By Kevin Gallagher
Every single website is created in order to get a visitor to do something. This might be asking them to buy something in your ecommerce store. It might be getting them to fill in an online contact form so you can gather some information or involve persuading them to ring a number, process their payment through payment gateways or it might just be getting them to watch a video or read some information.
Whatever your websites goal, you will at some point (unless you have a one page website) want them to press a button. Unlike hyperlinks, which are generally there for your visitor to get further information or explore another webpage, a button is more of an encouragement to action. You will have seen them in various places on a website asking you to “Click here” or maybe telling you to “Press this button to get your quote” or something similar. Buttons are your big moment to seal the deal — you need to make it as irresistible as possible so that your visitors want nothing more than to press that crucial button.
Here is how to make one that is irresistible:
Design
First thing you need to do is make sure your button looks the part. People like to feel that when they press a button, even though it’s just pixels on a page, that they are physically pressing a button. You must have felt that strange satisfaction you get when you see it move in. You can achieve this by choosing a button with a nice gradient or 3D lighting effect on it that makes it look like a real button. You also need to choose a colour that really catches the eye. The best colours for this are any that really contrast with your background or what it is next to. Just make sure it sticks out like a very sore thumb.
Message
Next thing you need to do is add a ‘call to action’. This is basically a short sharp message that encourages your visitor to click thebutton. There are tons of books on how to write these effectively, but in a nutshell you need to say ‘click here now’ in order to ‘get this great benefit’.
Placement
Finally you need to put it in the right place on the page. There is no point in sticking it away from where your visitors are going to be reading. If they can’t see your payment button, then you certainly aren’t going to be performing any online credit card processing. You also don’t want to have it lost in the middle of a load of other text so that their eye is not drawn to it. To help your user, place it in a nice clearing on the page, immediately after your sales message. You may also want to put one further up the page if your page is a bit long and requires the user to scroll. Essentially, just make it effortless for the user to find and impossible for them to miss.
Author Information
Kevin Gallagher has been an expert copywriter for many years and has written content for numerous blogs including the popular payment service provider blog by Lancore, a large payment gateway provider.
Maximizing the use of search engine optimization can really make a site, but even more significantly, it can help enhance your brand so that customers identify easier with what you have to offer. Think about your brand and the words that best describe your product or service. Perhaps you have a brand tag line. If so, make sure you incorporate it into the site so search engines can easily locate it when anyone uses it as search criteria.
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