I won’t submit (on your website or mine!)
I’ve never been a fan of the Submit button on websites.
I mean, check it out in your thesaurus. ‘Submit’ means capitulate; defer; give in; put up with; yield; surrender. Jeez! Hardly the warm, fuzzy Call to Action (CTA) you’re going for, right?
When I see the word ‘submit’ I always think of wrestling. I grew up in the days of Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks – yeah, yeah, I’m old, look them up – and they did their fair share of submitting during their career. For a laugh, on rainy Saturdays me and my two sisters used to recreate their wrestling bouts at home. Well, it started off as a laugh but usually turned pretty vicious – unless it was your turn to be referee.
But it’s not childhood trauma that makes me dislike the ‘submit’ button. The word is so damned cold, harsh, unfriendly and unengaging. Everything you DON’T want your CTA button to be.
It also doesn’t give you a clue what you’re letting yourself in for. Thing is, you know where you are with online buttons that ask you to ‘Sign up for free monthly tips’ or ‘Register now’ or ‘Join our community’. And doesn’t that sound more friendly and inviting? You can even be a bit playful with your CTA buttons to reflect your brand personality – something I’m personally all for.
Still not convinced? Well check out this Hubspot study that showed people who used ‘submit’ buttons on their website landing page got lower conversion rates than those who had CTA buttons with alternative wording.
Still want your potential clients and customers to submit?
* Want help with some friendly words for your website? Get in touch