Follow the Arrow
“Straight ahead! Turn left! Look here!”
Arrows are powerful little symbols and play important roles in helping us navigate various activities in daily life. Whether it’s getting to the correct departure gate at an airport or choosing the right lane on the highway, arrows help us get where we want to go. Without them, we can wind up missing our destination entirely.
“But how does this relate to effective websites?” you’re asking. (Aren’t you?)
Simple. Arrows are invaluable at helping us navigate within web pages as well.
On a web page, an arrow can be incredibly powerful in directing the visual attention of your visitors.
In fact, a well-placed arrow can be the difference between a visitor clicking or not clicking on an important link, Call-to-Action button, or Buy Now button.
When used at the right place at the right time in websites, arrows can:
- Provide directional cues
- Prioritize information
- Give Call-to-Action buttons greater visibility
- Guide your website’s visitors to the specific element(s) you want them to focus on
- Pique visitors’ curiosity
- Send the nonverbal messages “Click Me!!!” or “Look at me NOW!!”
Since arrows make Call-to-Action buttons more noticeable, they improve the chances of those buttons being clicked—which is, of course, exactly what you want your website visitors to do! In other words, it’s almost like they’re graphic-hypnosis tricks that allow you to encourage your website visitors to take the exact actions you want them to take.
Call-to-Action buttons with arrows have been proven to outperform those without. It’s true! Read on:
A test by the Digital Evolution Group proved that the addition of a small arrow in Call-to-Action buttons led to a significant increase in the likelihood of clicks:
Conversely, in a 2013 test by Unbounce, the Call-to-Action button without an arrow led to 12.29% decrease in conversion.
Arrows are also important in directing visitors’ eyes to lead-generation forms, like so:
When the company Monetate added an arrow pointing to their lead-generation form/offer, downloads increased by 68.3%.
In the following example (as shown in Hubspot’s blog), an arrow coupled with a Call to Action strategically points to where the visitor can access the offer:
Want to learn more about experiencing more success from your company’s website? Connect with us! We’d be delighted to explore whether we might be a great fit for your needs, and if so, chat with you about improving your website’s results.