Four Ways To Lift Conversions From Call To Action Buttons
By Anna Johnson on May 4th, 2010A recent interview between Larry Chase and renowned Internet marketing conversion expert Bryan Eisenberg reveals some great tips for boosting conversions from your call to action buttons.
Here are four (4) tips I’ve drawn from the interview (which you can read here).
1. Use action words and implied benefits
When it comes to the words and phrases you use in your call to action buttons, Bryan Eisenberg recommends “using an imperative verb, a command verb, with implied benefits.” For example: ‘Start Your Free Trial Today’.
He also notes the importance of testing… and testing the RIGHT metrics.
For example, Bryan found that when he tested a button saying ‘Buy Now’ versus an ‘Add to Cart’ button, the ‘Buy Now’ resulted in higher conversionst BUT the ‘Add to Cart’ resulted in a higher average order size. According to Eisenberg this was because shoppers didn’t feel pressured to make a commitment when they saw the ‘Add to Cart’ button.
2. Make your buttons big (but not too big)
Bryan Eisenberg says it’s important to make your call-to-action buttons obvious, so consumers know what to do next. This often means making them big. You want to avoid making them so big as to look like banners, though, since people won’t necessarily see your button due to ‘banner blindness’. Internet users have become so accustomed to ignoring banner ads that they will tend to ignore anything else – e.g. graphical images and, indeed, order buttons that look like banner ads.
3. Use irregularly shaped buttons
One of Bryan Eisenberg’s interesting discoveries is that irregularly shaped call-to-action buttons tend to outperform standard ovals and rectangles. Because they have unusual shapes they catch consumers’ eyes.
Rather than change the shape of the button per se, you can also place an icon beside the button to change its appearance, such as a plus sign for an ‘add to checkout’ button, an arrow or a lock for a checkout button, and a downward arrow for a download button.
4. Use a 3D (real) looking button
You want to avoid flat looking buttons and opt, instead, for 3D looking buttons that, according to Bryan Eisenberg, “add the sense of tactile and touch to the navigation experience”. You can add the impression of depth to buttons by using shadows or bevelling in your button design.
