A sticky CTA is a call-to-action element that stays fixed on screen as users scroll. It keeps your most important action - a buy button, a signup form, an affiliate link - always visible and always one click away.
A sticky CTA (sometimes called a floating CTA, sticky bar, or fixed CTA) is any call-to-action element that uses CSS position: fixed or position: sticky to remain in the viewport as the user scrolls. Unlike a regular in-content CTA that disappears when you scroll past it, a sticky CTA is always available.
The most common form is a sticky bar - a slim horizontal bar pinned to the top or bottom of the browser window. But sticky CTAs can also be buttons, sidebars, or small floating panels.
You've seen them everywhere: the "Subscribe" bar at the top of a news site, the "Add to Cart" button that follows you on a product page, or the cookie consent banner at the bottom of the screen (yes, that's technically a sticky CTA too). In fact, look down - there's one on this page right now.
The core principle is simple: visibility drives action. A CTA that's always on screen gets more clicks than one buried three scrolls down.
This matters most on long-form content. A 2,000-word product review might have a "buy now" link in the third paragraph. By the time the reader finishes - if they're convinced - they have to scroll back up to find the link. Many won't bother. A sticky CTA eliminates that friction entirely.
A/B tests consistently show that sticky elements outperform their static equivalents. The exact lift depends on context, but the mechanism is universal: reducing the distance between intent and action increases the conversion rate. If you want a baseline for what a good conversion rate looks like on a review site, our affiliate conversion rate benchmarks break it down by category and traffic source.
Key insight: Sticky CTAs don't create demand. They capture demand that already exists by keeping the action available at the moment the reader decides to click.
Sticky CTAs show up across different types of websites, but they serve different purposes depending on the context.
A bar at the bottom of the screen showing the product name, star rating, price, and an affiliate link. Different product on every post. This is what Floating CTA does.
A sticky bar showing the product image, price, and "Add to Cart" button on product pages. Common on Shopify and WooCommerce stores, especially on mobile.
A persistent "Start Free Trial" or "Get Started" button in the header or as a bottom bar. Keeps the conversion action visible as visitors scroll through features.
A slim bar at the top or bottom prompting email signup. Often includes a text field and submit button inline. Hello Bar and OptinMonster are popular tools for this.
A popup appears over the content, demands attention, and usually requires the user to close it. Popups are triggered by exit-intent, scroll depth, or time delay. They're effective but intrusive.
A sticky CTA sits at the edge of the screen and stays visible without blocking content. The user doesn't need to interact with it to keep reading. It's a passive, persistent reminder rather than an interruption.
In general, sticky CTAs have a lower click rate per impression than popups (because they don't demand attention), but they create a better user experience. For affiliate sites where readers need to trust your recommendation, a non-intrusive sticky bar builds more goodwill than a modal that blocks the review they're trying to read.
Sticky CTAs are most effective when:
A sticky bar should take up as little screen space as possible. On mobile especially, a bar that's too tall eats into the reading area. Google's guidelines on intrusive interstitials apply - a small bar is fine; half the screen is not.
Always give users a way to close the bar. A visible dismiss button shows respect for the reader's experience.
The sticky CTA should be contextually relevant. For affiliate publishers, this means showing the specific product being reviewed - not a generic site-wide message.
Star ratings, price anchoring (current price with a crossed-out original), and product images all build confidence. These visual cues do some of the persuading for you.
If your sticky CTA links to an affiliate URL, make sure the link uses rel="nofollow sponsored" as recommended by Google and required by most affiliate programs.
Floating CTA is a free WordPress plugin built specifically for this. It adds a sticky product bar to the bottom of the screen with the product name, image, star rating, price, and a CTA button. Each post gets its own bar with unique product details. Install from WordPress.org, configure per post, and it's live in under two minutes. ~3KB total, no jQuery, no external scripts.
Tools like Hello Bar and OptinMonster are designed for general-purpose notification bars, email forms, and popups. They're more feature-rich (and more expensive) but they're not built for per-post product promotion.
For a broader look at the plugin ecosystem, see our guide to the best plugins for affiliate review sites. If you're comfortable with CSS, you can build a sticky CTA with position: fixed; bottom: 0; and JavaScript for show/hide logic. This gives full control but requires maintenance and doesn't include per-post configuration out of the box.
Floating CTA pins a product bar to the screen with the product name, star rating, price, and a buy button. Per-post configuration. ~3KB. No signup.