Three myths about calls to action

Every audit we run turns up some version of this. A few things about calls to action that get repeated more often than they get checked.

Writing for the web is largely an editing job: the first draft is always longer than it needs to be. It rarely shows up as a line item, which is exactly why it slips.

“It only matters for big sites”

One clear next step beats several options. There is a version of this that is over-engineered, and it is worth avoiding. It rarely shows up as a line item, which is exactly why it slips.

“We can deal with it after launch”

Sometimes true, usually expensive. Where this goes wrong is almost never a lack of knowledge.

“Our platform handles it”

Reduce the sense of risk near the button. There is a version of this that is over-engineered, and it is worth avoiding. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.

How to tell if yours is fine

Pages that answer a real question outlive pages written to fill a slot in a sitemap. Three things worth confirming about calls to action before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• Reduce the sense of risk near the button — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

If you want a second opinion on how yours is set up, ask.