11 Excellent Call-to-Action Examples for Your Website

So you have a great website, blog or social media page. It's search engine optimised, you see a lot of traffic reaching your pages, you've ticked all of the boxes and have all the best attraction mechanisms in place, but once they get to your site, they disappear as quickly as they came.

You are not alone.

The above scenario is an all too common one. So many businesses investing in their online marketing have heard and understood how vital the attraction part of marketing is -- optimising the website, creating and executing a content plan, developing user personas and targeting the audience most likely to like what you have to say -- but few know much about how to turn their viewers into engaged leads, advocates or customers.

Attracting people to your website, blog or social media pages is just the first step. Once you have their attention, you need to get them to engage.

That's where the trusty call-to-action (CTA) comes in.

While your article or website may be fascinating, entertaining and interesting content is often not enough to inspire a reader to navigate through your site to find contact information and take the many steps needed to contact you.

Action should be effortless.

Rules of Engagement

In this article, we are going to show you 11 irresistible call-to-actions to convert your viewers into engaged action takers. But first, it's helpful to understand the basic rules for attracting engagement through CTAs. Compelling CTAs are:

• Action-oriented
• Using persuasive text
• Including strong visuals
• Creating a sense of urgency
• Easy to find

And most CTAs will fall into one of these six actions:

1. Sign up
2. Subscribe
3. Try for free
4. Learn more
5. Join us
6. Get started

With the above in mind, let's take a look at 11 of the most irresistible call-to-actions currently on the internet.

11 Irresistible Call-to-Actions

The following CTA examples are taken from some of the best in the business. These organisations have mastered the art of generating engagement. We'd even be willing to bet that you yourself have been hooked by one or more in this CTA list.

1. HubSpot

Undoubtedly a CTA leader, Hubspot uses persuasive text, placed front and centre on their home page, to tempt visitors to try their software. Highlighting that "There’s a better way to grow" then backing this up with a value proposition that creates a sense of urgency and encourages users to try their software for free.

2. Netflix

Masters of the compelling visual, Netflix gets straight to the point, highlighting what they have to offer, how it works and promptly placing the CTA button below, ready for action.

3. Evernote

A great CTA example for up-selling is Evernote. As an existing freemium member, Evernote immediately clocks this and presents a visually captivating CTA and a seriously compelling offer: "Save 40% on Evernote Premium" with the "Upgrade Now" button clear and ready to be clicked.

4. Nike

Unlike the previous examples which require online subscriptions to utilise the service, Nike does a great job of letting users first browse their range before presenting them with a compelling reason to sign up for their newsletter: "Be the first to know about the latest products, exclusives and offers from Nike."

5. Marriott

When landing on the Marriott homepage, visitors are immediately met with strong visuals and persuasive text, encouraging them to take action and "book now" to save up to 20% on weekend stays.

6. Ikea

Tapping into a severe sense of urgency, Ikea makes a simple statement: "order before 12pm for next day delivery" and then offers a visually exciting taste of their new range and clearly guides customers to their action: "shop now".

7. Spotify

Spotify embodies simplicity that is sharp and powerful. When new prospects reach their site, they are met with three simple yet persuasive sentences: "Music for everyone. Millions of songs. No credit card needed." Then the final action positioned perfectly below: "get Spotify free."

8. OK Cupid

OK Cupid is one fantastic example of all the rules of engagement utilised to full effect. They have a captivating tagline, persuasive text that sets them apart and creates a sense of urgency, fun images that change to show a range of couples, so they speak to a broad audience, then offer an easy to find button to join.

9. Join.Me

Join.me use strong visuals and a rotating tagline to appeal to the diverse range of customers they seek to attract. They list their two primary services with fun text and CTA buttons that stand out and compel action from the viewer.

10. Square

Square embodies their offering in just one sentence before providing a clear CTA to start a Square account. They also utilise scrolling visuals to appeal to the range of customers that they target. Simple, clean and powerful.

11. Dropbox

Dropbox does a great job of taking up space without overfilling it. Putting forward a compelling argument to join on the left and then the steps required to complete the action on the right. It's a great example of keeping CTAs clean while embracing space to be big and bold.

Taking on the learnings from the examples above, all you need to do to turn visitors into action takers is to:

• consider the goals of your business
• determine what action you want your visitors to take
• design a compelling argument as to why they should take this action
• introduce visuals that help to demonstrate the value of your offering
• and then make sure your CTA button is front and centre compelling your visitors to click.

If you need help with this on your own website, why not sign up for a free website review and we'll let you know what you can do to improve your conversions.