Dual CTAs split the click
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Two filled buttons of equal weight split paid intent before the offer lands. “Start free” next to “Talk to sales” is not a choice architecture. It is two money paths and zero hierarchy. One primary should own the fold. Everything else is a text link. Evergreen how-to: CTA hierarchy.
Equal pills are a leak, not a feature
Teams add a second filled button because sales wants a demo and product wants a trial. Both win the mock. The visitor who paid for one job sees two starts. NN/g’s 3-step CTA is verb + what happens + why it is worth the tap — one of those, not two in the same fill.
SiteRevenue scores this as CTA (0–10, higher = healthier). The sample scores CTA 4/10 for dual primaries side by side. That wireframe is illustrative, not a customer story. Catalog findings you may see: dual primary CTAs, or a buried primary under a “Learn more.”
The free mini audit lists titles. The $19 page file ranks the leak, shows the capture (fail-open), and puts a this-week fix in the action box.
The job has to survive the button
Hierarchy is not decoration. If the hero promised a free grade, the filled button cannot say “Book a product tour.” That is message match leaking through the CTA. Form submit must match the hero verb. A mid-path switch is a bait-and-switch even when the product is honest.
Other splits that look “complete” in a Figma file:
- Nav “Get started” in the same fill as the hero.
- Three pricing cards, three filled buttons, no recommended path.
- Dual sticky bar on a phone, clipped by iOS Safari, covering form errors.
Check 4–6 on the checklist. None of them are Core Web Vitals. We do not invent CWV.
How to ship this week
| Change | Effort |
|---|---|
| One filled primary; demote sales to a text link | S |
| Match form submit to the hero verb | S |
One mobile sticky; respect safe-area-inset | M |
| Outline the nav CTA if the hero already owns start | S |
Then confirm the public URL is live and re-audit the same site. Do not re-run identical HTML to see if the model changed its mind.
What this is not
- Not a brand-color debate. Fill vs ghost is hierarchy, not palette.
- Not Ads OAuth. We score public HTML. We do not ingest campaigns.
- Not a six-week CRO program. Demote the second pill this afternoon.
- Not a guarantee that one button raises revenue. Letters and leak score are prioritization. Impact bands stay estimates.
Read next
- Matching guide: CTA hierarchy that converts
- Related: Hero clarity · Form friction · Mobile conversion
- Sample report · Free grade
More notes: A slogan is not a hero · The form is the leak · All posts