There is a very thin line between conversion and bounce. Sometimes, it could just be the case of using one wrong word.
That’s why the call to action plays a key role in increasing conversion rates, provided it is implemented appropriately. The following tips will show how to use CTAs that will actually work for you.
Uncovering the mystery behind Call-to-action
A call-to-action is a critical element on your website and can be understood as the point between a bounce and conversion. If you want a visitor or prospect to do something on your website, make them use a call-to-action for the task. The task can be anything from going to another subpage to find out something more about your company or product.
However, these call to actions copies need to be compelling. Playing with the copy’s color, shape or size can help to attract the attention of the prospect to it. Let us consider the alterations that can be made in order to gravitate traffic.
The Relationship between Conversion and a Good CTA
Many case studies on the internet will show you how one can tweak the call to action and gain more positive results. One of them shows a business situation when a B2B website only changed one single word for its call-to-action button and got a huge increase in the conversion rate as a result. The conversions increased by 38.26%. Have a look:
As can be seen, the wording of the in-text of the ad changed from “Order Information” to “Get Information” resulting in the increase of the conversion rate by 38.26%.
Let us analyze how a minor alteration like that could result in such a dramatic change. The problem with the old text was that it said “Order Information”. The word “Order” suggests that the prospect is required to do something. Using the phrase “Get Information” instead conveys a different message – we will give you something. In this case, “Get Information” signifies more value to them.
However, sometimes it is not enough to just express value. As much as it is important to portray value, it is crucial to take care of relevance as well. This implies that the CTA button copy should be appropriate to the context in which it is placed. This is critical to the success of any CTA strategy.
Another case study can illustrate this point. A call-to-action was used on a website in a way that only expressed value but missed out on the relevance. The result was a significant decrease in the conversion rate. The call to action was as shown below:
This example shows that the change of the text from ‘Read Full Essay Now’ to ‘Get Instant Access Now’ aggravated the conversion rate which decreased by 39.03%. It is interesting because inspite of the transformed button copy delivering value perfectly well, it sounded very general and out of context. The website is all about essays and the image shows an essay preview. The function of the button is to give the prospect the access to full essay by signing up.
As can be seen, the wrong strategy backfired and resulted in 39.09% decrease in the conversion rate.
Here is an example of a successful CTA button copy that boosted the conversion rate by a whole 68%.
As you can see, simply changing the in-text wording had a dramatic effect on the conversion. Let us analyze why.
The website we reffer to is about different types of gyms and it was trying to make the visitors click on this button copy and find their preferred gym, buying a membership there.
Again, the first button copy delivered value by saying ‘Get your membership’. However, the second button copy delivered value along with relevance to the particular context in which the prospects found themselves when visiting the website.
In this case, the second button copy is much more relevant than the previous one and delivers more information.
More research tells us that the clause ‘Find your gym’ adds more to the specifics of the website, unlike the previous button copy which is very generic and can be applied to any scenario on the website.
The CTA Optimization Rule
The case studies mentioned above are a result of some extensive studies, and are only a few of many that have been researched. Summing up the results from our analysis, we can state that both value and relevance are crucial in delivering higher conversion rates.
This can be considered as the call to action optimization rule.
But be careful not to overhype the messages on your button copies. This can actually stop your customers from clicking on it. It is always good to keep it simple and relevant while promoting value.
What now?
If you think that your website needs a better button copy, simply try applying what you learnt from our CTA Optimization Rule. If you want to find out other ways that will help your business or e-shop grow, download this free ebook packed with useful tips.
This article was submitted by David Cacik, Head of marketing @ LiveAgent – Multi-channel helpdesk software, http://ladesk.com/. David manages LiveAgent’s digital presence from A-Z.
