Call to action: write and place the button that gets people to act

The CTA: a verb, a promise, a single goal

“Call to action” is searched 1,600 times a month in France, and “cta marketing” 390 times. France Num, the French public service for the digital transformation of small businesses, defines it as an explicit invitation to act, for example “Request a quote”, “Contact us to find out more” or “Book an appointment online”, and adds that it must appear on every important page without the visitor having to look for it: a contact page in the menu is not enough.

The CTA is not the promise: it comes after it. The value proposition says why to choose you; the CTA says what to do now. A clear page has one main CTA and, at most, one more discreet secondary action.

• Service website: call, request a quote, book an appointment.
• Shop: buy or add to cart, with the price.
• Content page: download the guide, get the study, move on to the related service.

Writing the CTA: say what will happen

A good label answers the question the visitor asks before clicking: what happens next, and what do I get? A few typical rewrites (adapt them to your offer and your real lead times):

• “Send” becomes “Get my quote within 24 hours”.
• “Contact” becomes “Call 01 23 45 67 89” on mobile, with a tappable number.
• “Learn more” becomes “See roof renovation prices”.
• “Confirm” becomes “Pay €49 and get the guide”.
• “Sign up” becomes “Book my Saturday slot”.

Three rules hold on all our pages. An action verb, in the first person or the imperative. The promise or the price in the button, or just below it. And a single label for the same action across the whole site: it is one of the simplification rules applied on our sites on 10 October 2026 (“Simplification: a menu of 5 items at most, a single buy label, no more promo banners or promo codes without an end date.”).

Never write a promise you cannot keep: a lead time stated in a button is a commitment.

Where to place the CTA, and how big to make it

Mobile first: on our own sites, 61% of measured visits happen on a phone. The main CTA must be visible without scrolling, repeated at the bottom of the page, and present on every important page, as France Num recommends.

1. 1
   Under the promise: the button comes straight after the title and the sentence that says what you offer.
2. 2
   After every strong piece of proof: under the projects, under the reviews, under the FAQ.
3. 3
   At the bottom of the page: a visitor who has read everything should find the action without scrolling back up.
4. 4
   On mobile, a call button fixed at the bottom of the screen for trades where people phone.
5. 5
   Big enough for a thumb: the WCAG 2.2 accessibility rules set a minimum of 24 × 24 CSS pixels for a touch target (criterion 2.5.8, level AA), with some exceptions. Aim much bigger for the main button.
6. 6
   A real link: a “tel:” link for the phone, a WhatsApp link for WhatsApp, a button that goes straight to payment for a sale.

Under the button: one reassuring line, with facts

What makes people hesitate before clicking is the unknown: how much, when, and am I committing to anything. One line under the button answers that, provided it says only true things: response time, secure payment through a well-known provider, no commitment if that is the case, delivery within so many days.

It is the rule we have applied since 5 October 2026: “Reassurance through true facts only: one line under the button, a three-step ’how it works’ block; no countdown, no urgency, no fake badge.”

For a sale, the best CTA is the one that goes straight to payment. Since 4 October 2026, on our sites: “One click to the payment page: price visible, no page in between, no account.”

Measuring and testing a CTA

A CTA is measured by the number of actions it triggers, not by clicks on the page. In Google Analytics 4, mark the click on the phone number, the form submission and the purchase as key events, then compare pages with each other.

Changing a label is the simplest test there is, but you need enough visits to conclude: on a small site, keep a single version for several weeks and compare periods, rather than drawing conclusions from a few days.