I read as much as I can to improve my writing. When I saw a post recommending a some books on the psychology of selling (an area I’ve been meaning to learn) by a blogger that I respect and read regularly, I decided to click the affiliate links and make finally make it a priority.

I checked out the product pages and quickly decided  to buy the books. I wanted to sign in and here’s what grabbed my attention.

Amazon Sign-In Call to Action

What’s wrong with this?

I’ve come to the site pre-sold by an affiliate link and I want to sign in so I can get my book. Chances are, most visitors entering the site by affiliate links are more interested in buying than browsing.

Amazon is known for getting usability right. I got stuck on the words sign in displayed prominently at the top of the page, but I didn’t want to be taken away to personalized recommendations.

Of course the place to sign in is the Buy it Now box,  but website usability is all about removing the little bumps that make visitors pause.

How would I fix this?

A simple change in the copy from Sign in to get personalized recommendations to Get personalized recommendations would have helped me.

A more sophisticated solution would be to show visitors who enter the site by affiliate links a different call to action that doesn’t mention personalized recommendations.

Amazon Usability Stumble is a post from: Damon Gudaitis