This article is for anyone who needs to create simple CTA buttons quickly, and does not have the time, money, or patience to deal with complicated softwares or new fangled tools.
If you found this article then you probably already know that a call-to-action button (CTA from here on out) is a key ingredient to an effective piece of content. You have probably also seen some examples of great CTA’s and wished you had buttons like that on your website.
Well I’m here to show you that you CAN have well designed, effective CTA buttons on your site, and you don’t have to hire a designer, download new software, or learn any complicated programs to make it happen.
I searched the web and found free and simple to use tools that ANYONE could use to put together effective CTA buttons. Now, you should not expect the most "holy crap these are awesome!" looking buttons on the planet -- that's not what you get from free resources. But, the tools I'm sharing with you will help you turn your lame "Click here…yawn" buttons into something a bit more appealing and effective.
Here are methods you can use to create great CTA buttons, even if you don't have any design experience and/or don't have expensive design software like Photoshop:
1) Using this free and simple CTA button creation tool
Use buttonoptimizer.com
ButtonOptimizer is a completely free CTA button generator. It allows you to create simple yet customized buttons, and will deliver the button in PNG format or as a CSS code. It's similar in functionality to the CTA button tool inside of HubSpot software (for those who have used that tool). Give it a try.
2) Using these free powerpoint templates from HubSpot
FREE powerpoint templates from HubSpot
HubSpot has some amazing FREE resources for inbound marketers. One of my favorites is this free powerpoint download of 50 CTA buttons. There are many different styles that should fit pretty much whatever your needs are, and you can customize each button right in powerpoint. HubSpot includes instructions on how to customize and save the buttons.
And here's a great tutorial from HubSpot on how to use powerpoint to make CTA’s.
3) Using this free design tool
Use Canva to create your own designs
Canva is a neat tool that makes designing simple graphics really easy. You can make blog graphics, social media graphics, cards and a ton more. I would recommend a card for a CTA button. Everything happens in their intuitive interface and it's pretty much just drag and drop. They have a number of templates to play with, you can also use their available backgrounds, graphics, colors and fonts.
Check out this CTA button I made using Canva:
4) Finding free CTA button templates for Photoshop
For those folks who are using Photoshop to create buttons, there are tons of free templates out there that will make your CTA designing much, much easier. To find them do some combination
of the search "free cta buttons in photoshop" and go nuts.
5) Bonus: Spending $5 on Fiverr.com
Hire a designer for $5 on Fiverr
Okay, so all of the other methods in this article are free options to creating CTA buttons, but I wanted to include this cheap option if you want some more professional looking buttons. Fiverr is a marketplace full of people that will do things for just $5. There are all sorts of services and products available there, and graphic design is very well represented. There is no shortage of designers willing to create great CTA buttons on Fiverr for $5. Some have satisfaction guarantees and will go through rounds of revisions with you until they get it right (those are the ones you want). Browse around, might be the best $5 you spent for your website!
And here are some things to keep in mind while designing your CTA buttons:
Message - let your website visitor know exactly what they will get. Be clear and concise and use action verbs. Write messaging that pertains to your audience, how they consume information and their online comfort level ("Download" might be intimidating for some, where as "Get your copy" may be more friendly).
Color - use a contrasting color, preferably one that does not appear anywhere else on your website. If your website is mostly blues and greens (like the 98toGo site), go with a color on the opposite end of the spectrum like orange or red. Use this nifty color scheme tool to find something that works with your website - http://colorschemedesigner.com/
Size - don't make your buttons too small - a small button can easily get overlooked and defeats the purpose of a call-to-action. But also don't go too bit - an overly large button makes your conversion seem desperate and can turn off your visitors. Play with the size a little bit and find something that fits with your website style and is proportionate with the other elements on the page.
Placement - place your buttons in a prominent and logical spot on your website or landing page. Use whitespace to draw attention to your button (that means don't squeeze your button in-between other graphics or text, let it breathe a bit).
For other tips on how to create highly converting CTA's check out our blog post on the topic: Here's How To Create Highly Converting Calls-To-Action
And download our FREE ebook on how to create Killer Call's To Action:
