Red text link beat blue link and banner: +53.13% click-through
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsChanging a homepage text link from blue to red raised click-through to Beamax's outlet site by 53.13%, and the red link also beat a banner version.
Beamax, a Dutch maker of projection screens, ran this A/B test itself, and it was published as a VWO case study. The metric is clicks only, not sales.
- Click-through to the outlet site: +53.13% for the red link over the blue link.
- The red banner also beat the blue link, but lost to the plain red link.
- Early on the banner led; the red link only pulled ahead once results settled.
- Only clicks were measured, so the effect on outlet sales is unknown.
The change
The outlet link above the product images changed from blue to red.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
Just above the product images, a standard blue text link read 'Great deals on brand new and ex-demo screens here' and pointed to a separate site for ex-demo and one-off items.
Variant
Variant 1 showed the same link in red. Variant 2 turned it into a red banner. The red text link won.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Red stands out against a page where blue links look like ordinary navigation.
- A banner may read as an ad, which visitors tend to skip, while a text link reads as useful content.
- The link copy promised deals, so making it more visible was enough to draw clicks.
Caveats: The metric is clicks to the outlet site, not purchases. Sample size, duration and significance level were not shared, and the case study is undated.
Who ran it
Beamax ran this test for Beamax and published the results (VWO case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Beamax →
How to run this test on your store
- Hypothesis
- If we make our promo link a contrasting color instead of the default link blue, then more visitors will click it because it stands out without looking like an ad.
- Primary metric
- Click-through rate on the promo link
- Guardrails
- Sales from clicked traffic
- Clicks on main product links
- Homepage bounce rate
- Who should test it
- Sites that want to steer some homepage traffic to a deals area, outlet or clearance section. If the link competes with your main products, watch that the extra clicks don't come at the cost of full-price sales.
Questions
Does link color affect click-through rate?
It did here. Changing a promo link from blue to red raised clicks by 53.13%, likely because it stood out from normal links.
Is a banner better than a text link?
Not in this test. A red banner lost to a plain red link, possibly because visitors skip things that look like ads.
Why not stop a test as soon as one version leads?
Early leads often fade. In this test the banner led at first, but the red link won once results stabilized.
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