What is an opt-in landing page?
An opt-in landing page is meant to do one thing and one thing only. To capture the name and email of the person that lands on the page. In short, a landing page is a direct call to action.
How to build your opt-in page
Let’s take a look at the info-graphic and see what an opt-in page that converts should look like. We’ll take a look at it piece by piece, paying special attention to the placement of each element. Everything above number 6 should be above the fold, meaning people shouldn’t have to scroll down the page to enter their name, email and click the submit button.
Opt-in Page Elements:
- Logo– Let people know who you are and what your company is. No one likes the business behind the lead magnet to be a secret. Conversion is based on making a connection.
- Navigation– Include About and Contact. The about can just take them further down the page to that section and the contact can open up a new browser tab with a contact form. If you have testimonials add that as well to open in a new browser tab.
- Focal Point– You’ll want to add a video or product image. A good video with a catchy call to action will create instant engagement. Hearing your voice and seeing your face can make an immediate connection thus increasing conversions.
- The Call to Action area– This is where you’ll see the compelling headline and form for leads to enter their name and email. You may need to tweak the headline and sub text to find out what converts the best.
- Headline– This is thee most important piece of the entire page! It should grab the user’s attention immediately and clearly describe the offer. Headline example: “5 Steps to Better SEO”
- Subtext– You need to back up your headline claim with something like this: “Be found in Google searches”
- Form– Make it simple. It most cases you’ll only need to ask for first name and email address.
- The button– The button text should describe what happens when the lead clicks the button such as Download Now, or Watch the Video, or something like Get Found by Google
- Privacy disclaimer– this gives some short details about the spam policy but instead of using the word spam use a phrase like this, “We guarantee 100% privacy. Your information will not be shared.” Using the word spam statistically has less conversions, go figure!
- Benefits– Make sure you list benefits and not features. Benefits sell and features backup the benefits claim. Use benefits to describe the problem you are solving.
- If you have taken up enough space you can add another call to action button that might say “Get Started Now”. If the text for the benefits is very small then a second call to action button might be too much for the page.
- About You– Don’t be afraid to add your photo and tell people who’s behind this free lead magnet. This will help make a connection and it will give the offer credibility. You will see a higher conversion rate because your dream clients will be able to make a connection to you.
- In the Footer- Add a navigation menu there as well to include a link to the contact page, privacy policy, and terms of conditions making sure they all open up in a new browser window or tab. We never want to take anyone away from the actual landing page.
Page Tips:
- Keep the page to one overall tone and use a bright “pop” color for the call to action button. Use colors that speak to your dream clients.
- Add white space in between each sections of the page. (Referring to space above and below the benefits element.)
- No distractions! No sidebars, no chat pop-ups, no cool on page features like snow falling.
- Make sure any images you use are relevant to the content you are giving away
- Videos convert best but that doesn’t mean a good image won’t convert
- Make more than one copy of this page and change some things up and run one for 2 weeks, then run the other for the next 2 weeks using the same promotion strategy and see which converts the best.
- You will forever be fine tuning!
How do I actually build an opt-in landing page?
There are quite a few tools to choose from and these are the 4 that I have found the best to recommend.
- Lead Pages-Monthly fee and integrates nicely with WordPress. There are many templates to choose from and you have very little control over the customization. For instance you wouldn’t usually be able to change the background color but you’d be able to edit the text but you wouldn’t be able to add another text box, etc. It has limitations and is meant for those that don’t want the options to make a lot of custom changes.
- InstaPage- Also a monthly fee but you can try out 1 page for free with up to 100 submissions a month. Also packed with 60+ templates to start with and it’s also a drag and drop builder so you can 100% customize the templates or start from a blank page. Integrates with WordPress as well.
- WP Profit Builder– This is a WordPress plugin with a one-time fee; no monthly fees! Comes with a great collection of templates and is also drag and drop with 100% customization capabilities. Right now you can grab this for one site for $47 or a developer’s license for $67! {That’s a steal, and I make absolutely nothing by recommending them, or any of the others, it’s just good stuff.}
- OptimizePress– This is another WordPress plugin and the one I personally use. It’s a one time, yearly, fee rather than monthly. And there were two reason I went with this as opposed to any of the others listed. Instapage didn’t exist when I first got it, LeadPages was super expensive at the time and WP Profit Builder did not exist. This one is pricier that WP Profit Builder each year but it also gives you a membership plugin as well as a theme so if you think you may need membership site for your business then give this one a serious look since it will serve all your needs. This one also comes with pre-built templates. It’s not drag and drop so it’s not as quick as WP Profit Builder and InstaPage.
Which one is best? I’m not sure I can rate one over the other so it comes down to preference. Because I need the membership plugin I’ll stick with OptimizePress for now, however I do plan to grab a developer’s license for WP Profit Builder and teach my students how to use it and use it as a bonus plugin for some of my online classes. So when I’m teaching clients how to build their own websites they will also be able to build their own landing and sales pages without having to invest in anything else.
Take a look at them all and see which one will serve your budget and business needs the best and think long term. Whatever you choose make sure you are using the plugins that the services offer for free so that it appears that your page is actually built on your domain. No one needs to actually know you are using LeadPages or InstaPage. When I see an opt-in, especially a big name, and I know they are on WordPress and the page is a link like this, “http://theirname.leadpages.net/page-name” that drives me crazy. Don’t forget, branding is important even in your page links!
Increase Conversions -Edit your page
We went through the 7 elements of what should be on an opt-in page and what is known statistically and globally to have a higher conversion rate. Do you see any changes you need to make to your opt-in page? Or do you still need to create a dedicated opt-in page? I know I have some updating to do on my own website for my opt-in page. In fact, based on what we’ve learned today what is wrong/missing on this opt-in page? What changes could be made to make conversions even higher? Check it out and comment below, I’d love to hear from you! http://simplifywebsites.com/simple-seo-sign-up/
Kristal is a dedicated wife and mom of 4 living in Raleigh, NC but you can connect with her, no matter where you are, right from your desk on Twitter, Facebook and the blog at http://simplifywebsites.com/blog
- 7 Elements to an Opt-in Page that Converts - August 27, 2015
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