Optimizing Call to Action Buttons

Smashing Magazine has a terrific guide to designing "call to action buttons." Design and optimization can increase conversions dramatically - just ask (and study!) these conversion-focused leaders: - Social gaming: RockYou, Slide, Zynga, etc - Flash Sales: Gilt Group, Rue La La - Couponing: Groupon, LivingSocial Smashing Magazine lists dozens of examples. I boil it down to the following:

- size and location: think of visiting a grocery store and what catches your eye in the aisle - color and 'clickability': does the button stand out? does it change on hover? - call to action and copy: what are you asking users to do? is it tempting? This dictates size and location...

With so many variables, the only way to optimize is thorough A/B testing. Cycle through messaging, placement, size... collect data and optimize upon that.

Looking for inspiration? Visit the companies listed above: they are industry leaders in funnel and conversion optimization. Here are two examples from LivingSocial & Groupon. Notice how each call to action has large & colorful buttons, clear messaging and conveys urgency:

LOLapps: Reaches 22% of Facebook Users

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Never heard of LOLapps? Don't worry - most of their 44,000,000 active monthly users probably haven't either.

LOLapps enables users to easily create custom Facebook Apps using their tools. The basic application templates are currently quizzes and gifts (with more robust gaming templates on the way). So while you have likely not heard of LOLapps (as you have heard of Slide or RockYou) - you have likely encountered a gift or taken a quiz that was built using LOLapps. In fact, they now reach 22% of Facebook users (44m monthly).

Yesterday I wrote about Facebook's Toop Developers by monthly reach. LOLapps doesn't appear in those reports because they do not show up as the developer of each application. Their 44,000,000 monthly uniques though would put them on par with Zynga at the #1 spot. As an example, take a look of one of their top Apps: "What Sex in the City Character are You?"

Nearly 200,000 users - which is a big number. But to reach 44m, you begin to realize how many long-tail quizzes and gifts have been created!

Read more about LOLapps on: - LOLapps.com - ReadWriteWeb - InsideFacebook

LivingSocial Now 3rd Largest Facebook Developer (Behind Zynga & RockYou)

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The top four developers on Facebook have three very recognizable names... and one you probably are familiar with by product - but not by name: LivingSocial (whom I have covered in recent weeks):

#1. Zynga: 40,000,000+ monthly active Facebook users #2. RockYou: 40,000,000 monthly active Facebook users #3. LivingSocial: ~27,500,000 monthly active Facebook users #4. Slide: ~25,000,000 monthly active Facebook users The trends are as remarkable as the numbers (consider that 20,000,000 actives represents 10% of all Facebook!).

Zynga is growing steadily; RockYou has stabilized and Slide has dipped. Meanwhile, the LivingSocial growth rates are phenomenal. The below chart is over one month's time:

It will be interesting to see if LivingSocial supplants Zynga at the #1 spot and where / when the growth flattens.

The full charts are shown on InsideFacebook.com. I encourage you to take a look because it puts the velocity of InsideSocial's growth in perspective.