Every blogger will tell you that collecting email addresses from the start is very important. Neil Patel stated that it’s very hard to get 100,000 visitors per month to your blog without having consistent return visitors through email marketing. You have several easy to install web forms that make collecting email addresses and sending follow-ups very easy. However, visitors no longer trust newsletters the way they did at one point. Why? The answer is very simple and it involves being unable to achieve the trust factor with your visitor. Because posting information is so easy online, many people are publishing low quality content that doesn’t provide value to the user. This creates a trust gap and people are reluctant to subscribe to blogs. It’s that simple! In short…
- Low quality content
- Spam
- Frequently emailing
- etc
These have all contributed to a drop in email subscriptions through the years. Now only a handful of blogs benefit from subscribers while the majority are stuck having to build reputation, which can take years. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t boost conversions through split testing landing pages. Before you give up on collecting email subscribers, I recommend incorporating the following testing strategies.
Adding the Word FREE
The word FREE on landing pages will increase your conversion rate by 15% almost right away. You’ve probably noticed that several companies are now providing free trials and this is because they know the power of letting a visitor try something without committing to monthly subscriptions. We are now in a time that getting something of value for free doesn’t really exist, but if you can provide both value and substance for nothing upfront, you will enjoy higher conversions. However, remember, adding free when sending an email message can have the opposite effect. Most of the time, a message with the word free will be flagged and sent to spam because mail clients are well aware of spammers and the strategies they use to entice people.
Here are some excellent phrases that show high ROI…
- Start for Free
- Start a Free Trial
- Free Information Available
- Start Learning for Free
Obviously, split test your pages using different phrases to find the highest performing landing page phrase.
Add a Video
Visitors are sometimes nervous about providing email information because they simply don’t understand what you’re offering. That’s why an explanation video has been known to increase opt-in rates. If you really want to win over a visitor and increase conversions, it’s important to show them you are offering something of value. This strategy works even better if you’re solving a common problem within your niche. Here’s something else that’s important,
Your visitors are from all over the world and some of them don’t understand text as well as an explanation video. Many people also don’t like taking the time to read text, but will love to sit back and watch a video. Several of the email service providers make it very easy to incorporate videos to your landing pages because they understand the value of videos for ROI.
Don’t Ask For Too Much
A few weeks back, I wrote a post on optimizing your landing pages and include this very point. Don’t ask for information you don’t require because you’ll push the visitor away. If you are offering an eBook, then don’t ask for address, phone number, etc. Usually, you should only have 2 important field: name and email address. The name field so you can address them by their name when sending messages and email so you can get your message delivered to them. If you think about it, you only need these 2 fields to achieve whatever objective you’re trying to. As mentioned…
You’re living in a time that online trust is at its highest so don’t push visitors away by asking them for unnecessary information, or getting too personal.
Here are the highest converting form fields…
- Full name
- Email address
- Revenue
- Address (only credit offers)
- Phone number (only credit offers)
Give People Value or Proof
With so much garbage available online, it’s no wonder that if you prove to people the value in your product, your conversions will sky rocket. Visitors don’t want to waste time and money on products that provide no end results. This is why I recommend adding screenshots of the end results. To streamline the whole process, it’s a good idea to create a quick walk-through video to add to your landing page. Remember two important things…
First, people are always looking to solve a problem and are more than happy to subscribe to any program that provides one. Next, show them how valuable your offer is by providing absolute proof and add a quick time limit. I’ve found that showing value and adding an expiration date is a great way to increase conversions by 24%.
Think about this strategy like this…
When are you the most enticed to join a problem or take advantage of an offer? If you’re like me, then it’s when you know the system works and provides EXACTLY what you’re looking for quickly.