Why The Buttons On Your Website Are Costing You Sales

Imagine playing golf…

…But instead of the tiny, 11cm, regulation-size hole that everyone else targets when playing – the hole you were driving and putting towards was a 11 metre chasm in the ground!

Do you think you’d score better with this advantage?

It would be near-impossible to miss! You’d become so good at golf that it would feel like cheating!

Consider this when it comes to the buttons on your website.

When most people design a website, they look at their competitors and copy the best ideas they see.

It means that most websites in an industry end up looking the same – having the same size buttons, and logos, and text – and making the same mistakes when it comes to making sales.

One of the most important assets on any webpage is the conversion goal – typically a button that a potential customer can use to take a step towards buying your products or services.

It’s the singular goal of your webpage – in the same way that the hole is the goal at the end of the fairway in golf.

One of the simplest ways to improve the percentage of people who complete this conversion goal is by making it as big, as bright, and as bold as possible.

In fact, over hundreds of tests, this is one tweak that consistently generates positive results – no matter the website.

The bigger and bolder it is – the better it performs.

In fact, it can be so effective that it often feels like you’re gaining an unfair advantage.

The concept is really simple – and it works for three reasons:

1. It Reduces Cognitive Load

Simple and obvious will beat complicated and obscure any day of the week.

We like to imagine that we, as human beings, have unlimited mental capacity – and that our brains don’t get tired on simple tasks.

But even simple decisions require us to take on a level of mental load.

The less thinking someone needs to do in order to make a decision, the more likely they are to make the decision.

So, by making your conversion goal buttons as big and bright and obvious as possible, you reduce the “brain power” that customers need to use in order to make a decision.

2. It Drives Attention To Key Decisions

Imagine you were asking someone a question.

Would they be more likely to answer the question if you asked it in a whispering hushed tone? Or if your voice boomed the question?

The buttons on your website might be asking visitors if they want to add a product to their shopping cart, request a free quote, or sign up for your newsletter. But if those buttons are small, meek, and easy-to-miss – visitors may simply not “hear” the question you’re asking.

A button that gets peoples’ attention also forces them to notice and answer the question at hand.

3. It Provides a Singular, Obvious Next-Step

Often, pages are littered with links, menu items, product images, stock art, and more!

At a glance, users may have difficulty working out the subtext of your webpage. What question is your webpage asking? What should I be doing next?

A big, bright, obvious call-to-action button in a prominent location on the page is like the bright yellow flag at the end of the fairway. It tells the customer something to focus on – and a goal to complete on this page.