'Check availability' instead of 'Book a room': +17% engagement
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsGoogle changed the button on its hotel booking module from "Book a room" to "Check availability" and saw engagement rise 17%.
Google ran the test and shared it in a 2017 Google I/O talk on UX writing; it was published as a Growth.Design case study.
- Booking engagement: up 17%, per Growth.Design citing Google I/O 2017.
- Engagement is not defined further, so it likely means clicks on the button rather than completed bookings.
- No sample size or confidence level was shared.
The change
Only the button copy changes, from booking to checking.
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The hotel module's button read "Book a room".
Variant
The same button read "Check availability". Nothing else is reported as changed.
Why it likely won
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- "Check" sounds like exploring, while "Book" sounds like committing, so the click feels safer.
- Searchers at this step often want to see dates and prices before deciding.
- The new copy matches what actually happens next, which is a look at availability.
Caveats: Reported second-hand from a 2017 talk, with engagement undefined and no sample shared. It is a travel search product, so the lesson applies to SaaS and lead-gen by analogy.
Who ran it
Google ran this test for Google's hotel search and booking module and published the results (Growth.Design case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Google →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we reword our main button from a commitment ("Buy", "Book") to an exploratory step that matches what happens next, then more visitors will click because it feels less risky.
- Primary metric
- Button click-through rate
- Guardrails
- Completed bookings or sign-ups
- Drop-off on the next step
- Lead quality
- Who should test it
- Lead-gen and SaaS teams whose first CTA leads to a step that still isn't a commitment, such as a quote, demo slot or pricing check. If the button really does charge or commit the user, softer copy can mislead.
Questions
Does softer CTA copy always win?
No. It tends to help when the next step really is low-commitment.
If it hides a payment or a hard commitment, you may gain clicks and lose trust.
Should I measure clicks or completions?
Both. A copy change can lift clicks while completions stay flat, so track the final conversion as well.
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