3 Simple Tactics Increase Opt-In Conversions

Lately, Internet marketers have been telling me, “Ray, people don't opt-in to squeeze pages nowadays. They just don't opt-in like they used to”. Do remarks like this have you nodding in agreement?

worried.jpgFear and paranoia, with a healthy dose of spam, has made it harder to get people to opt-in. At one time, it was so easy. All you had to do was add a form that said, “Sign up here to get e-mails”, and the world would flock to your site.

People would opt-in like crazy! E-mails, e-newsletters — everything was so new and exciting. My, how things have changed. Today, we are deluged with e-mails. People are constantly changing e-mail addresses. People have multiple e-mail addresses – heck, some people even have a fake e-mail address that they never check, just to deal with all the spam.

Cutting through the clutter is a challenge. How can you make sure you are getting real opt-ins from people who will actually read the e-mails you send out?

Well, yes. There are ways to increase your opt-in conversions. These simple tactics don't take a lot of work, but they are very effective.

Try these three tactics to boost your opt-ins:

Make a stronger offer. We all know you have to give an ethical bribe to get people to opt-in – a special report, an audio, a video, a piece of software. If you just say, “Sign up to get my newsletter”, to the average reader that means, “Sign up so I can spam you.” You need to be more creative. Work harder to create a better premium to offer your subscribers. If you're offering a special report, it better be a killer special report, and not the same old crap that everybody else is offering. You need to come up with a unique angle, it needs to be well-written. Same is true of audio, video or software – it needs to be well-done, it needs to be unique – something obtainable only through you, and it needs to address a need that is in line with the desires of your readers.

Use a bigger, “responsive” HTML button. Go to my website: www.RayEdwardsCopy.com and look at the button on the subscription form on my squeeze page. Notice that it's larger than most buttons you see on subscription forms. Notice also, that when you hover your cursor over the button, the background changes color from red to green. That is a subtle, psychological hint that takes people from “Stop” to “Go!” Yeah, that's a little sillybut, in my experience, it increases conversions. I can verify this through some colleagues of mine: Michel Fortin, Eric Graham – The Conversion Doctor and Armand Morin, as well. My recommendation is that you try this kind of button, too.

Keep distractions off your opt-in pages. Take another look at my opt-in page. Do you see how clean it looks? There are no distractions to take attention away from the opt-in option. Of course, there are legal disclaimers at the bottom (right where I need them), but they are very subtle. And when you click on them, those legal notices open in small pop-up windows – after all, I want them on this page, not heading off in another direction.

While these suggestions seem very simplistic, they really work. Try them for yourself, and watch your opt-in rates soar!

Ray Edwards is a world-renowned copywriter and communications strategist, writing for some of the most powerful voices in leadership and business including New York Times bestselling authors Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen (Chicken Soup for the Soul) and Tony Robbins. Ray is a sought-after speaker and author, hosts a popular weekly podcast, and blogs at RayEdwards.com.