Want People to Take an Action on Your Site? POINT It Out!
It always amazes me when web designers try and hide the primary call to action on a page or make it “blend in” with the overall design.
Time and time again my test results have shown that the bigger, bolder and more obvious you make your primary call to action, the higher your conversion rates will be.
Bigger buttons, high contrast borders around buttons, arrows pointing at your calls to action… These are all ways to draw more attention to the action you want visitors to take.
Well… Here are the results of yet another test that illustrates this principle.
The following test was conducted on one of my coaching clients forced opt-in pages.
In this test we wanted to see if using a large “action shot” picture of the client pointing at the opt-in box, would help boost conversion rates.
In the control version we used his standard opt-in box area, with no image.
In the test version we used a photo similar to the one below.
(To protect the client’s niche I’m not showing the actual test version. This is just an example from one of my own squeeze pages.)
Here are the results:
Control version (no photo):
5,128 unique visitors – 1,891 optins – 36.9% optin conversion rate
Test version (with photo):
4,995 unique visitors – 2,257 optins – 45.2% optin conversion rate
That represents a 22% increase in conversion rates, simply by using a picture POINTING at the opt-in box.
But to test this further and PROVE that it was the “action shot” of pointing at the optin box that resulted in the conversion boost and not just adding a picture (which often helps), I decided to do a second test round.
In round 2 we tested our new control (photo pointing) against a regular full length photo of the client (with NO pointing.)
Example of “Non Pointing” photo below:
Here were the results:
Control version (photo pointing):
4,349 unique visitors – 1,976 optins – 45.4% optin conversion rate
Test version (photo NOT pointing):
4,311 unique visitors – 1,720 optins – 39.9% optin conversion rate
So as you can see from the results, the key in this test was the actual POINTING at the opt-in box. (Although in this case just having a picture did boost conversions slightly over the no photo version.)
The bottom line “take away” I want you to get from these tests is this…
Test action shots of you (or happy customers) POINTING at your main calls to action.
The boost in conversion rates may just surprise you!
Happy Testing!
Eric
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August 29th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Great blog, Eric!
You shared a lot of useful information in a concise, manner.
Looks like I’ll be making a trip to the photographer!
August 29th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Wow… That is pretty cool…
I need to test that out myself.
Thanks!
August 30th, 2007 at 2:19 am
I’d like to see the test results of splitting between a guy pointing, and a woman pointing. My hunch is the woman would win out, even if she’s not the “owner” of the site.
If you do that test, let us know the results! If you don’t do it, I’ll have to! =;)
Jay Jennings
August 30th, 2007 at 9:20 am
That’s awesome!
I use squeeze pages all the time, and I’m always looking for ways to increase conversion.
Thanks for the ideas!
Matthew Glanfield
http://www.yoursqueezepage.com
August 30th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Totally agreed. A graphic is a big attention puller (unless overdone).
Thanks Eric - you give out some really useful tips. Sincerely appreciated!
August 30th, 2007 at 11:02 am
That’s amazing. Thanks for letting us know. I discovered split testing awhile ago and I’m a big fan, but I would have never thought of this.
August 30th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Thanks for the great comments everyone. Glad to know that sharing some of my results is appreciated.
(Even better to know that some of you will be taking ACTION on what I share and testing this out on your own sites!)
Jay… Great question on women vs. men in the photos.
Actually I HAVE tested this several times in several markets. And what I’ve found is this…
In MOST (but not nearly all) cases, an attractive woman will out pull a picture of a man.
But… There is a TON of variation here in the results depending on WHAT you are selling and WHO you are selling it to. (And even WHO is doing the selling.)
In most B2C markets pictures of young, attractive women boost response. However, in many B2B markets, pictures of men (dressed professionally in suits, ties, etc.) pull better.
Also, I’ve found in several B2C markets where WOMEN are selling to other WOMEN, that having “too pretty” of a picture can actually hurt response.
This one has shocked me on several occasions now. My SWAG (scientific wild a$$ guess) is that when a woman is selling to other women, having a photo that is “too pretty” can hurt the relateability factor. (Unless you are selling cosmetics or weight loss products… Then usually the more attractive picture still wins.)
Also, for what it’s worth… In a couple “women vs. men” tests, I’ve found that in a few cases the women pulled slightly better on forced opt-in (squeeze pages) than they did on the actual salesletters.
Happy Testing!
Eric
August 31st, 2007 at 3:38 pm
[…] Want People to Take an Action on Your Site? POINT It Out! […]
September 2nd, 2007 at 10:53 pm
Thanks Eric!
Great info like this is why you’re in my blogroll… I just updated my blog with a couple of new photos, one with me pointing to my subscription form.
Take care,
Fred
September 3rd, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Fred,
Great job on the opt-in form on your blog. Let me know the results!
Eric
September 7th, 2007 at 2:26 am
[…] Here are the results: (more…) […]