How
much thought or how little thought goes into a Submit Button? It’s
usually very little thought and that’s the problem. In a programming
world, it makes sense a visitor is submitting information to a server
after all. But your visitors aren’t programmers nor do they know
anything about programming, all they know is they have to fill out some
information to get what they want often times having to jump through
hoops and be made to feel like an idiot because they entered their
phone number with dashes. Maybe they are more the submissive to the
dominatrix submit button?
On the other end of this communication is the Submit button usually
placed there by a programmer who thinks like a programmer not like your
prospect that you’re so desperately trying to get an email address
from. Well OK maybe the Submit button is the fault of your designer and
not your programmer, which is even worse because design should
empathize with the user not tie him down in chains and whip him, but
usually it’s because the designer or copywriter is lazy.
Lazy on the web is a very bad thing. It gets in the way of leads, sales
and revenue. There are so many elements on a form page that can cause
friction and anxiety in the mind of your visitor which add up to less
conversion and take away from your bottom line. Web pages today need to
work, they can’t afford to be even a bit lazy. They need to work harder
than ever in this day and age. Every element of your page has to work
towards getting that conversion and making it easy for your visitor,
giving him or her reason to part with his email address. Your Submit
button also needs to pull it’s weight and work hard to close that
conversion. There’s no reason why any form page button should ever say
SUBMIT. Submit won’t reduce the friction in the mind of your prospect.
Submit doesn’t give your visitor a reason to push that button. That
little button has to sell. It has to close the sale just as strong and
effectively as all the copy and images on the page. That little button
should speak to the benefits of clicking it. Why not have a more
persuasive button like Get your Free White Paper or Learn How To Save
More Money.
There’s opportunity and conversions that your web pages should be delivering, don’t submit.
Image by vintagev via Flickr, used under a creative commons license.
