Do you have a call to action on your web pages (aka The Banana Rule)?

If you want users to take action on the web page content, add a "banana" - something that makes it obvious what the user is supposed to do.

For example, if your page is selling software, make it easy for your users to make a purchase. People don't have a lot of time to read your entire page and find the right link, so it is important to grab their attention by using a "banana".

Why do we call it "banana rule"?

How would you get a monkey pay attention to something? You could lure them by tempting him with a banana. Once we have the monkeys attention focused on the banana, they will try to get their hands on it regardless of the barriers on the way.

Figure: If the monkey can see the banana, they will do whatever it takes to get it

This is how the "banana rule" should be applied:

❌ Figure: Bad example – The "Points+Pay" red button takes the attention over the red "Go" button, which should be the "banana"

So, remember most pages need a "banana" to get them to where you want them. "Bananas" are big, simple and stand out from the rest of the page.

✅ Figure: Good example - SSW always have a good "banana"