# 'Get Started Now' vs 'Start Free Trial' button: +11% clickthrough

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Landing page (SaaS)
- Elements: Cta copy
- Test run by: [MECLABS](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/meclabs/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/copywriting/cta-button-copy-reduce-clickthrough
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-get-started-now-cta-copy/

Changing a banner button from 'Start Free Trial' to 'Get Started Now' lifted clickthrough by more than 11%. MECLABS ran the test for a large global media company selling premium software to businesses, and published it on MarketingExperiments in 2014. It was one of five button phrases tested side by side.

## Result

**+11% clickthrough**

- Clickthrough rate: more than +11% for "Get Started Now" against "Start Free Trial". This is a win on clicks.
- In the same test, "Try Now" cut clickthrough by 26% against "Start Free Trial".
- The metric is button clicks. Whether more trials or sales followed was not reported.
- Sample size, duration and confidence level: not shared.

## Control

A banner along the top of the page had a button reading "Start Free Trial".

## Variant

The same banner and button, with the text changed to "Get Started Now".

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- "Get Started Now" frames the click as the first step toward using the product, which may feel more useful than "trying" it.
- Dropping "trial" may make the click feel less like entering a time-limited test run.
- It's still a click on a banner. A softer, broader phrase can draw curious clicks that don't turn into sign-ups.

## Caveats

The test measured clicks, not trial starts or revenue, and sample size, duration and confidence are not shared. It was a five-way test from around 2014.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we change our trial button from 'Start Free Trial' to 'Get Started Now', then more visitors will click because the copy frames the action as the start of using the product.
- Primary metric: Button clickthrough rate
- Guardrail: Trial starts per visitor
- Guardrail: Trial-to-paid conversion
- Guardrail: Bounce rate on the page after the click
- Who should test it: SaaS companies with a trial or sign-up button on a landing page or banner. Watch trial starts closely, since a click lift can disappear further down the funnel.

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Credit: MECLABS ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/gap-meclabs-get-started-now-cta-copy/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.