How to use this Page

In Part One of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing I covered elements one (A Specific Opt-in Landing Page) and two (The Sign-up ). In Part Two, elements three (Convey the Benefit) and four (Your Ethical Bribe - The Free Gift) were discussed.

Now on to elements five, six, and seven:

5. Clarity

Putting it all together, clarity rules. Your opt-in page should be an easy read and easy to understand. And, it should answer all potential questions.

In addition, the sign-up wording you use should be visible and near the top of the page. And, what you’re offering, including the benefits and freebie, needs to be clearly stated. Bullet points are a good way to give the visitor a quick look at all your offering.

If a visitor has to guess or search for what you’re offering, or wonders what you’re about, you’ve lost that subscriber.

6. Images

Images are an important element to a website and landing page. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, people are becoming more and more ‘visual.’ This means images are a needed component of your opt-in page. But, the image MUST be relevant to what you’re offering. The visitor needs to be able to quickly make the connection, otherwise it may be distracting.

Along with this, you need to keep your landing page simple, clear, and easy to navigate. This means don’t clutter it with too many images.

Having your picture, along with your logo, or other relevant image should be sufficient.

The purpose of having your picture on the landing page is that people connect with people. The feel reassured when they see an actual person – it helps foster trust.

7. The Mailing List

You might have heard that only 1% of first time visitors will buy a product.

The first reason for this is because first time visitors don’t know you, which means they don’t trust you. Why should they buy from you?

The second reason is that during an initial visit, your visitor may not have the time to spend browsing your site for information that will entice him to make the decision to purchase your book or product.

This is where your specific opt-in page and sign-up text comes in. It gives the visitor a quick and easy decision-making nudge. If conveys the benefits and highlights the valuable free gift the visitor will get for taking action. With everything in place, including a clear call-to-action, you’ve made the visitor’s sign-up decision even easier.

The mailing list is your connection and opportunity to develop an ongoing relationship with the subscriber. It’s this relationship that will convert your reader into a customer or client.

If you haven't read Parts 1 and 2 yet, go to:


~~~~~

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE:

Speedy Web Video

Video marketing is one of the most effective conversion tools. Speedy Web Videos is an ecourse that teaches you, with step-by-step instructions, to create your own videos. Check it out!


~~~~~
MORE ONLINE MARKETING


Beyond Book Sales Income: Book Marketing and Diversification
Creating Content: 10 Online Repurposing Formats
4 Simple Steps to Web Videos That Sell

~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi

Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/

Add a Comment

I'm back with Part Two of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing List.

Part One covered elements one (A Specific Opt-in Landing Page) and two (The Sign-up). Now it's on to elements three and four:

3. Convey the Benefit

Simply having the sign-up wording in place isn’t enough. According to MarketingExperiments.com, you need to provide the visitor with a benefit. The benefit is the incentive to say YES to the sign-up step.

People are getting more and more gun-shy about opting into yet another newsletter or ezine. You need to give them something of value for their valuable address. Think of it as an exchange.

With the above in mind, you need to word your sign-up text to convey the benefit. You might use something like, “Sign up now for instant access to the powerful ebook, 10 Steps to Increase Your Website Traffic.”

This wording not only establishes the ‘benefit,’ it also gives a time element: “now” and “free instant access.”

The landing page should also list what’s included in the free gift and the value of the newsletter. Using bullet points is recommended.

4. Your Ethical Bribe - The Free Gift

To make the sign-up even more appealing, you should change the benefit to: “Sign up now for free instant access to 10 Steps to Increase Your Website Traffic.

This is your ‘ethical bribe.’ Obviously, you will need to make the free gift relevant to your site and valuable to your target market. And, you want the visitor to know that your offer, your opt-in, is free. You don’t want him wondering about this – make it clear.

The reason for ‘sweetening the pot’ and making the offer as irresistible as possible is because you need to build your mailing list. You need that visitor to say YES. You need conversion.

To get that YES, you’re benefit and free gift need to be valuable.

So, how do you decide if your gift is valuable enough to grab that email address?

The answer to this question is easy: you know who your target market is.

Think about it . . . what does your target market want? What would you want?

If your site and product is about writing, guess what…your visitors would probably appreciate an e-book on that topic, maybe a ‘how to write guide.’ Or, if you’re into marketing…offer an e-book of marketing tips and guidance. If your site is about cooking, offer recipes or an instructional cooking e-book.

The idea is to establish yourself as an expert, someone your reader wants to learn from. They need to want what you’re offering, whether it’s for instructional value, information, entertainment, or other.

Now for a word of caution: make sure your new subscriber is able to get his free gift. Occasionally, you may come across a site that you’ve signed up to, specifically for the free gift, and then had trouble with the link or the download itself. This isn’t a good way to start a relationship. Most subscribers will get annoyed and unsubscribe to the site.

If you haven't read Part 1, go here:

For Part 3, stop by next Monday!

~~~~~



RECOMMENDED RESOURCE:

Design Your Own eBook Cover in 10 Easy Steps - it includes step-by-step directions for creating your own ebook also!

This is a great tool for creating your ethical bribe.

Check it out: http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/books-on-marketing/design-your-own-ebook-cover-in-10-easy-steps/



 ~~~~~
MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Creating Images – Simple and Quick
SEO and Website Ranking – Inside Website Visit Lengths
Using Video for Marketing

~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/

~~~~~

Add a Comment

This is the first part of 7 Elements of an Effective Landing Page Designed to Increase Your Mailing List. Since it's a bit long, it will be divided into three parts.

Off we go.

The nitty-gritty of your landing page is to create an effective, engaging, and appealing website that is designed with focus and that will motivate the visitor to say YES to your opt-in or other call-to-action.

Getting traffic is great, but if that traffic doesn’t convert, doesn’t take action on your site, there’s really no point to it. Your opt-in landing page should convert visitors into subscribers.

Here are seven elements to an effective opt-in landing page.

1. A Specific Opt-in Landing Page

With attention spans dwindling and competition increasing, the main goal of your
opt-in landing page is to get email addresses that will convert into sales.

You might be wondering why a separate opt-in landing page is a necessary step. The answer is: distraction.

Most visitors and readers today are scanners. There’s just too much information online for people to read everything. And, in addition to this, attention spans are shrinking.

If you bring a visitor to your blog for the purpose of having her sign-up for a newsletter, she may first glance over your interesting post and scan for more information. Maybe she’ll glance over all the gadget/widgets you have on your sidebars. This is distracting and dilutes focus.

When you drive traffic for the purpose of increasing your mailing list, your intent, your call-to-action, needs to be deliberate and clear, with NO distractions. 

This is the purpose of a specific opt-in landing page.

2. The Sign-up

According to a number of marketers, the most essential words on your site are: SIGN UP or other text prompting the visitor to subscribe to your newsletter.

Getting subscribers onto your mailing list is the first and most important element of an effective website. It should be the purpose of your opt-in landing page.

The sign-up text is the building blocks of your empire. It is the link to developing a relationship with the visitors to your site.


Stop by next Monday for elements 3 and 4.

~~~~~


RECOMMENDED RESOURCE: 

To learn the ‘ins and outs’ of creating and building an Author Online Presence check out the ecourses Karen offers:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/






~~~~~
MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Book Marketing – 9 Quick Tips for Being a Guest Blogger on Blogging Sites
Commenting on Blogs Still Works
What is an Author Platform and How Do You Create It?

~~~~~
To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi
Multi-award Winning Author, Freelance/Ghostwriter, Editor, Online Marketer, Affiliate Marketer
Writer’s Digest Website of the Week, June 25, 2012
“This site from Karen Cioffi should stand as a model for other freelance writers.”
~ Brian A. Klems, Online Editor for Writer’s Digest

Karen Cioffi Professional Writing Services
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/karen-cioffi-writing-services/

Author Online Presence and Book Marketing Ecourse:
http://karencioffifreelancewriter.com/book-marketing-ecourses/

~~~~~

Add a Comment

It's Summer 2010 Guest Article Wednesday, and this one is important for all us writers - at least those of us who want to sell our books, e-books, and services.

Why You May Need a Squeeze Page to Make the Most of Your Article Marketing Campaigns
By Suzanne Lieurance

Article marketing is a great way to generate traffic to your website or blog. And, if that's ALL you're after, then all you need to do is write quality articles that will appeal to a specific (niche) market. Then, in the resource box at the end of each article, include some compelling reason for readers to click on a link that will take them directly to your website.

However, if you're like most people who are using article marketing as a way to generate new customers or clients - and not JUST more traffic - you might be better off leading readers back to a squeeze page instead of your website or blog.

I know what you're wondering - Why is that?

Well, the reason is this. Generally, people don't buy from a website or blog on the first visit. They must get to know, like, and trust the business person who owns that site before they feel comfortable and confident enough to purchase products and/or services from him online. This comfort and confidence doesn't usually happen instantly. It takes time.

The way most people get to know, like, and trust someone who is doing business on the internet is by signing up for this person's mailing list.

Okay, so now you're thinking - But I have an opt-in box on my website or blog. People can sign up for my mailing list right there.

But here's the problem with that. There are probably OTHER things visitors can get distracted by at your website or blog. You might have interesting and informative articles for them to read, an engaging video for them to watch, or even a short audio they can listen to. Before they know it, they've finished visiting your site without ever opting in to your list. And they may never return to the site, so you've lost them as a customer or client forever.

But with a squeeze page, your visitors won't get distracted because all a squeeze page is designed to do is get people to sign up for your list.

If article marketing is driving more traffic to your sites, yet you aren't getting more sign ups for your mailing list, consider a squeeze page and see if you don't get better results.

For an example of a squeeze page, go to http://www.fearlessfreelancewriting.com and don't forget to sign up for my mailing list so you'll start receiving my free newsletter, Build Your Business Write. AFTER you've done that, check out my website at http://www.workingwriterscoach.com to read more informative articles, watch interesting videos, and get other great resources to help build your business.
 
Suzanne Lieurance is the author of 22 (at last count) published books, a freelance writer, and the Working Writer's Coach.

~~~~~~~~~
You can also check out these programs by Suzanne:

The Children's Writers' Coaching Club

Write More, Sell More, Make More Money Than EVER in 2010 Coaching Program

I highly recommend these programs, and I am a member of both. If you do take my advice and join one or both of Suzanne's programs, please mention my name--I am an affiliate of hers. But, I’d like you to know that I only recommend these programs because I belong to them, and I know their value if you're serious about writing.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Check out these related articles:

7 Steps to Writing for Article Directories



Benefits of Creating

3 Comments on Do You Need a Squeeze Page as a Writer?, last added: 7/22/2010

Display Comments Add a Comment