April 04, 2024

CTA Button Styles Plugin

Call to Action (CTA) button styler allows administrators to highlight buttons and menu items in WordPress as call to actions.

CTA Button Styler is a plugin for WordPress that allows easy styling of existing buttons in WordPress. Buttons labelled with the cta101 class can be easily turned into effective Call To Action buttons which will encourage visitors to stay on the site and click through to the desired page.

Reducing your bounce-rate (i.e. getting visitors to look at more than one page on your site) is important for your site ranking. Using effective call-to-action buttons encourages visitors to click through and visit other pages thereby reducing your overall bounce rate and potentially increasing your ranking.

CTA button styler is designed with flexibility and ease of use in mind. It is easy to install. Does not consume any unnecessary resources and simply does what it needs to do to keep visitors on the site.

You get to decide the button styles, hover-styles and effects for your button. You can also change the call-to-action buttons at any time according to your needs or to test whether a different style leads to more click-throughs.

This is an early release version of the plugin. We are working on more advanced options like AB testing, image buttons and potentially lead identification. These advanced features will be rolled out in a future version of the software.

For more information, check out plugin page at Help or see the Working demo on CreatorSEO on our site.

Installation

Upload cta-button-styler to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
Click on ‘CTA Button Styler’ in the Appearance menu to configure the button
Add the class cta101 anywhere on your site to convert the link to a button

Screenshots

Screenshot showing links the before and after applying Call To Action Styling. Notice that the class cta101 is added to the button or link to style it.
The admin menu in Appearance->CTA Button Styles where styles can be defined. Notice that there is a preview of the styled button at the top of the page.
Screen clip showing how to switch on CSS Classes in Appearance->Menu in order to include the CTA styling class (cta101) to a menu item.
Screen clip showing where to add the cta101 class in the item Menu.
Example CTA styles button on a site menu

FAQ

Can this plugin be used on menu items?

Yes, this first release of CTA Button Styler is a very straightforward plugin and can be used to create Call to Action buttons on menus and on links.

Can the buttons be styled to match the colors on my theme?

Yes, the plugin allows you to change colours, button size, hover styles etc. There are a range of styling options to change using the Call To Action Styling option on the WordPress ‘Appearance’ admin dashboard.

Where do I find the button styling options?

Click on Call To Action Styling option on the WordPress ‘Appearance’ admin dashboard.

How do I style a link as a CTA button?

Simply add the cta101 as class name to the link e.g. class=”cta101″

How do I style a menu item as a CTA button?

Log in to the Dashboard and select Appearance->Menus
First ensure that the show menu class option is checked by clicking ‘Screen Options at the top of the screen
Check the CSS classes button option
Switch menu CSS class on (check the box)
Set the syle class on the menu item to ‘cta101’
Menu now will be styled accordingly

Can I style more than one button or link?

Yes, but too many calls to action on any page will defeat the objective. Ideally try to have no more than 2 calls to action visible on any page view.

Can I define more than one style?

Only one user defined style is provided in this plugin at the moment. However, the code was developed to allow for multiple styles and even for A/B testing of calls to action. If there is demand for this additional functionality, it will be provided in a later version.

I set up the button on the menu as indicated, but it won’t work?

The CTA button sometimes has to compete with the styling in the theme and the button then may not appear as it should. Fortunately there is an easy solution to this. Just enclose your menu Navigation Label in the tags <button class=”cta101″>Navigation Label</button>. Do not include the style tag in the menu CSS field. Everything now should work.

Why does the CTA button overlap other text in the page when I use it with in-line elements?

In-line elements (like span and a) ignore vertical (top and bottom) margins and only apply horizontal margins. This is in accordance with the CSS specification. Wherever possible, apply the CTA button class only to block level elements (like button and div) and this issue will not occur.

Changelog

1.1.4

Checks and PHP 8+ updates for compatibility

1.1.3

Compatibility checks with WP6.4.1

1.1.2

Fixed the problem of the color picker not loading

1.1.1

Duplicate code removed – potential conflict

1.1.0

Added shake, buzz and blink effects
Settings page layout improved for ease of use
CSS neatened

1.0.1

Code improvements for improved loading
Verify, escape, sanitize improvements

1.0.0

Speed improvement – CSS load post TTFB

0.9.6

WP compatibility check

0.9.5

Confirm WordPress 5.7 compatibility

0.9.4

WordPress 5.6 compatibility checks
Minor code improvements

0.9.3

WordPress 5.5 compatibility checks

0.9.2

Checks and minor updates for WordPress 5.4.1

0.9.1

Checks and minor updates for WordPress 5.1

0.9.0

Checks and minor updates for WordPress 5

0.8.1

Update to UI of input form

0.6.2 to 0.7.2

Tested with the latest WordPress version up to WordPress 4.9

0.6.1

Added settings to the plugin menu
More help added
Bug Fix: Demo style button fixed

0.5.3

Error in admin-post.php call changed to admin-ajax.php

0.5.2

Small fix

0.5.1

Added more resolution on padding

0.5

Initial Release