Writing good call to action copy
A call to action is a link or button that we want to draw our user's attention to and get them to interact with. A good example of this is a button which opens a modal containing a website's terms and conditions.
<button type="button">Click me</button>
but that example has bad wording. 'Click me' tells the user to do something but it has 2 immediate problems…
- What will it do?
- Can the user click, or will they tap, or use a keyboard?
…so how can we improve it? How about this…
<button type="button">Open terms & conditions modal</button>
Out of context this tells me what will happen when I action this button: it will open a modal with the terms and conditions information.
The use of the action word/verb 'Open' encourages the user to do something. The context of 'Terms & conditions' says 'what' they will open and the word 'modal' adds even more context because it's telling the user it will open in the context of a modal (dialog).
A pattern to follow
ACTION WORD followed by CONTEXT e.g.
- 'Subscribe to our email newsletter'
- 'Shop all sun hats'
- 'Learn about our mending services'
- 'Add to cart'
Sidenote about modals
Ok, let's not get into an argument about modals and design. Let's assume the modal pattern has been approved already by the UX/Product team and it isn't changing.