Best Call to Action (CTA) for Ecommerce

You’ve invested time and money in clever copy, eye-catching images, and strong social feeds. Don’t drop the ball at the last minute with a weak call to action (CTA). Your call to action is what closes the deal, so it’s well worth spending some time to get it right. We’ll answer the question of what is a CTA below, while offering some tips to help you choose the best call to action for your ecommerce business.

What is CTA?

CTA stands for call to action. This refers to the prompt in any direct marketing material or website that instructs the user to take a particular action. A CTA often refers to sales, but it can also instruct the user to sign up for a newsletter, download a coupon code, or visit your social media profile. It usually takes an authoritative tone with a simple action phrase like ‘Click Here’ or ‘Buy Now’. The call to action is placed on a clickable button or hyperlink so that the buyer’s action matches the words.

CTA examples

An ecommerce call to action can take many different forms, but ideally, they will be placed to match each step of the user’s journey. For example, when a first-time buyer first visits your website, they could be greeted with a welcome message and ‘Sign up for 10% off’ CTA. When the same buyer has placed a product in the shopping cart, they will see a ‘Buy Now’ call to action.

Here are a few more typical CTA examples you’ll see in ecommerce:

• Get a demo

• Share on social media

• Read more

• Sign up here

• Add to cart

• Checkout

• Add to wishlist

• Shop new styles

• View more

As you can see from these CTA examples, an ecommerce call to action always prompts the reader to do something specific.

Elements of a successful CTA

There are no hard and fast rules when writing the best call to action, but you should keep the following factors in mind.

• Size: While the CTA length should always be short and sweet, the size and font should be large enough to attract a viewer’s eye. A general rule of thumb is to make the CTA the largest button on any page.

• Colour: The CTA button should be in a contrasting colour to the background, also making it stand out and attract the viewer’s eye. In addition to contrasting colours, you could also tie it into your brand colour scheme.

• Clarity: Any ecommerce call to action should be brief, ideally no more than three words. It must be easily scannable. Less is more, so be sure that you can convey which action you want your viewer to take with very clear wording.

• Placement: The placement and volume of your CTAs will depend on how your website is set up. Some product pages are quite lengthy, in which case you might need to scatter a few calls to action throughout. You could also place a sticky at the top of the page that stays in place while the viewer scrolls through.

The best ecommerce call to action

So, what is the best ecommerce call to action for your business? Keep the elements above in mind and use your words to convey a sense of urgency.

You’ll need more than one to match the various actions you need your visitor to take. Be sure to craft an ecommerce call to action for each of the following areas:

• Social follows and shares

• Subscribe

• Coupon codes

• Add to cart

• Buy button

• Leave a review

However, avoid overkill. If you load up your website with CTAs after every sentence, you’ll come across as pushy and unprofessional. The goal is to gently guide customers through the conversion funnel, not overshadow your products with an overzealous sales pitch.

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