# Download text link turned into a blue button: about +100% downloads

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Homepage (SaaS)
- Elements: Cta design
- Date shared: 2006-07
- Test run by: [Patrick McKenzie](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/patrick-mckenzie/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://www.kalzumeus.com/2006/07/29/10-minute-tweaks-to-boost-your-conversion/
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/patio11-bcc-image-download-button/

Patrick McKenzie replaced Bingo Card Creator's plain free-trial text link with a blue button image and reported roughly double the conversion rate to trial downloads. This was a before/after change, not a split test. It was published on the Kalzumeus blog in 2006.

## Result

**about +100% downloads**

- Conversion to trial download: about +100%, as stated by the author.
- No visitor counts, test length or significance were shared for this change.
- The author generally left each tweak live for two to five weekdays before judging it.

## Control

The free trial was offered through an understated text link on the site.

## Variant

A graphical button that looked clickable, read "Download / Free Trial" on two lines, and was coloured blue to stand out against the orange, yellow and white site.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- A button that looks like a button tells visitors at a glance that they can click it.
- Plain, specific text (download, free trial) removes any doubt about what happens next.
- A contrasting colour made the main action hard to miss on a busy page.

## Caveats

Sequential before/after change on a tiny, new one-person business in 2006, not a split test, as the author says. Bingo Card Creator was downloadable desktop software at the time, not SaaS.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we turn our main trial or sign-up link into a clear, high-contrast button with plain text, then more visitors will start a trial because the next step is obvious.
- Primary metric: Trial starts (or sign-ups) per visitor
- Guardrail: Trial-to-paid conversion
- Guardrail: Bounce rate on the sign-up page
- Who should test it: SaaS founders whose main call to action is still a text link or blends into the page. Most modern sites already use a clear button, so expect far less than a doubling.

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Credit: Patrick McKenzie ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/patio11-bcc-image-download-button/).
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.