How Changing Link Color Improved My Conversions

Link colors, to the general public, are insignificant. That's because to most people blue = link and not blue = weird.

But there's no law that says all links have to be blue. Webmasters just don't take the time to experiment with link color. However, a couple months ago, I changed my site's link color from blue to red, with positive results.

Why Red Links?

For some reason, I remember blue links becoming red after clicking on them. After clicking on a couple links on another site, I find this isn't true anymore -- was it all in my head?

Anyway, my line of thinking at the time was like so:

1. Everyone is accustomed to blue links.
2. Changing a link's color will get readers to double-take, putting more focus on the link.
3. If I make the link red, readers will think they've already seen the link, feel curious as to where they had seen it, and click.
4. After clicking, they will see a novel site/page.
5. This novelty will do something psychologically to the reader (e.g., spur cognitive dissonance or generate interest)

In short, conversions should increase.

What I Found after Changing Link Color

So I ran red links for a couple months. I found an increase in link-clicking, which corresponded to a decrease in bounce rate. Copywriting course sales went up a bit, though I cannot logically attribute this to the increase in link-clicking.

The overall increase was 5%. This increase may not be statistically significant (I didn't check), but it's still an objective increase.

As a holder of a degree in statistics, I cannot justify the conclusion that "red links improves conversions," though I certainly can see how it might.

Will this benefit your site?

I think it depends on to things:

1. Are my results merely coincidental?
2. Are your visitors internet-savvy?

The first point is self-explanatory.

The second point can be explained like this:

Internet users who are less savvy (e.g., the elderly or low-SES readers) are more likely to click on blue links. Why? Because blue links are recognized as links. Perhaps links of other colors will not be recognized as links. If they are not recognized as links, they will not be clicked. Get the idea?

Anyway, anecdotal as it may be, I hope my experiment convinces some other webmasters to do the same. Let me know if you get similar results.