Website Testing Opportunity #2: Call to Action Button

by Dean Marsden on 20th June 2011

Last time I looked at surrounding you point-of-action or call-to-action with assurances to help convince visitors to act on it. This month I want to look at examples of the actual call-to-action button.

The call to action is considered one of the most important features of improving conversion rates but you really need to be testing other items alongside it to help boost overall conversion rates substantially, don’t just test the call-to-action button on it’s own again and again!

Let’s look at some call to action testing ideas and examples:

1. Placement and Prominence – Test the location of the CTA: Left, right, central, above or below headlines and content, on pictures. Test the white space around the CTA to make it stand out. Wherever it is make sure it is relevant to the content around it and that it is above the fold.
2. Size – Test the size and shape. Bigger isn’t always better, sometimes a good CTA comes after a larger headline.
3. Colour – Contrasting colours stand out well. Use the colour wheel to find bright, harmonious colours. A colour that hurts your eyes isn’t going to get clicked!
4. Graphics and Icons – Test right arrows if your page leads to another page. Test down arrows if you want users to download something. Use a shopping cart icon for a purchase action.
5. Wording – Test different lengths of text. Test telling them what they are going to be doing next, what they are going to get or what you want them to do.

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