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If you’ve ever searched for a product online or signed up for a website or service, it’s guaranteed you’ve come across and clicked on a call-to-action (CTA).
CTAs combine thoughtful design, strategic copy, and calculated on-page placement to get consumers like you to take a desired action — whether that’s buying a sweater, subscribing to a newsletter, or sending a friend a referral link.
The best CTAs are seamless, don’t interrupt browsing or user experiences, and motivate leads to click and convert into paying customers — like this one from online retailer ModCloth:
The goal of any CTA on your real estate website is to inspire your visitors to take action. This action could be filling out a form to download some type of content, like a neighborhood guide. Or it could be getting in touch with you or your agency to learn more or set up a consultation.
Below, you’ll find 8 tips and tricks that can help you craft compelling CTAs for your website. Follow these CTA tips and examples from a wide range of industries to generate the real estate leads you need to scale your business and dominate your local housing market.
1. Use clear, concise, and straightforward language for your real estate website CTAs.
Keep your message simple. You want to ask your prospects to take action in an effective way. Most of the time this means being to-the-point as much as possible, so home buyers and seller know without a doubt what they should do and what they’ll be receiving in return.
2. Make your CTA value obvious to your audience.
How will leads benefit from your business, and how does your CTA communicate that? If a CTA on your site is tied to a guide for first-time home buyers, or data on the best schools in your community, you should make that clear.
Peapod’s CTA below is effective because it spells out the benefit to the customer. The CTA tells site visitors what to do based on their location, encourages them to “Start Shopping,” and even includes an offer of money off their first order.
3. Emphasize the time-sensitive nature of certain CTAs.
We’ve all seen advertisements that motivate you to take action by using urgent language such as “hurry,” “limited time only,” or “get it before it’s gone!” Applying the same immediate language in your CTAs can motivate your audience to promptly take action.
For instance, if you work in an exclusive area where homes tend to go off the housing market very quickly, make it clear how important it is to set up a showing or contact you soon by using urgent language in your CTA. Words and phrases like “immediately,” “now,” or “call me today” are good choices.
4. Segment the CTAs you create by audience.
If you have several distinct customer personas (such as buyers and sellers, people who are in the market for a second home, or couples who are downsizing) you can create a few different CTAs especially for each audience type. These CTAs can promote specific offers that each customer will find useful based on their needs.
In the Spotify example below, both CTAs are focused around price point, and the language is more engaging and detailed under the premium option. The buttons themselves are straightforward: “Get Spotify Premium,” and supporting details like “high-quality audio” and “no ads” entice customers to select the paid option.
5. A/B test your CTAs.
No matter what you want your site visitors to do, make sure you conduct an A/B test so you can improve the effectiveness of your messaging over time. If you’re struggling with ideas to test out, try experimenting with the language you use, or varying different website design elements — such as the color, shape or location on the page of your CTA button.
You can start by tracking how many clicks you receive from a CTA after a set amount of time (say a month). After you’ve measured those results, test out a new element, such as changing the color of your CTA button, and compare the results of each test.
Once you know which words and designs are best at driving toward your goals, you can replicate those elements across your site and increase your results exponentially.
6. Focus on how visitors will see your CTA on mobile devices.
As devices like smartphones and tablets grow in popularity, it has become increasingly important that your CTAs look equally as good on laptops and PCs as they do on mobile devices. Make sure your CTA is clear and visible to mobile users, and that it is large enough for them to easily click on it.
7. Experiment with click triggers to influence CTA engagement rate.
Sometimes click triggers (such as providing social proof via customer reviews and testimonials) can help boost conversion rates.
Displaying success information — like total sales volume/deals closed, or industry awards — prominently on your website can help increase the probability that your visitors will click your CTA.
8. Use supporting images to make your website more visually appealing.
The images you choose to include along with your CTAs should enhance and support your CTA copy.
For example, if you’re offering your leads resources for community new residents, you probably wouldn’t include your agent headshot, or a recently sold listing photo.
Instead, you would feature images of your neighborhood to reinforce the message that you’re communicating with your CTA.
Go beyond CTAs by optimizing your entire website to drive leads! Try out the simple tips in Placester’s new guide.
