Master 7 CTA Best Practices for Boosting Landing Page Conversions

Unleashing Conversions: The Definitive Guide to Crafting Irresistible Calls to Action on Your WordPress Landing Pages

Did you know that a staggering 70% of businesses miss out on potential revenue simply because their marketing lacks an effective Call to Action (CTA)? It’s a harsh truth: without a clear, compelling nudge, even the most beautifully designed landing page will fail to convert casual visitors into loyal customers.

As a seasoned professional who has guided countless businesses in building high-converting landing pages, I've seen firsthand the transformative power of a well-crafted CTA. It’s not just a button; it's the critical bridge between interest and action, the linchpin of your sales funnel on your WordPress website or online store. Effective CTAs are laser-focused and inspire immediate action, directly driving your conversion rates through the roof.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll dive deep into the proven CTA best practices that virtually guarantee enhanced landing page conversions. Prepare to unlock the secrets to turning clicks into customers!

Note: This is a guest post by John Turner, the co-founder of SeedProd, the best landing page builder plugin. We publish an expert column on ShareWordpress every Thursday. This is an invite-only column, meaning we don’t accept unsolicited guest post offers.

Ready to transform your conversion strategy? Here’s a detailed roadmap of the actionable insights we’ll cover:

Prioritize a Single, Clear CTA to Eliminate User Confusion

This is arguably the most crucial principle for any high-converting landing page: one page, one primary Call to Action. When you seek to guide your WordPress website visitors towards a specific action, clarity is paramount. Any ambiguity or proliferation of options can introduce decision fatigue, a phenomenon known as “choice paralysis.”

When faced with too many choices, users often hesitate or, worse, abandon the page altogether because the path forward isn't clear. In my extensive experience, streamlining your landing page to feature a single, unmistakable CTA profoundly impacts conversion rates. The numbers speak for themselves: limiting your landing page to one core CTA can skyrocket clicks by over 371% and boost sales by an astonishing 1,617%!

So, create a straightforward journey for your user, leading directly to the desired action. If your page is particularly long and necessitates multiple instances of your CTA, ensure every single one conveys the exact same message and leads to the identical desired outcome.

Master Compelling Language: Drive Action with Powerful Verbs

To compel visitors to act, your CTA needs to speak with authority and clarity. This means leveraging actionable language that precisely tells them what to do next. Think strong, direct verbs like ‘get’, ‘start’, ‘shop’, ‘download’, and ‘subscribe’.

Such verbs inherently convey confidence and urgency, guiding users with an assertive direction. Consider these powerful examples:

Get Exclusive Access
Start Saving Today
Shop New Arrivals
Download Your Free Guide
Subscribe for Free Updates

Keep your CTAs concise and easy to digest. A prime example is Square’s "Get a free reader" – short, sharp, and action-oriented.

Beyond direct action, strategically incorporate urgency or scarcity language. This powerful tactic taps into the fear of missing out (FOMO), providing a compelling reason for immediate action:

Claim Your Discount Before It’s Gone
Hurry, Limited Time Offer!
Don’t Miss Out on This Deal!
Reserve Your Spot Now (limited availability)

Remember, custom-tailored CTAs significantly outperform generic ones, converting up to 42% more visitors. Always be creative and customize your call to action to precisely fit your campaign.

Unleash the Power of Benefits: Incentivize Clicks with Value-Driven Language

A truly effective CTA doesn't just tell users what to do; it powerfully communicates what's in it for them. By integrating benefit-driven language and evoking emotion, you create a powerful desire that motivates action.

When crafting your CTA, make sure to prominently highlight the unique benefits you offer. What specific gain will users experience by clicking? Understanding your target audience's motivations is key here. Pair this understanding with benefit-oriented verbs such as ‘unlock’, ‘discover’, ‘boost’, and ‘save’.

Consider a generic "Download Now" CTA. While clear, it offers no motivation. Now, contrast that with "Download Your Free Guide Today." This immediately conveys value ("Free Guide") and adds a subtle urgency ("Today").

Another excellent illustration comes from Aura’s landing page, featuring the benefit-driven CTA "Get Protection Now."

Notice how the supporting text just above the CTA reinforces the benefit ("saving 70%") and the urgency ("today"). We’ll explore how to strengthen your CTA with strategic supporting copy later in this article.

Here are more examples of powerful, benefit-driven CTAs to inspire your next campaign:

Unlock Exclusive Discounts
Boost Your Productivity
Save Big Today
Build Your Skills

By speaking directly to your user's needs and aspirations, you transform a mere instruction into an irresistible invitation.

Design for Success: Leverage Buttons for Maximum Click-Throughs

The simple act of placing your CTA on a prominent button can dramatically increase your conversions. Why? A button is inherently noticeable, visually distinct, easy to customize, and instinctively recognized as something to click.

Data supports this: Copyblogger famously reported a significant 45% increase in clicks after embedding their CTAs within buttons.

You can effortlessly add a call to action button to your landing pages using the native WordPress block editor or a dedicated page builder plugin. Tools like SeedProd, for instance, offer templates that simplify creating landing pages with pre-configured CTA buttons.

These tools also provide intuitive settings to customize the button's color, text, and overall appearance to seamlessly align with your brand and campaign objectives.

⭐ Discover more about SeedProd and its capabilities in this in-depth SeedProd review.

A Pro Tip for Even More Clicks

Want to supercharge your CTA buttons? Studies show that incorporating an arrow icon at the end of your button text can boost conversions by an additional 26%! As you can see on our own website, we implement this strategy, often paired with a word like ‘Now’ to amplify urgency.

This visually cues the user towards the next step, making the action feel more intuitive and direct.

Boost Visibility: Make Your CTAs Unmissable

The most compelling CTA won't convert if it's not seen. Ensuring your Call to Action stands out is non-negotiable.

Strategic Color and Placement

The simplest yet most effective way to make your CTA button pop is to use a bright, contrasting color that sharply differentiates it from your landing page's overall color scheme. Simultaneously, ensure the button text is large, legible, and easy to read at a glance. Most modern block editors and landing page plugins like SeedProd offer straightforward settings for these adjustments.

Experiment with different sizes and positions to find what resonates best with your audience. Crucially, position your CTA high enough on the page so visitors don't need to scroll to discover it (the "above the fold" principle).

For longer landing pages, strategically repeat your CTA at various points throughout the content. This ensures the call to action remains visible as readers consume information, subtly reinforcing its message without overwhelming them.

Enhance Accessibility

Don't overlook accessibility. By adding alt text to your CTA button, you make it accessible to users relying on screen readers. This inclusivity extends your reach to a significant user base – millions in the US alone – ensuring no potential customer is left behind due to design oversight.

Amplify Your Message: Support CTAs with Strategic Landing Page Copy

While your CTA button must be short and impactful, its value proposition can be significantly amplified by concise, reinforcing text positioned nearby. This supporting copy acts as a micro-explanation, enhancing the user’s understanding without demanding extensive reading.

Observe OptinMonster’s effective use of supporting copy: their "Watch the video" text appears directly below the CTA button.

Video content, especially, excels on landing pages, providing rich information quickly without verbose written content that might detract from the main CTA.

The golden rule for supporting copy is consistency. Every element – from your page title to the smallest text snippet – should echo the message of your primary CTA, creating a seamless and persuasive user journey.

For instance, if your compelling CTA button reads:

"Get 15% Off"

Your supporting text might say: "Claim your limited-time discount of 15% off," and your page title could be "Black Friday Week: 15% Off Everything."

By keeping all landing page copy concise and laser-focused on reiterating your CTA's value, you maintain user focus and maximize your conversion potential.

Optimize Continuously: Harness A/B Testing and Analytics for Peak Performance

Even with all these best practices, the journey to conversion mastery is ongoing. The final and most critical step is to constantly test and refine your CTAs to discover what truly resonates with your audience. Experiment with different wording, button colors, shapes, sizes, and strategic placements.

To accurately measure the effectiveness of your variations, A/B split testing is indispensable. This powerful methodology allows you to compare two versions of your CTA (or other landing page elements) to determine which performs better in influencing user behavior.

The Power of Incremental Gains

A crucial rule for A/B testing: test only two versions at a time. This focused approach ensures your data is clean, accurate, and truly indicative of the changes’ impact. You’ll clearly identify which button design drives more clicks, or which CTA text captures the most attention.

Consider the remarkable case of Unbounce, which saw a 90% increase in click-through rate from a minuscule change: "Start your free 30-day trial" versus "Start my free 30-day trial." Such subtle shifts can yield astronomical results. While a 90% improvement isn't guaranteed for every test, consistent A/B testing will undoubtedly optimize your CTAs over time.

Beyond A/B testing, integrating an analytics solution or a heatmap tool provides invaluable insights. These tools allow you to observe on-page user behavior, revealing how visitors interact with your content before engaging with your CTA. This data empowers you to continuously refine your landing page layout and CTA button strategies for maximum impact.

Dive Deeper: Additional Resources for Conversion Mastery

We hope these insights have equipped you with the actionable strategies needed to dramatically boost your landing page conversions. To continue your journey toward marketing excellence, explore these highly recommended ShareWordpress guides on WordPress landing pages and Call to Actions:

If you found this article helpful and want to stay ahead in WordPress optimization, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for expert video tutorials. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook for daily tips and community engagement.

Now, go forth and transform your WordPress landing pages into conversion powerhouses!