One piece of copy found on virtually every web page (or it should be, since your website should have an ezine sign-up form on every page except sales pages!) is the call-to-action aka “submit button.” But the last thing in the world it should say is “submit”!

Let’s look at the definition of submit from The Free Dictionary:

submit–to yield or surrender (oneself) to the will or authority of another

Not exactly a positive thing, is it?

Submit is a holdover from the days of DOS programming but the word itself has negative connotations for most people.  In fact, it’s really hard to think of any PG-13 rated instance where “submit” has a positive feeling associated with it.

And it can take a big toll on your conversions. According to Marketing Sherpa, “submit” has gotten fewer clicks than any other copy in just about every time they’ve tested button copy.

Instead, you should replace submit with copy that either reinforces what you want the the visitor to do and/or the benefit they’ll get from clicking. For example…

• Click Here to Get Your Free Report Now!
• Subscribe Me Now!
• Order Your Sanity-Saving Guide Today!

It’s a little change that can add up to a big difference–especially over time.

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