Buttons are call-to-action devices, so copy testing is necessary to find the word or phrase that best motivates visitors to click. For example, an earlier Website Testing Wins looked at how a different approach to button copy convinced more shoppers to start the checkout process.

When it comes to product detail pages (PDPs), add-to-cart buttons need to entice the shopper to take the first step toward buying the product by placing it in their cart. To excel at this job, these buttons must stand out on a page that’s typically content-heavy, as well as reinforce the emotional connection developing between the shopper and the product—or at least not get in the way.

With these goals in mind, an online specialty retailer first tackled the messaging on its add-to-cart button for a high-ticket product category. The control copy for the add-to-cart button—which is situated on the PDP to the right of the large product photo, and underneath the description, customer ratings scale, size chart, etc.—asked shoppers to “Select” the item, whereas the test version tried “Choose This [ITEM]” as messaging that might strengthen the shopper’s connection to their individual pick.

Test results established a new control, with “Choose This [ITEM]” button copy firing up a 14.89% lift in conversion rate and a 20.10% increase in new customer acquisition.

But the testing process didn’t stop here. Looking for the best performance possible, the marketer also wanted to see if button color would make a difference with visitors. Using its new control copy, the marketer A/B tested a bright green background against the blue control background.

This iteration—which contrasted more strongly with the rest of the content on the PDPs in this product category—produced an additional conversion lift of 9.28% and improved new customer acquisition by another 11.03%.

Buttons might not be the most glamorous elements of a website, but they certainly can pack a punch with your KPIs.