The power of calls to action

Each page of your website has a purpose, from detailing specific rooms or packages to helping guests plan their trip, and most of these pages will have a call to action (CTA). A CTA is essentially instructions for what your website visitor should do next: Book now! Request an RFP! Explore packages! View special offers!

A well-placed and well-written CTA can drive more direct bookings and guides your online visitor through their buying journey.

CTA positioning

Where your CTA button is placed on your website is important and most website developers and marketers boil sites down to main styles: The F-Pattern and the Z-Pattern. Simply put, if your website looks more like a newspaper with headings and sections of text following the left-to-right reading pattern, you’ve likely got an F-Pattern site. If your site relies heavily on visuals to break up the navigation from your site’s content, you’ve got a Z-Pattern.

F-pattern and Z-patter

Credit: Smashing Magazine

Of course, you’ll want to have a “reservations” link in your navigation that displays consistently across your website, but you can use colorful buttons to draw the user’s eye to your CTA. For F-Patterns, closing with a CTA button or having it aligned to the left is a best practice and for Z-Patterns, having it on the top right is ideal.

Lastly, on positioning, do not stack CTAs. For example, don’t have buttons saying “Book Now” and “Learn More” right next to each other; it distracts the visitor from following a clear path to making a booking. Determine which CTA is more important, typically your revenue-driving ones, and give emphasis to that. You can always link to the “Learn More” page within the content on the page.

CTA stacking

CTA coloring

Another way you can draw attention to you CTA is through color – especially a contrasting color to the rest of your site. Some website research has shown that orange and green buttons stand out and perform very well, but that doesn’t mean you should go ahead and change your CTAs if it won’t pop from the rest of the design elements on your page. Your website developer can assess your website’s design and color scheme to determine what colors would perform best and you can even do your own A/B testing on different colors to see what your online visitors react positively to.

CTA example

CTA wording

Avoid passive phrasing, unenthusiastic wording, or long sentences. Your CTA should be concise and inspire the guest to take action. Try to keep your CTA under five words and start with a verb or action. Besides the standard “Book Now,” you could also encourage your website visitors to:

  • Explore Packages
  • Plan Your Dream Wedding
  • Discover Our Amenities
  • Get Special Offers

We mentioned earlier about focusing on revenue-driving CTAs but you should also think about how you take reservations. Do guests have to call to book packages? Then do not have a CTA to book now through your booking engine! Have a CTA that displays your number or dials the number for them if the visitor is viewing your site on their mobile device. Driving direct reservations or generating other business, like weddings or dining, is the main goal, but make sure you’re tailoring your CTAs to how you actually get those guests to book with you. 

Published: November 29, 2016