Why did you click a button that said “don’t click here?”
Would you like to know?
You may be thinking it’s a practical joke we played on you but there’s actually a very good reason for it, and if you just think about it for a moment, we got you to click here didn’t we?
If we can get you to click the image, then imagine what can we do to get your visitors clicking on your pages.
You see, the internet is a medium where people rarely read pages. Instead, visitors scan pages till they see something that either “floats their boat”, piques their curiosity or gives them what they are looking for. In this case you got to this page because the image most likely piqued your curiosity and compelled you to click on the image, which got you to this page.
This is a conversion!
This little “trick” works wonders in many ways and has actually become a talking point whenever we speak to or meet with new clients. It is extremely memorable, and even although the visitor knows they’ve been “tricked” they still find it amusing and many make a point of mentioning us at dinner parties and other social events, waxing lyrical about how extremely clever, talented and brilliant we are. (Read that last part again if you wish).
Lets look at the image below and see exactly why it works so well: 
- A command (call to action)
- Big red button
- Smiley person (Meet Dave)
Why did we use a “don’t click here” command?
When a visitor arrives at your site from a search engine, it’s quite simply because your site potentially offers them what they want. However, whilst lots of sites do a good job of being ranked on search engines far too many of them do a really bad job of converting their visitors into customers. (By the way – if you’re skimming this page then the chances are you noticed the words “really bad” in bold red) . This is another technique that can be used grab a visitors attention).
As we said above, the vast majority of web visitors scan pages very quickly when they arrive at your site. Typically this lasts for around 3-4 seconds, so you only have a very small window of opportunity with which to grab their attention and get them to click through to your other pages.
In summary, the don’t click here command was quite simply to attract attention, pique your curiosity and get a click. Incidentally, if you are one on the few visitors that didn’t click first time, we’re pretty certain that you went away and came back again until you finally gave in and clicked.
The big red button
Theoretically, the big red button should put you off from clicking even further because red is typically associated with warning signs. Would it have worked using a green triangle or a square yellow button? Wouldn’t you just love to know?
The smiley person (Dave)
The smiley face is a character that emphasises the action. Would it work better if he was pointing up, down or to the left. What if there was no character at all. Wouldn’t you just love to know?
Has this piqued your curiosity even more?
If it has and you’d like to know more about getting more customers from your website then either call us or fill in the form below and we’ll get right back to you.
