How to Design Call-to-Action Buttons that Actually Convert for 2023 E-Commerce Websites – Part I

The online shopping industry was already booming before 2020 and it saw unprecedented growth during the pandemic. Global e-commerce grew from 15% of total retail sales in 2019 to 21% in 2021 and 22% in June 2022. Now in the post-COVID era when the brick-and-mortar stores are fully back in action, the e-commerce sector has started seeing a declining trend in online shopping numbers and is relatively moving towards pre-pandemic levels.

With the relaxation of restrictions and inflation at its highest, consumer sentiment for online shopping has been declining and people are spending less to afford the essentials. The changing circumstances even led to the fall of global e-commerce stocks last year.

However, key trends suggest the future of the online shopping industry looks anything but bright despite the overall slowing economic activity and apparent drop in web traffic to e-commerce websites and DTC (Direct-to-Consumer) sites.

According to research by Morgan Stanley, “Over the long term, the e-commerce market has plenty of room to grow and could increase from $3.3 trillion today to $5.4 trillion in 2026.” Brian Nowak, an equity analyst covering the U.S. internet industry also notes that e-commerce could reach 27% of retail sales by 2026.

So, e-commerce websites in 2023 need to do everything they can to increase user engagement and boost conversion.

If you have an e-commerce website and you have spent a lot of time and effort in getting positive traffic growth but your sales pages and landing pages are not converting enough leads into customers, you need to know the techniques and strategies to improve those numbers.

What’s the secret to getting users to click through and convert?

Persuasive calls to action or CTAs.

Knowing how to design and use CTAs that are effective is an essential skill to optimize conversion rate. In this blog post, we will discuss CTAs and their importance, and then dive into some of the best and proven tactics you can use to make your calls to action effective enough for your e-commerce websites in 2023. We will also take a look at some fantastic examples of brands that are acing the CTA techniques to help you get started.

What is a CTA or Call-to-Action?

The call-to-action (CTA) on an e-commerce website is a message for the users, often displayed as clickable boxes and text links to trigger an immediate action or a desired response from them toward the business. A strategically designed CTA can serve as a digital marketing tool that helps turn a visitor into a customer.

One of the most obvious examples of a CTA is a “Shop Now” or “Buy Now” button on the website. To simplify it for you, a CTA button is a text prompt to take the next step on the sales journey, which guides visitors about what to do and compels them to click and become a buyer as soon as possible.

How to Design an Effective Call to Action Button that Converts for E-Commerce Websites

Creating a call-to-action message that will convert your visitors is not an easy task.

“Sign Up”, “Download”, “Subscribe”, “Buy Now” and “Learn More” are some of the common CTA triggers but these hardly can yield the desired result in 2023. This is because the target audience is more knowledgeable and aware than ever before.

The smallest of tweaks in the details can make a big difference between a good CTA button design and a great one. And there are a lot more things involved than just focusing on nice typography, colour, or shape when designing the perfect call-to-action that compels your target audience to click and convert.

Though there is no exact science or way that can be defined as ‘right’ for making calls to action more effective, there are some best practices. But it is important that you test the design, colours, language, and placement to find out what works best for you and your audience.

Here are a few techniques to convince visitors to make effective decisions and take the right action on your e-commerce website.

1. Use Context

Strong context can make your CTAs more effective. Prepare your visitors to take the next step toward the most appropriate stage in your conversion funnel by making it so obvious that they get interested and excited to take action and become a part of the journey. The sales path should be a fun and seamless process.

2. Make the Call-to-Action Stand Out

Bring the user’s attention to exactly where you want it to be. Include strong visuals and make the CTAs easy to find at first glance on your e-commerce website.

• Make it large enough but balanced: The size of your CTA button should be perfect in proportion to other design elements on the page to attract the attention of your visitors. Pick a size that makes other elements and the overall page layout look balanced. Focus on other characteristics like colour and shape as well to optimize visibility.
• Balance the colour to enhance visibility: Though there is no one-colour-fits-all solution or a definitive colour formula that converts the best for e-commerce websites, colour still forms a critical choice to make your CTA button visible and effective. There are many factors you may want to consider when choosing colours for your calls-to-action buttons, including the colour scheme for your online shopping website. Different colours have different interpretations based on psychological and cultural associations of colours, so you should check twice to make sure you have chosen the right colours that stand out.

Take inspiration from brands that use a balanced take on traditional colour theory as well as complementary colour pairs that are opposites on the colour wheel to make a high visual impact. Also, consider using bolder shades for smaller buttons and subtle shades for large buttons to make the calls to action extra visible without overpowering the page.

Note that the colours that convert for other brands may not work the best for your brand. You need to A/B test different CTA button colours to see which converts the most for your e-commerce website. It is often seen that simply changing the button colour to a more apt one helps reduce abandoned carts and increase conversions by a significant percentage.

• Check contrast: Contrast is a vital characteristic of a well-designed call-to-action button. So, make sure that neither the button colour blends in with the background colour of the webpage nor the text colour on the button becomes illegible.

Let’s explain this with an example. When the colour of the CTA button blends in with the background, it might get overlooked. So, you need to choose a colour that doesn’t clash with the background or other colours on the page but perfectly helps to stand out sufficiently. Say, you have a yellow colour background and you opt for a dark blue button colour and white text colour for the call-to-action phrase. This allows a nice contrast and helps to capture user attention easily. Clever copywriting adds to the charm and makes it more appealing to the visitor to click and explore more.

In the same example, had you used a button colour like golden or any other shade of yellow that doesn’t create adequate contrast against the yellow background colour, the CTA would have been less visible and hence, less noticeable and attractive. Also, if you had opted for white text colour with the golden box, it would have strained the eyes of the readers, negatively affecting readability. Black or dark colours against lighter shades and white against darker shades are usually safe choices. Therefore, you should avoid colours that are hard to see when paired together and also that are too similar to the CTA button.

• Place it above the fold: The placement of the CTA button also plays a crucial role in getting visitors to take a desired action on your e-commerce website. When you place it above the fold, a visitor can easily find the button without having to scroll through the page. However, the placement will mostly depend on the page layout.

Remember, you will only want to increase engagement and steer the visitor further down the conversion funnel, as a visitor nears the checkout point of the funnel. For example, you will showcase your products and services on your homepage to attract your target audience. Once you successfully get them to land on a product page, your only aim will be to convert them for which you will need clear calls to action usually at the top or near the top of the page. Do not place it too close to other elements, and make sure to add extra white space surrounding the button to make it visually prominent.

• Make the button look clickable: The moment visitors see your call-to-action button, they should be able to realize that it is interactive, functional, and replicates a tangible experience they want when navigating the website. The shape is an important consideration as users are familiar with the commonly used rectangular box with either rounded or sharp corners. You may experiment with the shape as a design feature but remember to make it visually obvious that the CTA button is clickable. Consider including productive effects like highlights, shadows, or other subtle options to give it a 3D feel.

• Add visual prompts: A small illustration or an icon next to the text on your CTA button can enhance the call to action and add clarity as well as help the visitors associate with it immediately. For instance, a small shopping cart or basket icon on your ‘Add to Cart’ button makes it more clear and confirms the user about the function of the button. You can also think of using visual prompts on buttons to show upload and download errors, etc. However, you must remember to include enough space between the text and the visual cue, and the edges of the CTA button so that it doesn’t look stuffed.

3. Give Buyers a Reason to Act

Each visit presents a new opportunity to increase your conversion rate and your success depends on how well you convey to your target audience that responding to a specific call to action on your website can greatly benefit them. Make it clear to the potential customers that you are offering something that is in their best interests.

Try to feed on the psychology of the potential customers so that they think if they don’t act now they won’t find anything anywhere else similar to what you are offering. For example, you can create special deals, catalogues, products, discounts, etc. that are available for a limited time or something only for subscribers or exclusive members and create a CTA button that immediately suggests the same. Customize the call-to-action button with phrases such as “Subscribers Only”, “Request an Invitation”, “Private Access”, “Join the Member Club”, “Find Out First”, etc.

Similarly, you can encourage your target audience to engage with your brand by using affirmative CTA buttons that reflect strong team spirit. For example, use the phrase “Let’s Talk” instead of the common “Contact Us” to denote something more warm, welcoming, and together.

4. Make it Easy for Buyers

There should be no friction between the online buyers and the purchase on your e-commerce platform. Give your visitors the information they need to make the right decision that will benefit them, and focus critically on making the entire online shopping experience simple, easy, hassle and error-free for them. The loading of product pages, the process of adding products to the shopping cart, the checkout and payment process, delivery, and communication – everything should be perfect and as per user expectations. Else, your potential customers will get discouraged and leave without placing an order, which will negatively impact your brand reputation as well.

5. Write it Right

The language or words and phrases that you write on a call-to-action button are very important to convince the user to take a particular action. Focus on writing a benefit-oriented call to action that reflects the value your CTA button will deliver to your visitors when they click on it.

• Keep the text simple and clear: The language of your call-to-action button should be short, clever, simple, clear, unique yet compelling. Visitors should have no confusion regarding what they expect and the result they will get when they click the CTA button.

However, in certain cases, a call to action might require more explanation than you can fit on the button. You may include the additional information in a smaller font below the button if it is necessary to clarify, adding value for the user. The words or phrases you use should explain to the visitors exactly what will happen when they click the button.

We will explore some fantastic CTA examples in the next section to help you get started with conversion-boosting e-commerce CTAs for your website.

• Keep the tone conversational: You should adopt a welcoming and friendly tone that encourages to start a conversation rather than pushing a sales pitch. At the same time, you should be extra careful that the language of your CTA buttons does not make your potential buyers feel manipulated or coerced.
• Keep it Personal: Personalized CTAs always perform way better than basic calls to action. Help the target audience imagine themselves taking the desired action by using first-person messages. Personalized call-to-action buttons communicate to your visitors directly, enable you to grab user attention instantly, and take them to that point of the buyer’s journey where they wanted to go.

For example, try using “Checkout” instead of “Buy Now”, and “Try it for Free” instead of “Free Trial”. The active verbs will make your audience feel that the CTA is a personal one, and this will make them more likely to respond.

However, remember that CTAs for a first-time visitor must be different from the ones for a lead. You should create different personalized CTA buttons to target visitors based on the journey.

• Create a sense of urgency: For instance, time-sensitive messages like “Shop Now” or “Shop Today” lend a sense of urgency and are better at getting people’s attention to follow through on the CTA right at that time versus when you use “Shop Here” or just “Shop”. Time-sensitive words also work well for getting people to click when you use these to inform them about limited-time offers or temporary deals and discounts. These words create a FOMO feel on the psychology of the users hinting that if they don’t act now, someone else might get the deal. Words like “Claim Your Discount Now” or “Save for Later” can help trigger the FOMO psychology.
• Avoid confirm shaming: Nowadays, we often find some online shopping websites that use pop-ups encouraging visitors to sign up with two CTA buttons – one that asks the user to sign them up and another alternative button for opting out with a phrase like “No, I don’t like deals” or similar. We think that this practice is not a good idea as it shows disregard for the users. Instead, give them a choice with a simple “No Thanks” or “I’ll do it later” to show that your visitors’ choice is more important to you.

No matter how attractive, positive, and compelling you design your e-commerce calls-to-action buttons, make sure you deliver on any promises you make through your CTAs so that users are not misled into thinking that they are getting a benefit or deal that they actually aren’t getting. You should also try to avoid bland common phrasing for your call to action like “Download Today” or “Sign Up Now” when designing your CTAs. Always keep the interests of your target audience in mind when writing your unique calls to action in 2023.

Conclusion

E-commerce is growing and it will remain an indispensable part of most companies and brands in the future. Several factors, including logistics, marketplace expansion, and mobile device ownership are driving this growth. Even though recent stock valuations don’t reflect the spike, the online shopping industry will likely continue to offer opportunities for gains across various verticals, regions, and businesses.

Remember that achieving positive traffic growth is not the ultimate goal of an e-commerce website. The major challenge is to build a platform that generates consistent sales and increases revenue. And you can achieve this only by getting the target audience to click the “Add to Cart” and the “Buy” button. Once you are successful in persuading the right people to click your CTAs every day, you will generate quality leads and customers consistently.

In our next blog post, we will continue exploring the best strategies for designing a compelling CTA that actually works for e-commerce websites in 2023, along with some brilliant brand examples. Stay tuned for more insights into effective e-commerce call-to-action buttons that increase your website’s conversion rates.