Menu
When it comes to PPC advertising, getting people to click on your ad is only half the battle. From there, you also need them to click on the call to action (CTA) on your landing page.
That’s the only way to actually convert leads. So if your landing pages are struggling to convert visitors, maybe it’s your CTA.
Fortunately, there are many ways to get more users to click on your CTAs. You just need to learn the tricks of the trade.
In this article, we’ll go over what those landing page CTA best practices are, but first, let’s define what a CTA is in the first place.
A call to action (CTA) is the most important part of a PPC landing page. It’s what converts visitors into leads and drives your conversion goals.
Basically, a CTA is a prompt that invites users to take a specific action.
Most CTAs offer something valuable (like a free ebook download or newsletter signup) in exchange for the user’s contact information (like their name and email address).
The point of the CTA is to lead potential customers into your sales funnel. From there, you can nurture them with more valuable content until they eventually make a purchase.
So how do you make the CTAs on your landing pages as effective as possible? Here are ten tips:
The CTA button is just what it sounds like. It’s a virtual button on your landing page that contains the CTA. For example, the CTA button might be a green rectangle that includes the words “Download Your Free Ebook.”
Whatever your CTA button is, you want it to stand out from the rest of the page. To do this, you can use a different text font (e.g. bolded or italic) and contrasting colors.
Humans are visual creatures, which means (among other things) that we are naturally attracted to sharp variations in colors.
You can use this to your advantage by playing off different color contrasts. For example, if your landing page background is blue, you might make your CTA button orange so it really stands out.
You can also try using a free online color scheme generator to come up with ideas.
Source: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/color-scheme-definitions-types-examples
Another way to make your CTA button stand out is to play with its size. Make it big enough to call attention but not so big that it becomes too distracting from reading the rest of the page.
By focusing on the visual design of your CTA button, you can increase the number of users that click on it.
When writing a call to action, it’s easy to resort to phrases like “contact us” or “learn more.” But such CTAs are so overused that many people gloss over them.
Instead, try to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. What are their pain points? Then craft your CTA according to that.
For example, if your average customer has a hard time remembering birthdays, lure them in with a CTA that says “install this scheduling tool to never forget another birthday.” It’s much more specific and tailored to the user’s needs.
That said, you also need to make sure you keep your CTAs clear and to the point.
Most people skim the internet. So if your CTA is too long or clever, people will probably move on. And if you can’t convince them to click on your CTA the first time, they probably never will.
So make your CTA crystal clear. Say exactly what you want the visitor to do and exactly what they’ll get by clicking. Use action verbs to evoke a quick reaction.
By writing clearly and directly, your CTA will be much more persuasive.
The last thing you want is for visitors to be looking for a CTA on your landing page and not find it.
To ensure people always have the opportunity to click the CTA, place it somewhere it can always be seen. For example, you could include it in a floating header or footer that moves along the web page as the user scrolls up or down.
The point is you want the CTA to be visible, no matter where the user goes on the page. If you only place it at the end of the page, visitors may never get to it or see it.
The CTA should be easy to locate. So, place it where it makes the most sense.
That said, you don’t want to include so many CTAs that you come across as too pushy or spammy. This will only turn people off.
But you also don’t want users to leave your page without clicking on the CTA. Otherwise, what’s the point?
So, find the right CTA frequency balance.
Even if you place multiple CTAs across your landing page, you want to stick to just one kind. Here’s what I mean:
If the landing page’s main purpose is to get visitors to sign up for your newsletter, don’t also include CTAs to order a product off of your website.
You can have multiple CTAs, but they shouldn’t call on visitors to perform more than one action.
Why? Asking visitors to do more than one thing can be confusing. In fact, this may overwhelm them so that they don’t click on any CTAs at all.
If you have multiple marketing objectives, create separate landing pages for each of them. That way, each landing page is focused on one specific action.
Having an attractive CTA is not enough. You also need to direct visitors’ attention to it with visual cues.
You can do this in two ways: subtle or not-so-subtle cues.
A subtle visual cue could be images or converging lines whose linear pathways indirectly point toward the CTA—like a photo of someone whose eyes are looking at the CTA. Users will then subconsciously want to look there, too.
Source: https://instapage.com/blog/what-are-visual-cues
A conspicuous visual cue could be bright red arrows that point toward the CTA. This can also be effective, but you must be careful not to make it appear too distracting or promotional.
Whatever you do, you want your landing page to have a clean visual flow that ultimately directs users to the CTA button.
Another way to make your CTA stand out is to put white space around it.
White space (aka negative space) refers to the areas of your landing page that don’t have any text or images—nothing.
While you might think white space is a waste of precious real estate, it’s not. It actually helps provide some balance to your landing page and, if used artfully, can actually make your CTA stand out.
For one, if you leave a lot of white space around the CTA, it won’t look cluttered—like it’s drowning in text and graphics. Instead, it will stand out because it’s set off by itself.
Play with the white space around your CTA to call more attention to it.
Source: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-power-of-white-space
To stand out, your CTA also has to offer something unique. What are the benefits of clicking on it? How will it improve your visitors’ lives? What’s in it for them? If your CTA doesn’t answer these questions, you may want to rethink it.
Consider your typical visitor’s pain points. Then show how your offer is a solution to their problems.
For example, if your CTA is to sign up for a weekly newsletter that offers actionable tips on how to double your productivity, point that out. In this case, your CTA might read “Sign Up for My Weekly Newsletter to 2X Your Productivity.”
At the end of the day, concrete and relevant benefits help sell visitors on your CTA.
People are heavily influenced by their emotions. Though the rational brain plays a role in the decision-making process, emotions play an arguably bigger one.
That’s why it’s important for your CTA to appeal to people’s emotions. If you tap into people’s emotions, visitors are more likely to pay attention and click.
For example, you might create a sense of urgency by promoting a limited-time offer. This may activate their fear of missing out (FOMO). Or you might appeal to their sense of danger with a CTA that says “Sign the Petition to Keep Your Neighborhood Safe.”
Don’t forget to also surround the CTA with relevant images (where appropriate).
So if, for example, the CTA calls on the reader to improve their life by getting a copy of your new self-help book, include a photo of someone reading the book with a smile on their face next to the CTA.
This will draw a more immediate emotional response from the user than words alone ever could. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Last but not least, subject your landing page CTAs to A/B tests.
An A/B test (aka split test) refers to developing two slightly different versions of something (in this case a CTA) and then running a test to see which performs better according to common marketing metrics like click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate.
You could test a CTA’s button size, copy, color, font, placement, page frequency, and more. Just make sure to test only one variable at a time so you can narrow down what exactly is contributing to a CTAs performance.
By constantly conducting A/B tests, you can gradually fine-tune your landing page CTA until it becomes a reliable conversion machine.
Now that you know the best practices for crafting effective PPC landing page CTAs, you’re ready to take your marketing to the next level.
Don’t have the time or manpower to handle your ad campaigns? That’s okay. We’re here to help.
Partner with PPC.co to take advantage of our managed PPC services. We can help you run ads across Google, Bing, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. Whatever your advertising needs, we have you covered.
We’ll also help you optimize your landing page CTAs so that they bring you more business. To get started, contact us for a free proposal. We look forward to chatting!
Please fill the below form to download the PDF
“*” indicates required fields.
Please fill the below form to download the PDF
“*” indicates required fields.
Please fill the below form to download the PDF
“*” indicates required fields.
Please fill the below form to download the PDF
“*” indicates required fields.
Please fill the below form to download the PDF
“*” indicates required fields.
Please fill the below form to download the PDF
“*” indicates required fields.
