Comments on: Calling You to Action

By: Local Advertising

Local Advertising — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 10:40:25 +0000

I live in an international location outside of the American/European delivery zone so what’s most important to me when shopping online is the international shipping charge. I know that might not sound immediately relevant to this post, but to me it is. You see, I am more likely to click through my purchases on those sites which dynamically calculate my totals either on the page I am shopping on or promise to do so easily on the first check out page. Nothing turns me off to a site faster than requiring me to fill out tonnes of information,(sometimes even CC info) before calculating shipping charges. Want me to click? Tell me upfront, what the click is going to get me (of course this applies specifically to online shopping).

By: anz internet banking

anz internet banking — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:20:55 +0000

i always use a big button for my site. but CTR isn’t good. Maybe i will try with 4-7 words and split test for them…

By: Property Management Software

Property Management Software — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 15:07:45 +0000

Long 7 to 10 word links really look goddy on web pages I think, that’s why I’ve avoided them. I try to keep it under 5. Granted, CSS styles could be changed to make them look better, but that takes away from the link familiarity quotion.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:51:31 +0000

The strong CTA is very important and vital part of each page. Each page would have a CTA that leads on other page. Avoid using blind page without following-up.

By: canadian bodybuilding

canadian bodybuilding — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:45:22 +0000

Nice article. I think that example site you gave CTAs are in a poor location.

By: A Strong Homepage Design Dissected | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 20:37:32 +0000

[...] and secondary calls to action are clear, prominent, and the primary button is above the [...]

By: John

John — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:04:20 +0000

I had never seen the data that the very long links had a better click through rate. I may want t split test that one, especially on outbound links that are nofollowed so I don’t care about the SEO impact. Thanks for the great article.

By: The Sciences and Disciplines of Web Site Optimization - News: Everything-e

The Sciences and Disciplines of Web Site Optimization - News: Everything-e — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:15:18 +0000

[...] the column, “Calling You to Action,” I covered the basics of optimizing the calls to action on your site. The column prompted [...]

By: The Sciences and Disciplines of Web Site Optimization | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:04:27 +0000

[...] the column, “Calling You to Action,” I covered the basics of optimizing the calls to action on your site. The column prompted [...]

By: sinus infection remedy

sinus infection remedy — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 16:45:04 +0000

We continue to work on all of our sites to improve traffic and conversions. I think it is important to continually test your calls to action to help determine which ones work the best and deliver the highest conversion rate.

Thanks for the great article with excellent advice

By: Scott Salwolke

Scott Salwolke — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 06:15:18 +0000

Bryan excellent post. It reminds me of how they used to test response cards for direct marketing campaigns. Would a stick, or a scratch off encourage readers to respond. Even on my own site I realize my call to action should be looked at in more depth. That maybe testing other formats might get me more customers.

By: Bryan Eisenberg

Bryan Eisenberg — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 13:30:35 +0000

Nathania,

There is also a free (ad supported version) for the Mac. It does seem this page was just cobbled together – that is why we are seeing so many issues like Geno points out so well.

By: Nathania

Nathania — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:13:07 +0000

The page has a huge problem in that Twitterific has three price points:

1. $14.95 for Mac computers
2. $9.99 for premium version for iPhone and iPod Touch.
3. Free version for iPhone and iPod touch.

My guess would be to get people using the Free version on iPhone/Touch first. Then get them to upgrade via the app to the premium version. Then get them to buy for their computers.

But that’s just a guess. Of course, you’d need the testing to figure it all out.

Plus what about a trial version? I think Icon Factory’s problem starts at the product right now.

By: Tal Riesenfeld

Tal Riesenfeld — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:48:51 +0000

Great post!
As a reply to the previous comment, I agree and I disagree

I disagree because I have seen some very “aggressive/ effective” call for action buttons that do cause people to click on them. Look at this landing page as an example: http://worksmart-emarketing.com/ . My gut feeling tells me that most people click this call for action button and see the intro video.

On the other hand I definitely agree, because the whole idea of the video is to create a user friendly experience and give an overview of the offering.

Bottom line, I definitely think that call for action buttons (especially smart ones) can make a real difference, but they do not replace usability.

By: florida design

florida design — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:27:51 +0000

I keep telling people this. I don’t think that optimizing a site for conversion is a “Call to Action” science. It’s a usability science. People aren’t going to click something because its big round and yellow, and says “Click Me”. The reason people click this types of links is because they’re already looking for where to click, and you’ve just made it easier for them.

By: Rich Page

Rich Page — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:01:20 +0000

I think call to actions are so important to a well optimized website – thats why I loved your original book on this so much Brian!

I also just wrote a post about the two worst words to use as call to actions… ‘click here’
http://rich-page.com/web-analytics/revealed-the-two-most-useless-words-on-any-website/

Rich

By: Geno Prussakov

Geno Prussakov — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:28:59 +0000

Excellent post, Bryan. One of my clients is currently working on improving the very CTA side of their webpages. I’ve sent them a link to this. Thank you for making this post.

Re that Twitterrific example:

1) Wording: I personally find it hard to distinguish the difference between the two (”get it” and “buy it”) buttons.

2) Location: I’d put them in place of that “Get it for iPhone and iPod touch” button.

3) Background Color: I would change the background of these buttons to green (onMouseOver change of shades of green would look appropriate).

4) Shape: Love the rounded corners, but if we place the buttons under the product, some adjustment would have to be made to look organic.

5) Font Size/Color: Slightly smaller size font in white when on the green background may work better than the larger size on the beige/gray background.

6) The more appropriate place for the “Get it for iPhone and iPod touch” button may be under these two buttons.