Why generic button wording loses clicks you had already earned

5 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 3 days ago

Introduction

The word on a button is the last thing between somebody deciding to act and actually acting, and it is usually chosen by whatever the form builder supplied as a default. Submit, send, contact us, learn more. These describe an administrative action from the business's perspective and tell the person nothing about what they are about to receive.

The cost is small per visitor and it applies to everybody who reached that point, which means it applies to the most valuable segment of your traffic. Changing it is a five-minute job with no downside, and it is one of the few conversion improvements that requires neither design work nor a developer.

1. Why generic button wording loses clicks is that it describes your process

The core problem.

"Submit" is what happens to the data. It says nothing about what the person gets, when, or from whom, which is the only thing they care about at that moment. It is also faintly institutional, which is the wrong note at the point where somebody is deciding to trust you.

2. Say what the person receives

The replacement.

"Get my quote", "Book a survey", "Ask a question". The wording should name the outcome, in the words the visitor would use about their own situation. First person wording tends to perform slightly better, because it reads as the visitor's own intention rather than your instruction.

3. Use their language, not yours

The vocabulary point.

If buyers say "estimate" and you say "proposal", use theirs. The button is the wrong place to teach anybody your terminology, and an unfamiliar word introduces a moment of hesitation. Your enquiry log contains the right vocabulary already.

4. Make the commitment sound accurate

The expectation management.

"Request a callback" and "Get a price" imply different things and should be used accurately. A button promising less than it delivers is safer than one promising more. The label sets the first expectation you will be measured against.

5. Reduce the apparent size of the step

The technique that matters most.

"Ask a question" is smaller than "Request a consultation", which is smaller than "Book a meeting". Where the underlying action is the same, the smaller framing converts better. This is the single largest gain available from the wording.

6. Put a short line of reassurance beside it

The supporting text.

What happens next, how long it takes, that there is no obligation. One sentence under the button addresses the hesitation that the button itself cannot.

7. Avoid clever wording

The failure at the other end.

Playful or oblique labels create uncertainty about what will happen, and uncertainty at the point of action is expensive. Plain and specific beats memorable here.

8. Keep it consistent across the site

The coherence requirement.

The same action should carry the same label everywhere. Different wording for the same thing on different pages makes people wonder whether they lead to different places.

9. Change one and observe

The verification.

This is a small enough change to test cleanly if you have the volume, and safe enough to simply make if you do not. Either way, note the date so a later change in enquiry rate can be attributed.

Be careful about wording that overstates. "Get an instant quote" on a form that produces a callback in two days creates a disappointment at the first moment of contact, which costs more than the additional clicks gained.

Conclusion

Name what the person receives rather than what the system does.

Use the visitor's own vocabulary rather than your industry's, describe the commitment accurately, frame the step as small as it genuinely is, add one line under the button saying what happens next and that there is no obligation, avoid clever or oblique labels, keep the same action labelled the same way everywhere, and note the date of any change so its effect can be attributed later.