Converting Visitors into Subscribers
by Javier Salces
Published on this site: July 14th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month...
Visitor conversion is a challenge faced by every marketer.
If you're spending money to generate traffic, you want to
do everything possible to ensure that traffic isn't wasted.
This means getting more bang for your buck by convincing more
visitors to subscribe to your list.
In other words, conversion improves your return on investment
and limits the temptation of spending more money on more traffic.
If your opt-in list isn't converting as well you expected,
there are several target elements you can experiment with
to improve your opt-in rates:
- Web Copy
Is the copy on your site effective? Poorly written copy
is one of the first culprits to investigate. Start by evaluating
your headline. Is it enticing? Does it pull the reader in?
A boring headline can cause people to click away without
even reading the rest of the page. Check your main copy
as well.
Do you explain the benefits of list membership? People always
want to know what's in it for them. Make sure you offer
them plenty of reasons to sign up.
- Incentives
Incentives provide additional benefits and additional reasons
to join your list. If you aren't doing so already, offer
a unique course, e-book or piece of software for free as
a bonus to subscribers. Many times this will convert hesitant
visitors into subscribers.
People love freebies and they also can't resist satisfying
their curiosity.
- Make it easy to join
Have you placed your subscription box in a prominent place
on the page? Some list owners always place their subscription
box at the top of the page, while others place it at the
very bottom. Either position can work well, but if you have
a lot of copy to wade through, you might consider placing
the box within the body copy at logical points. Remind your
readers why they are there and what action you want them
to take.
- Watch out for 'bugs'
Sometimes software can fail for no apparent reason. Your
server might be experiencing a database issue, your site
might be temporarily unreachable or your autoresponder script
may be malfunctioning.
It's always a good idea to do periodic tests by subscribing
to your own list to check that everything still runs smoothly.
Ultimately, conversion comes down to offering prospects
enough benefits to make joining your list an obvious choice.
Your copy should get them excited, motivated and curious.
Make it as clear as possible that you are offering them
valuable information for free.
If your copy is too much of a sales pitch and short on benefits,
the visitor will have a hard time finding a compelling reason
to subscribe. People are wary of hype these days and too much
focus on the "buy my product!" mindset raises a
lot of suspicion. Most prospects see that and immediately
think "this site will spam me with a bunch of offers
I don't want", and quickly click off the page.
Treat your opt-in page as an honest invitation to start a
mutually beneficial relationship, and you'll see your conversion
rates soar.
Javier Salces is an experienced online marketer
who runs a successful viral marketing web site with thousands
of members. Feel free to submit your own articles at:http://opt-inleads.com/cgi-bin/vp/articles.cgi
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