Cynthia Oswald

Surface Design, Fine Art + Branding for Creatives

call to action

Adding CTAs to Your Website

website success tips

Best placement for calls to action on your website

Top 3 Things to Consider When Adding CTAs to Your Website

  1. What’s the number 1 goal of your website? Be sure to create CTAs (calls to action) throughout pointing users to that goal/next steps
  2. Include one above the page fold on each page, and throughout the content, as well as the bottom of every page
  3. Make it easy for your user to know what their next action should be

Today’s tip is all about creating calls to action throughout your website and making sure that you share it in the most important locations on your site. You are going to include it in your menu, which essentially are different calls to action, but you also want to have a button or some specific highlighted call to action below the intro copy so that people know exactly where they should be going next after they read that information. Always be thinking about what the number one goal of the page is and then make sure that your call to action relates specifically to that goal and points the user to the next logical location. 

Examples of CTA’s are: 

  • make a purchase
  • sign up for your email newsletter
  • learn more about a service
  • contact
  • schedule a call

You want to relate back to what’s the number one goal for that page and the content and really, your website overall. You would think that creating calls to action would be very natural, but a lot of times we overlook it and just think that people will find what they need to do by looking through the menu. As the user is scrolling through content, they may decide to jump off the page and take action on what you are sharing so include CTAs throughout the copy/pages in natural locations. Sometimes it looks like having four different links that all lead to the exact same location from one page. Website visitors are looking for next steps, so making it really obvious is going to be helpful for them and it’s going to make the user experience better. 

I have one more tip in this series all about consistent spacing and then I’ll be moving on to the next series. If you want to see a full list of all my top website tips, download my FREE Website Checklist!

Top 3 Things to Think About Regarding Your Website Page Fold

Website Success Tips

Consideration of the page fold

What is a page fold? For physical projects consider a brochure, a natural break occurs when you open up a panel. It’s when you literally turn the page — creating those very apparent, natural breaks in the text and visuals. In the digital world, a page fold is considered anything you can see within the screen on the device you are using to view the web page, when you find yourself needing to scroll down to see more, you have found the page fold. 

On a website, there are a few things that you want to consider before a visitor starts to scroll down your web page. Below are my top 3 things to think about when viewing your website with the consideration of the page fold in mind.

1. Understand what is showing up on the screen when someone lands on our site from all devices

The first thing to consider is: what does the web visitor see when landing on your webpage? Do they see everything you are wanting them to see or are they not seeing enough? Make sure to consider the devices that someone could be using to view your website (phone, laptop, tablet, desktop). Every device has a different page fold, so you want to make sure to use the viewfinder to see what the screen view looks like on each device. Usually, your website should be responsive to different devices, but it never hurts to double-check that everything translates properly.

2. Including a CTA 

At the top of the page (and this goes for all web pages, not just your home page), you want to make sure that you always have a call to action above the fold. Consider having a call-out section above the fold that includes a header, a little bit of copy that articulates what they can expect to learn or find on this page, and a quick button so they can easily click into the goal location. Some web visitors are coming to your website to take immediate action, so you want to make sure that the CTA is up-front and center so they don’t have to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the webpage to find the link they are looking for.

3. Create Natural Breaks

In the case that a visitor decides not to immediately click on the CTA at the top of the webpage, and begins to scroll, you will want to make sure that you have created natural breaks on the page. Why is this important? You don’t want it to feel like an endless scroll with no hierarchy.  It’s not visually pleasing and can cause your visitor to lose interest. Try these design elements to help create natural feeling page breaks:

  • color blocking
  • images
  • lines
  • whitespace

These options can create mental indicators to the reader which content belongs together and when the next thought has begun. Creating those natural breaks in the page allows the end-user to have a pleasing overall experience when viewing your website. It’s a way to create breathing room online versus the physical world. 

Want to know more website success tips? Download my FREE Website Checklist!

Connection through communication on your website

Website Success Tips

Creating ways for people to connect on your website

Creating a way for people to connect with you throughout your website is simple and easy to accomplish. Should you provide an email or a phone number? How about a form that sends directly to your email? You also want to also make sure your information is protected. There are bots that scan websites for your information and sometimes putting a direct link to your phone number or email isn’t the safest option.

If your business is one in an industry where it is customary and common to have customers reach out by phone and you have someone dedicated to answering the phone, then absolutely include a phone number on your website. If your business doesn’t primarily have communication by phone with your customers, I would use a Contact Us button for the website visitor to connect with you via email, by filling out a form, or to schedule a call. The use of a button on your website helps protect your email or information since it isn’t directly given on your website, it is linked instead. My personal favorite option is offering a way for someone to schedule a call — to fill out a form and find a spot on your calendar right away. I think it’s really useful for any kind of service provider.

Where to include contact information on your website

Contact Page

When someone is going to your website, they are looking at your product or service and wanting to build a relationship or connection with you, so you want to make sure you’re allowing that to happen in the most seamless way possible for them. My suggestion would be to have an easily accessible page on your website dedicated to informing the web visitor of how they can inquire further about working together or purchasing your product. Over the years we have been conditioned to look in the top right-hand corner of the website to find that “Contact” page, so I would always have a link to the Contact page in that location.

Website Footer

Including a link or navigation menu in the footer of your site that links your visitor back to your service pages and your contact page is always a great idea. If someone took the time to scroll through the entire page you want to have an easy place for them to take the next step and connect.

It’s also good to include social media handles and/or an email opt-in. I would sprinkle the email marketing subscription form or lead magnet throughout your site and through a couple of pop-up forms if possible. Providing a useful lead magnet helps to offer real value to your users and a natural way to stay connected with users through their inboxes.