A/B Testing Idea #1: Place irresistible and clear CTA buttons

A/B Testing Idea #1: Place irresistible and clear CTA buttons

Are you wasting much of your time and effort A/B testing every single idea that pops into your head, yet you're not generating sufficient traffic to your website? Don't worry—we've got you.
 
We'd like to introduce you to the A/B Testing Ideas learning series, a collection of easy-to-use design tips to A/B test your website pages. This series will include techniques to effectively optimize various elements on your website and boost conversion rates in a short time. These ideas can also give you a strong framework to start your conversion rate optimization and discover what design changes work best for your website. Do Follow the page and post your comments about the content shared in the comment box below.

So, here is our first post in the series: Place irresistible and clear CTA buttons



As we know, the basic intention of any website is to make somebody do something—for example, getting visitors to fill in a form, download a PDF, or purchase an item. And, of course, the best way to make visitors perform these actions is through the simple CTA (call-to-action) buttons placed on your web page, such as "Buy now", "Learn more", or "Sign up" links.

However, at times you might notice that your website is getting a good traffic but the conversions obtained on your CTA are poor. This is exactly when you need to A/B test your CTA buttons. In today’s post, we'll learn a few simple, yet powerful, CTA testing ideas to maximize conversions and recover those lost leads on your site.

So how do you create and test a persuasive CTA?

There are three parts to look at: the text, the position, and the graphical presentation of the CTA on your web page.
 
Testing the CTA words
Good CTA copy is more than just text. In general, CTA copy that speaks directly to your visitor outperforms generalized CTA copy. Here are a few points to consider while crafting your CTA copy:
  • Decide what action you want your audience to take and describe what will happen next—for example, use text like “Subscribe to our blog " or "Request a product demo" and not "Subscribe" or "Register here." This will tell visitors what to expect by clicking on the CTA.

  • Start with action-oriented words in your CTA like "read," "download," "call," and more. This can make your button stand out from the rest of the page content and convince visitors to click it instantly.

  • Create a sense of urgency with words like “today,” “now,” or “in the next 24 hours” in your CTAs to garner those extra clicks with less effort.
Focusing on the above tips can help you kindle your audience’s emotion towards your products/services, build a sense of trust in your business, and eventually achieve your website goal.

A few examples of good CTA copy you can test out include:
  • Using a "Grab my ebook" CTA on the web page  instead of a CTA that just instructs visitors to “Download.” This will create a more personal touch and draw interest towards the button.



  • Using a "Access courses for free" CTA instead of an overused "Sign up" button to build connections and boost sign ups on your newly developed elearning website.

Extra tip: Your CTA buttons should always have a healthy chunk of white space surrounding them. White space helps instantly grab your visitors' attention and adds focus to your button.

Testing the CTA position
Strive to achieve CTA placement that is noticeable but not disruptive to your audience. If you place your CTA button in a spot where your users don’t naturally look, you’re going to lose conversions. There are generally two points to look at while testing CTA position:
  • Identify and utilize smart button placement based on your visitors' natural reading flow (top to bottom and left to right or right to left) and behavior on your website. This includes the path users follow on your website to complete a process, the design elements they click on, and the barriers that prevent them from achieving their goal.

    Tip: You can use Session Recordings in PageSense to see how and why users are interacting with your CTAs the way they are.

  • Place the CTA button above or below the average fold of your page depending on the length and complexity of the content. This could also be determined by how far down the page your visitors scroll on an average. However, adding your CTA above the fold is the most common placement choice used on homepage/landing page designs.

    Tip: You can set up heatmaps, scroll maps, and attention maps in PageSense to determine whether people are responding to—or even seeing—your CTAs.
A few examples of good CTA placement you can test out include:
  • Showing a glimpse of soon-to-be-released products with feature highlights, and then at the end placing "Pre-order for free" CTA on your digital store. This uses the below-the-fold area of your web page to catch the attention of the visitors first, even before redirecting visitors to the preferred page(s).



  • Adding a “Buy Now” or "Add to Cart" button at the top-right section of the product page where a user would immediately click to buy after viewing your product offers page on the ecommerce site. This type of CTA placement adds visitors to your sales pipeline quickly by canceling extra steps like add to cart and check out.

Testing the CTA appearance
The color and appearance of your CTA button are the most important aspects while testing and optimizing your website. As humans, we always have a greater tendency to stick to information that looks bigger and brighter. Below are some practical tips on designing and testing an appealing CTA button:
  • Add a bold, bright, and contrasting background color to CTAs. Give more important CTA buttons a brighter color and the less important functions a lighter color or simple text links.

  • Have your CTA appear more clickable. This could be done by adding some visual effects such as a slight gradient or a small shadow to create that real push-button effect. However, if you think none of the effects will suit the chosen style of your website, add emphasis by applying rounded edges to the button.

  • Size of the button is another crucial factor in designing an effective CTA button. Larger CTAs have a higher chance of being noticed and clicked by readers. It’s also common to arrange UI components according to their importance. 
A few examples of good CTA appearance you can test out include:
  • Adding an attractive 3D or shadow effect to the "last minute deal" CTA button on your ecommerce site. This effect can spotlight the CTA, making it bright and prominent in comparison to other features like wish lists, view cart, or check out buttons.



  • Applying a bright color to the most recommended plan on your pricing page that you think will be a good fit for the majority of visitors. This might help highlight the best features in your product and avoid confusing buyers.

Found this useful? We would love to know what you think about this post. And, do you have any favorite A/B testing tricks or preferred approaches that you experiment on your website CTAs? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy testing. Happy converting!

    Access your files securely from anywhere

          All-in-one knowledge management and training platform for your employees and customers.






                                Zoho Developer Community




                                                      • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                      • Digest


                                                      • Functions


                                                      • Meetups


                                                      • Kbase


                                                      • Resources


                                                      • Glossary


                                                      • Desk Marketplace


                                                      • MVP Corner


                                                      • Word of the Day


                                                      • Ask the Experts





                                                                Manage your brands on social media



                                                                      Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                          Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                            Zoho Books Resources


                                                                              Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                                Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                    Qntrl Resources


                                                                                      Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                          Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                          • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                            CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                          • Kaizen

                                                                                            Kaizen

                                                                                          • Functions

                                                                                            Functions

                                                                                          • Meetups

                                                                                            Meetups

                                                                                          • Kbase

                                                                                            Kbase

                                                                                          • Resources

                                                                                            Resources

                                                                                          • Digest

                                                                                            Digest

                                                                                          • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                            CRM Marketplace

                                                                                          • MVP Corner

                                                                                            MVP Corner









                                                                                              Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                              Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                              Get Started Now


                                                                                                Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                                  Zoho Writer

                                                                                                  Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                                  Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                    Zoho CRM コンテンツ





                                                                                                      Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                          ご検討中の方




                                                                                                                  • Recent Topics

                                                                                                                  • Has anyone successfully gotten conditional rendering to work in Zoho Books Sales Order HTML PDF templates?

                                                                                                                    I’m trying to hide a custom field box when the custom field is blank. The value placeholder itself works perfectly: ${salesorder.cf_distribution_reference_numb} If the Sales Order has a value, it renders correctly. Example: 45488045. But when I wrap that
                                                                                                                  • How To Invoice Immediately for Future Subscription

                                                                                                                    Hi, When a new subscription is created that has a future start date, Zoho Subscriptions does not invoice the customer until the start date of the subscription. Is there a way to immediately invoice the customer as soon as the subscription is created,
                                                                                                                  • Deleted User Emails

                                                                                                                    I need to delete a user as I need to re-use their license, but I'd like to keep all their emails that are attached to various contacts in the CRM. Their emails are hosted externally on an M365 license. Anyone any idea how best to engineer this? TIA
                                                                                                                  • In wiki editor, dragging an image fails

                                                                                                                    Expected behavior: Within the WYSIWYG editor, we have been able to select and drag an image (that is already inserted in the page) to move it to a different position on the page. Current behavior: For a few days recently (possibly longer and I didn't
                                                                                                                  • Not able to see appointements when the territory permission is activated

                                                                                                                    Hello, I created different territories to separate the various departments within the company that will be working on different projects. The issue I am currently experiencing is that when I enable territory-based permissions, I can see the work order
                                                                                                                  • Print multiple uploaded images in an HTML snippet in a Page

                                                                                                                    I have a Form: Job_Preparation It stores details of each new item that must be built by the fabricators in our workshop. The form has a field: Documents I upload 4 image files to the Documents field. I want to print a sheet for our workshop staff with
                                                                                                                  • Quotes Module - import data

                                                                                                                    Hello Zoho, is it possible to import Quotes records? I was trying and i have no results. Raport shows no data imported. Could you help me please how to do it?
                                                                                                                  • Introducing the new Zoho Announcements Hub

                                                                                                                    Hello, Enterprise Support Community! We are excited to announce a new way to keep up to date with recent product releases and announcements for the Zoho apps you use on a regular basis. Introducing our new centralized location to bring together all Zoho
                                                                                                                  • Introducing Custom Columns in Forecasts in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                    Hello all, Forecasts in Zoho CRM help sales representatives, managers, and business stakeholders evaluate performance and plan future sales activities. While standard metrics such as Target, Achieved Amount, and Pipeline Amount provide a baseline view,
                                                                                                                  • Can Zoho CRM Emails be used in Zoho Analytics in any capacity?

                                                                                                                    We're wanting to display details about Lead Activity in regular reports through Zoho Analytics but we're having difficulty integrating Emails at all. We'd like to be able to note when an email is received and when it is sent somewhere other than just
                                                                                                                  • Related list view for Assets

                                                                                                                    We first set up all our parent assets in FSM and now we are adding child assets which are the parts for the parent assets. When under the customer related list, since it only displays 5 rows of data, I have to click through many assets to locate the parent
                                                                                                                  • Zoho Books - France

                                                                                                                    L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilité
                                                                                                                  • Smart URL Determination

                                                                                                                    I would like to see Vault implement some sort of "smart" URL determination. When one starts to add a new username-password combination from a new site, Vault brings in the exact URL of the page from which this is happening. All too often, it looks something
                                                                                                                  • Project Statuses

                                                                                                                    Hi All, We have projects that sometimes may not make it through to completion. As such, they were being marked as "Cancelled". I noticed that these projects still show as "Active" though which seems counter intuitive. In fact, the only way I can get them
                                                                                                                  • Composite Services and Account Tracking

                                                                                                                    I am looking to garner support/request the ability to make composite services. A quick search in the forums brings up multiple requests for this feature. I fail to see why an item is mandatory while services are optional. I also would like to see the
                                                                                                                  • Marketer's Space: Lists vs. segments—what's the difference?

                                                                                                                    Hello Marketers, Welcome back to another post in Marketer's Space! In email marketing, reaching the right audience is just as important as crafting the right message. Yet many marketers often confuse lists and segments, using them interchangeably without
                                                                                                                  • Building a Multi-Step Form Experience in Zoho Creator Using Standard Forms

                                                                                                                    Zoho Creator does not currently provide native multi-step form functionality. For applications with a large number of fields, a common requirement is to split data collection into manageable sections while maintaining a single application record. In this
                                                                                                                  • Implementing Back Button Navigation in Zoho Creator

                                                                                                                    Zoho Creator does not currently support a native Back button within forms, so implementing backward navigation requires a workaround. We recently implemented this in an application that was split into 9 modular forms. Since users needed to move between
                                                                                                                  • Add Video link to interview record

                                                                                                                    Hi Team, we are having team members consistently go to the interview record to find the link for their upcoming meeting and have been confused that they have not been able to find them. When the interview is created can you please upload the link to the
                                                                                                                  • Zoho projects dependancies is a joke

                                                                                                                    About to cancel our Zoho One subscription because Zoho Projects is a mess. Can't build a proper progream in it because the dependancies doesn't work properly. Can't believe this software is promoter as a project program when one can't even build a proper
                                                                                                                  • Vorrei disdire l'abbonamento

                                                                                                                    Vorrei disdire l'abbonamento, ma non trovo il modo. Mi assistete?
                                                                                                                  • Wiki Add Attachment upload fails at about 15.3 MB

                                                                                                                    I am seeing consistent "Error in uploading file" for files larger than about 15,430 kB. For 15,300 kB or smaller, no problem, but 15,430 kB or larger always fail. This is over numerous trials. My test files, to examine this problem, were generated by
                                                                                                                  • Stop Wasting Clicks: Let Us See All Notes in Quick View

                                                                                                                    Hi Zoho Recruit team, I would like to suggest an improvement to the candidate/application experience in Zoho Recruit. Today, it is difficult to get a full picture of a candidate when working from the Quick View, since notes are split between: Notes related
                                                                                                                  • Zoho Books | Product updates | June 2026

                                                                                                                    Hello users, Welcome to this month's roundup of what's new in Zoho Books! We have an exciting line-up this time. The highlight is the launch of the all-new France Edition with full ISCA compliance. We're also introducing features such as Layout Rules
                                                                                                                  • issue invoice for future subscription

                                                                                                                    Hi, I selected the invoice at the date of subscription from the setting (since the alternative is to pre-set a date of a month) which is not my case. So, my question : Some times I need to create a subscription that will start at a future date but I need
                                                                                                                  • Associate emails from both primary and secondary contacts to deal

                                                                                                                    We need to associate emails from multiple contacts to a deal. Please advise how this can be achieved. At present, only emails from primary contacts can be associated. Thanks
                                                                                                                  • How to set default reply email address depending on receipt email address

                                                                                                                    Hi, I have a number of different customer support email addresses (info@XYZ.com, retuns@XYZ.com etc.) and want to set Zoho Desk so that the email address from which an agent replies is automatically defaulted to a predetermined address depending to which
                                                                                                                  • What's New in Zoho Inventory | April & May 2026

                                                                                                                    Hello users, We're excited to roll out the latest Zoho Inventory updates for April and May 2026. These enhancements are designed to make your daily operations smoother and more efficient, from advanced inventory management and flexible pricing to automated
                                                                                                                  • Writer is horrible

                                                                                                                    Form filling is about unusable for complex forms! I am so tired of it.
                                                                                                                  • How to Migrate from MDaemon to Zoho Mail Account?

                                                                                                                    Hi there, Zoho Mail is one of the most popular as well as leading competitor for several cloud email service providers. It is It provide cloud email service as well as desktop based email client. In recent years people are migrating from third party cloud servers to Zoho Mail. The reasons are plenty, i.e. the user interface, security, high performance and many countless amazing features. On the other hand MDaemon Mail (aka WorldClient) is also popular among cloud email servers. But there are some
                                                                                                                  • Trigger workflows from SLA escalations in Zoho Desk?

                                                                                                                    Hey everyone, I’m currently working with SLA escalation rules in Zoho Desk and ran into a limitation that I’m hoping someone here has solved more elegantly. As far as I can tell, SLA escalations only support fairly limited actions (like changing the ticket
                                                                                                                  • CRM Portal Lookup Linkage and Related Fields

                                                                                                                    hi, if someone can give me the right path, would be greatly appreciated. we want to do a customer portal for our partners who we issue work orders for our customers, the linkage via lookup fields Partner -> Work Order -> Customer in our portal, the primary
                                                                                                                  • HOW TO: Searching a thread (email body/text) with a custom function, allowing filtering and specific actions

                                                                                                                    We are still trialing out Zoho at this time, but have found a major expected feature to be missing - the ability to search within the text of an email for automation/workflows. NOTE: You need to create a connection for zohodesk under settings -> Developer
                                                                                                                  • Cold emails not allowed?

                                                                                                                    I planned to use Zoho Mail to send businesses some cold emails to offer my freelance writing services, but I noticed that the anti-spam policy is very strict -- no commercial emails whatsoever without prior permission from the recipient? I would be very
                                                                                                                  • Zoho Team Inbox - roadmap

                                                                                                                    Hi, would be good to understand the Teaminbox roadmap, in particular: 1. API / Zoho Deluge connections. We have a process where the each email needs to be either tagged or assigned daily. It would be great if we could automate a 5pm alert for any exemptions
                                                                                                                  • Leave Time - Past Dates by Pay Period

                                                                                                                    Under Settings | Leave Policy | [policy name] | Restrictions, one can set a number of days that an employee can go back to apply leave. This is very good and very needed. However, in most organizations, the real deadline isn't X number of days from the
                                                                                                                  • Link webform to a job opening

                                                                                                                    I have a webfrm embeded on my website and everytime a candidates fill the form, their candidate status is to new. Is it possible that it links to a specific job opening instead of me having to assing it manually ? Thanks
                                                                                                                  • New in WorkDrive: Organize your storage using Data Templates

                                                                                                                    Organizations generate huge volumes of data day in and out. From financial reports, client details, and resumes to promotional images, product videos, and more. The list is endless. When you have so much data to manage, you need to classify your documents and structure them in a way that makes them more accessible.  This is exactly what WorkDrive's Data Templates lets you do! You can create Data Templates, add meta data as custom fields, and associate those fields with files and folders based on
                                                                                                                  • Need Native Support for docx files in Zoho Writer

                                                                                                                    Absolutely love Zoho Writer, but often need to share files by email with people who are in the Office ecosystem. Downloading a file as docx, then sending it by email, getting the comments back, converting it to Zoho format, editing it, then converting
                                                                                                                  • Mirror Component in Zoho CRM: Access real-time related data without leaving your record

                                                                                                                    Hi everyone, This feature is now available for the JP, CA, SA, UAE, and AU DCs. We're excited to bring to you Zoho CRM's mirror component, which presents relevant data on a record's details page and keeps everything users need in one place without having
                                                                                                                  • Next Page