# Calls to Action > One action, named for what happens next. - Section: Marketing - URL: https://critly.vercel.app/calls-to-action - Published: 2026-10-14 - Source: https://github.com/kausthubh-coder/critly/blob/main/content/marketing/calls-to-action.mdx Many heroes end in three buttons the same size and color: "Get started", "Learn more" and "Book a demo". Each one was somebody's priority. Together they ask the reader to choose before they know what any of them does. **Give a page that persuades one primary action, label it with what happens after the click, and repeat it where the reader decides; keep every other action quieter, so nobody has to guess which button matters or what it does.** > **Interactive demo: Calls To Action.** Open https://critly.vercel.app/calls-to-action to try it. Start from "Get started" with three solid buttons and squint. Nothing leads. Drop to one solid button and the page has a point. Then switch the label to the specific one and read what it promises. ## Name what happens next In Nielsen Norman Group's testing, a ["Get started"](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/get-started/) button drew clicks from people with almost any goal, then dropped them into a sign-up flow most of them didn't want yet. Some had come to read about the company, some to find a detail. The authors' summary: "a link is a promise." A vague label gets the click and breaks the promise on the next screen. Kate Moran's [four S's](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/better-link-labels/) say the same thing about any label: say specifically what's on the other side, and make sure the next screen delivers it. For a call to action that usually means naming the thing and, where it matters, the commitment: "Start a 14-day trial", "Book a 20-minute demo", "Try Maker free for 30 days". Put the reassurance people look for ("No card needed") in a short line next to the button, not in the label. [Microcopy](https://critly.vercel.app/microcopy) covers verb-first labels in general. The label also decides who clicks. "Book a demo" and "Start a trial" suit different buyers, so pick the one that fits how this product is bought. A self-serve tool that hides behind a demo form makes the reader wait for a meeting to see what a trial would have shown them in a minute. ## One action leads Squint at the first screen (the [taste pass](https://critly.vercel.app/taste-pass) shows how). The heaviest shape should be the primary action. Repeating that same action in the nav, after the proof and on the recommended plan doesn't compete with it, because it's the same promise each time. A different action at the same weight does compete. Atlassian's rule is [one primary button](https://atlassian.design/components/button/usage) per area, and it works for marketing pages too. Secondary actions still matter. Some readers want the tour, the docs or a sales call first. Give them an outline button or a text link so they can find it, and let the primary carry the weight. On a [pricing page](https://critly.vercel.app/pricing-pages) each plan has its own button, and only the recommended plan's is solid. ## Repeat it where people decide People don't decide at the top. Some are ready after the headline, more after the proof, the pricing or the answer to their last objection. Put the same action at the end of the sections that answer those questions and at the foot of the page, so the reader never has to scroll back to act. On a long page, a button that stays on screen can help. Conversion Rate Experts ran [one test](https://conversion-rate-experts.com/scrolling-tips/) on a very long sales page where adding a sticky call to action increased sales by 25%. That is one page and one test, so treat it as a reason to try it on long pages, not a rule for every page. On a phone a sticky bar takes up space the reader is trying to read in, so keep it to one slim row. The button needs every [state](https://critly.vercel.app/interaction-states): hover, focus, pressed, and loading. After the click, show something within [100ms](https://critly.vercel.app/responsiveness). A primary button that seems to do nothing for a second looks broken at the moment the reader decided to act. ## Resources - ["Get Started" stops users](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/get-started/): Nielsen Norman Group usability testing on vague "Get started" buttons that lead people into sign-up flows they didn't expect. "A link is a promise." - [Better link labels](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/better-link-labels/): Kate Moran's four S's for labels that say what's on the other side of the click: specific, sincere, substantial and succinct. - [Scrolling tips](https://conversion-rate-experts.com/scrolling-tips/): Conversion Rate Experts on long pages, including one test where a sticky call to action raised sales on a long sales page by 25%. - [Button usage](https://atlassian.design/components/button/usage): Atlassian's rule of one primary button per page or area.