How To Build Effective Buttons On Your Website
By Nine Hive Digital
Many don’t pay much attention to buttons while building their website. They’re an afterthought. With the copy and visuals taking priority, buttons should have equal importance. After all, buttons are what connects your website. They hold it together and provide your visitors a pathway to where you want them to end up.
The main aspect when it comes to buttons on your website is whether they clearly stand out or not. Believe it or not, most people don’t read all of the words on your website. They skim through to try and find information that is relevant to them. Your visitors came to your site looking for something and it’s your job to provide it to them. Buttons create a pathway for them to find what they want in the quickest time possible.
Focus on the colour.
Make sure your button stands out from the rest of the content on your page. Choose a different colour that’s usually only reserved for your buttons and nothing else. That way, they stick out amidst everything else.
Provide enough spacing.
Pay attention to the spacing between the button and everything else and include enough space between them so that the button doesn’t get lost in a sea of information. Place your button on a separate line.
Text links are good, buttons are better.
Even if you feel as if there needs to be a link included in your copy, it’s still better to add a button if the link is within your site.
Hover effects for feedback.
It’s good to program the button to change into a different colour when the visitor hovers over it and clicks it. It adds to the confirmation that it is clickable for the visitor.
Call to action.
The text in the button should be clear as to what the visitor should expect when they click it. If it’s a video, then, “Watch.” If it’s more information about a certain topic, then, “Learn More.” Being clear about the action that the visitor is taking helps nudge them towards following through.
Heading above button.
A lot of the times, it’s beneficial to include a simple headline that quickly emphasizes where they are headed when they click on the button. The text style should be different than the body paragraph for this; larger and perhaps a different colour.
Buttons are an often overlooked aspect of a website, yet large companies, such as Facebook, invest an ample amount of resources behind tweaking their buttons to increase user retentionr rates. So, it’s only fitting that you should focus on them on your website as well.