CTA (Call to Action)
A CTA is a prompt on a website or in marketing materials that tells the user what action to take next, typically presented as a button or link with action-oriented text like "Get Started" or "Request a Quote."
A Call to Action (CTA) is a design element, usually a button or link, that guides users toward the action you want them to take. CTAs are the bridge between interest and action, turning passive visitors into leads or customers. Effective CTAs have several key characteristics.
The placement should be contextually relevant, appearing where the user is most likely to be ready to take action. CTAs exist at every stage of the marketing funnel.
In practice
- A SaaS company changed their CTA from "Sign Up" to "Start My Free Trial" and saw a 28% increase in clicks because the new text communicated the benefit and reduced perceived risk
- An agency added a sticky CTA bar to their service pages ("Get a Free Consultation") that stayed visible during scrolling, increasing contact form submissions by 35%
- A nonprofit tested red vs. green donation buttons and found the green button increased donations by 15%, contradicting the assumption that red (urgency) would perform better
- An e-commerce store added a secondary CTA ("Save to Wishlist") alongside "Add to Cart" and recovered 12% of visitors who weren't ready to buy but returned later to purchase
Not sure how this applies to you?
A senior engineer walks your site, your search presence and the way enquiries reach you, then writes down the three things worth fixing first. You keep the document either way.