It’s no secret that if you have a website, you should be building an email list. Why? Well, once you have started building a database of subscribers, you have a bank of people you can market to again and again. What’s more, these people have actively chosen to sign up to your list, meaning that they are highly likely to be interested in what you are offering.
In this article, we are going to take a look at how to turn your website visitors into email subscribers. You might think that it’s just a case of inserting an opt-in form somewhere onto your website. However, the reality is that there’s quite a bit more to it than that. Also, there are several things you can do to improve the conversion rates and thus accelerate your efforts.
Create a great free product
One of the biggest things you need to know is that people are fussy about what they’ll subscribe to. It’s no use just saying “subscribe now for updates.” You need to give people a compelling reason as to why they should sign up and join your email list.
The easiest way of doing this is to offer a great downloadable product. This could be something like an eBook, a short report, or a PDF checklist. As an example, if you were an estate agent then you might offer something like a free guide called “The Moving House Checklist: 20 Things You Need To Do Before Moving House.” Your freebie must be something that is enticing to the visitor – and it absolutely must be of high quality.
Craft your copy carefully
If you want to know how to turn your website visitors into email subscribers, then you must understand the importance of compelling copy.
Your opt-in form should contain carefully crafted words that actually “sell” the free download to the visitor. It should explain exactly why people should opt-in and what benefit they will get by doing so. It is important that your copy is compelling and makes people want to subscribe to get hold of whatever you are offering.
Don’t forget to test out different versions of your copy to see what works best. Even minuscule tweaks to your text can sometimes dramatically increase your conversion rate.
Carefully consider opt-in form type and placement
There are several places you can put an opt-in form on your website or blog. Three of the most common locations are on the homepage, on the sidebar, and at the bottom of pages/blog posts. Besides, you might consider having a pop-up opt-in form that appears automatically after the visitor has spent a certain amount of time on the page. You could also introduce an exit splash to capture the details of people who leave your website without buying anything.
As with your copy, it’s well worth testing out different locations and opt-in form types to find out which maximises your conversions.
When you’ve started building your email list.
Now that we’ve shown you how to turn your website visitors into email subscribers, it’s also worth mentioning a few words about what to do after you’ve started building your email list.
The biggest mistake that people make with email marketing is to bombard their subscribers with regular offers and sales promotions. Of course, you should be selling to them, but you should also be providing some value. It’s a huge error to treat your email subscribers like a cash machine. These people have taken the time to subscribe, so make sure you treat them with respect and regularly provide useful content that will benefit them in some way. Do that, and you’ll be much more likely to succeed with email marketing.
