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Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to look at numerous compositions and actual web pages. One of the terms I’ve often found myself saying is”More Buttony.” “More Buttony” is powerful stuff. I’ve seen it dramatically increase click-through and reduce abandonment. It’s amazing how often it’s overlooked and ignored. Here’s a great example I found that prompted me to write this. It’s a screenshot from the California Court Info Ask Now Service. The primary goal of any user on this page is to access the Ask Now Service.

The user is directed to click the Ask Now button. Do you see it? I have to admit I clicked on the links first because I just assumed they would take me to the service too. Didn’t happen. The way to access the service is to click the Ask Now logo. C’mon that’s not a a button! A button has depth,boundary, maybe a shadow. And most important of all it looks clickable! This definitely needs to be more buttony. There’s a lot more that can be improved with this page such as reducing text, improving scanability, and layout, but the primary issue is asking the user to find a button that simply is not there.

So take a look at your sites and your buttons and ask yourself, “Can this be more buttony?” If the answer is yes, you’ve probably found one of the best ways to increase click-through.