you’re not sure which design tricks work the best you can always listen to design podcasts or check out the tips design experts shared below.
Rameez G – Marketing Director at Profit Guru
Working as the Marketing Director at my company, I think that successful headlines and pics in the newsletter cannot always gain the attention of your audience – you need to include a Call to Action (CTA). Now that you have the reader’s attention, what do you want them to do? CTAs seem to assist the reader with his next step. The main requirement for the CTA button is to be noticeable, but it also has to fit the email design. There are no size limits. The clearer call to action you add, the more conversions you get.
I would suggest making sure that your call to action (CTA) stays in sync with the real logo and speech communications. This will be compatible with all marketing stages, and should also be helpful with brand communications. They can be aimed at divisions of audiences.
Tim Koster – Founder of Clever Creations
When it comes to CTA buttons, simple phrases are key. For example: ‘Find out more’, ‘Learn more’ and ‘Check out the free template’. They are direct and make clear what the reader can get by clicking. Sure, these phrases are used a lot, but this is for a clear reason: they work. Especially when it comes to making sales, not overcomplicating things is essential. Confusing possible buyers is not something that will lead you to success.
As for other things that are important: ensure that the CTAs are actually noticeable. Position them so that they are easily noticed, and use clear fonts, standout colors and sharp edges. Especially on cluttered pages, it is important to make CTA buttons stand out.
Carl Anthony – Managing Editor & Partner at Automoblog
We have the best results with CTA buttons that allow readers to research significant purchases from their own homes on their own time. Depending on the article, the CTA button may help them see car insurance rates or dealership inventory in their area if they are looking for a new vehicle.
We find that CTA buttons that incorporate a “best-of” element work well. For example, in a review of multiple products or services, the CTA button may signify which one is the “best overall,” or “best performance,” or “best on a budget.” This type of CTA button presents readers with three options with custom links to each. It works best because it’s not an overwhelming number of choices but still enough to cover what most readers are looking for.
Another important element is the article that includes the CTA button. Without the supporting text of a helpful article that answers all of the key questions on the topic for the reader, even the best-designed CTA button will be rendered ineffective. CTA buttons are essential, but their effectiveness is a byproduct of good content. Always make sure you are addressing the right search intent, and then build your CTA buttons from there.
Dusan Stanar – Founder & CEO of VSS Monitoring
As the owner of a company, the number #1 tip I can give regarding designing a CTA button is to choose eloquent words. Implementing an optimized call to action button design is a vital part of converting a web visitor into a client. So, your CTA has to reach off the screen and take the attention of your visitor. If you’re going to achieve a successful call to action button design, the wording you use has to be attractive and noticeable. Eye-catching word choice means going above, and far beyond, the ever universal “sign up” or “click here” or buttons we’re all familiar with. Your viewers are most likely resistant to those types of CTA buttons (because they observe them everywhere) and will glaze right over them. Dust off that old dictionary and get creative with your word choice! You need to use strong action verbs and affectionate adjectives that will bounce out at your readers and invite their interest. However, you have to make sure the words you use are still clear and direct. Get your message over in a few compelling words to get the best results.
Simon Elkjær – Chief Marketing Officer at avXperten
One of the most important features your CTA button should have is the message that comes with it. This message must be short and impactful to attract the attention of your readers. In order to really stand out, one must do away with generic messages and instead opt for short and funny ones with a splash of personality. This message, along with great colors and design will help improve your CTA and help boost your brand. These tips, despite being seemingly small can help boost your CTA’s effectiveness, make it more engaging to readers, and even personalize the entire customer experience.
Faizan Fahim – Content Marketing Specialist at ServerGuy
From the UI writing perspective, the CTA button should clearly mention what it’s doing, instead of the generic language we typically see on the web. “Learn more”, “Read more”, “Find more” types of buttons are good if they do what they are saying.
However, if you want people to sign up, then writing Sign Up is not a good strategy. Instead, you have to write the service the person is getting after signing up. If there is a free sign up, then writing Sign Up for Free works better than just Sign Up.
Similarly, Netflix uses ‘Get One Month Free’ instead of ‘Take Trial’. The CTA has to say clearly what it will provide once the user clicks it. The common verb does not cut it, so make it specific, with the advantage.
Miles Beckler – Founder and Entrepreneur at MilesBeckler.com
To create a winning call to action button, ensure that it’s clear and contrasts with its surroundings. If your button blends in with the background or fails to stand out from the rest of your website copy, your audience is liable to miss it entirely. One way to prevent this from happening is by using a color contrast wheel. Take note of the most prevalent color on your website, and observe the opposite color on the contrast wheel. For example, a purple website complements yellow CTA buttons. A red website would complement a green button.
Ensure that they stand out from their surroundings to encourage readers to interact with them. The call to action on my own website encourages readers to join my email list to access the free course that took me from $50,000 in student loan debt to a million-dollar business online. The button copy itself is simple – it simply says, “Submit”. But it has such a high CTR because it’s clear and contrasts with the blue background it’s in front of. Sometimes it goes beyond website copy – design can be just as important.
Yoann Bierling – Founder of International Consulting
The most important differentiation between a standard link or button and the CTA buttons is in interface design. An interface should be not only visually appealing but should also provide feedback to the user, in order to let him know that the call to action is an important part of the interface. This can easily be achieved by changing the button’s background color on mouseover, on top of adding a specific icon along with distinct spacing that will separate the button from the rest of the interface visually – the interactive part will be what will drag the attention of the user and trigger his curiosity. The text should also complement the interface’s content and create the added value of that CTA button.
Susan Thompson – Digital Marketing Manager at Topp Casino Bonus
Here is my top tip for designing a website CTA button from your own experience: Add Secondary Text To Your CTA Button.
There are situations in CTA marketing where you may want to consider adding an extra line of information within your button text.
This practice is common with free trial buttons. For example, a typical free trial button says “30-day trial” in smaller text below the main “Start Your Free Trial” button text. This is valuable information, as it will encourage users to click through to begin their 30-day trial.
It is not necessary to add it to all buttons, but when it fits, this extra information can boost your CTR. For example, we have added, “It takes only a few minutes” beneath the main text “Get Bonus”. Often, users hesitate to take action thinking that the action will be difficult, costly, or time-consuming. This extra line of text helps users get an idea that the process doesn’t take much time. We have seen a 10% increase in CTR by applying this tip.
Josh Brooks – Head of Marketing at OnBuy
Keep things simple. It may sound obvious, but keeping your CTA button clear, concise, and relevant to the context is essential to its efficacy. Examples of a simple CTA could be ‘Buy Now’ or ‘See More’, which uses short imperative sentences to convey context and purpose. Understanding the context of the CTA is vital as the user needs to know exactly where they’ll be taken when they click the button. If they feel misled, the chances are they could simply navigate away from the site, negating the entire purpose of your CTA. Essentially, CTA buttons are there to optimize site navigation, which enhances the usability of the webpage, improves the overall user experience, and encourages that all-important return custom. Carefully consider the colors you use. It’s important to keep in mind that different colors elicit different emotions and feelings. An easy example here would be that green is considered a positive color while red is seen as negative – so, green could be used for a buying button and red could be used for any relevant warnings. By using these common color perceptions in your CTA design, you can add more contextual understanding to the button without the need for any additional copy. Ultimately, you want the user to have complete confidence in using your CTA button – and that all comes down to clarity.
Let’s Wrap It Up!
CTA buttons can benefit your business in many ways. Whether you want to grow sales or to grow consumer base, these design elements can help you do this with ease. That’s why button design is so important. The right combo of colors, lines, fonts and messages is essential for creating buttons that convert. So, don’t be afraid to test different approaches to find the CTA formula that works the best for you.
We hope this article was helpful. If you liked it, feel free to check out some of these articles as well!
