From Call to Action to Next Best Click

Lorenzo MuttiJune 2017

The King and the Queen

The mantra of content marketing is: «Make your content valuable to your readers.» But target-group-oriented content was relevant even before content marketing became fashion. In 1996 Bill Gates wrote a line that later became famous: «Content is King.» It was the title of his essay on the future of the Internet. This is how the article began: «Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet.» He pointed to the value of web content very early. He also specifically encouraged content producers to get to know the readers and their needs in order to provide them with concrete added value.

If content is king, then conversion is queen. They go hand in hand, build on each other and should pursue a common strategy. If this fact is not taken into account, the whole effort makes no sense. Matt Cutts from Google has been pleading for years to focus on the users - not the search engine.

Anyone who is aware of the specific tasks and goals of their customers will be able to design the respective User Journey optimally. In order to generate conversion, you need an appropriate, clear and context-embedded approach that calls to action: the «Call to Action» (CTA). Out of all possible clicks, about which a site visitor decides in a split second, the CTA should be the next best click.

The Most Important Action Always Just a Click Away

There is a wide range of digital services and products that differ greatly in their complexity, scope and content. Therefore, the next best click varies from case to case as well. If there is a single action on a website, such as a Buy button, then this CTA is the next best click. Landing pages are explicitly designed in this manner.Outside of a landing page, the orientation often becomes more difficult. There are several action requests distributed on the site at the same time: a contact request, a newsletter subscription request or a specific document download request. In this case, it would be a good thing if NBC united all these important actions. If it is also ensured that these are always in plain view of the user, the NBC can develop its true super powers.

The NBC as an elementary part of a website

The NBC can be deployed as a «sticky header» or as a floating element. On our own website unic.com, the NBC has its place on every page and never disappears from the user's field of vision. We also developed an NBC for SBB AG during the relaunch of its website. Find more about the project here: our SBB reference.

In the initial state, the information in the NBC can be fully visible, and as soon as the user starts scrolling, the element shrinks to the required minimum – always with the possibility that the user can reopen the element. Or the NBC opens a cockpit that unifies several CTAs and leads the user in a meaningful sequence.

By the way, it is absolutely useful and necessary to duplicate the information – once in the content along the reading flow and once in the mentioned NBC. Various usability tests have shown us that there are two types of users: those who appreciate the NBC as fast access to the most important information and actions, and those who do not notice the NBC enough, or (still) do not know this type of interaction element.

And what is your «Next Best Click»? We'll help you!

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header emv

Florian ArmbrustJanuary 2021

EMV – A Simple Design for Maximum Usability

Unic recently developed a completely new concept for UI design, user experience and frontend for Europa Möbel Verbund (EMV). In our interview, Elisabeth Starke (EMV), Florian Armbrust and Jutta Weber (both Unic) tell us about the approach that made the project successfully and explain why user experience is so important in product sales.

EMV – A Simple Design for Maximum Usability

Florian Armbrust

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