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independence3 unconnected · 1 more author in those circles
applies to

b2b, no audience needed

confidence

high

evidence

11 claims · 8 articles · 4 receipts

window

2014-06-182022-09-01

3 builders who never spoke to each other

Put the outcome on the button, not a verb

Generic labels get filtered out by habituation no matter what colour they are, so name the thing the visitor came to do or the thing they receive by clicking. Open with a verb of getting rather than giving, place each action right after the content that motivated it, and word it to echo what was just read. It is the cheapest test available: two words can multiply clicks and the change takes minutes to configure.


The method

  1. 01

    Ambiguously labeled buttons are the cheapest conversion win available: renaming one to describe what it actually does can move opt-ins sharply for minutes of work.

  2. 02

    Make the form the one unmissable thing on the page and label the button with the result of clicking it rather than with a generic form verb.

  3. 03

    Name the action rather than using a vague verb on the button, so the visitor knows what happens when they click.

  4. 04

    Assume the visitor skimmed past your free-trial mention, so the button itself has to carry the offer - a generic label gets filtered out by habituation no matter what color it is.

  5. 05

    Phrase the button as the visitor receiving something rather than surrendering something, and open with an action verb like get, start or try.


What it returned

  • 53%

    On Ruby Lane, replacing a 'Subscribe' button with 'Favorite Shop' plus a heart icon increased opt-ins by 53%; setup took minutes and several days to reach a sample size.

  • He contrasts a button reading Get the Free Guide with one reading Submit Form.

  • Buttons he calls too vague: Sign Up, Submit, Continue.

  • His examples: a bitcoin trading service inviting people to start trading, an art marketplace inviting them to start selling, and gliffy's start-drawing button which signals how quickly you can begin.


Sources


the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

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the second source

Three plays a week, for the phase you are in

No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.

963 corroborated plays to draw from · 3 a week

One email a week. Unsubscribe in one click, and the address is used for this and nothing else.