You currently have an internet site, sure. But is it serving you nonstop to generate brand-new customers? It might be— 
but you’ve got to make sure it is!
Gone are the days of boring-old websites that act as business cards on the web. Even slick-looking pages that look amazing but just sit there on the web storing information are passe. They’re nearly useless when it comes to getting your business information into people’s minds and creating actual sales conversions. It’s time to up-the-ante on your present site, as well as rev up your business-building, and ultimately income-producing, progress.
You need some business-website rocket fuel, Baby! And I’ve got just what the rocket-scientist ordered!
What you’ll find in this article are several basic internet-marketing “chemicals” to create the ceaselessly-flowing rocket fuel you need to propel your website into constant conversion productivity.
Foundational Issues First
To go up, you need first to be grounded in solid principles of sales conversions. So, first off, we’ve got to get one thing clear – there’s one basic “rocket-fuel chemical” you must add to your site today. It’s the most basic, most important subscriber-generating strategy there is: you need a really attractive opt-in, front-and-centre, on the home page of your website.
Hardly anyone just signs up for e-newsletters anymore, unless they’re a member of a club for which they want the latest news, the website belongs to a super-duper famous star, or it’s something in which the person has a vested interest. When a person visits your site, from whatever source, you need to make sure they feel a vested interest in signing up for your list, even if they’ve never visited your site before in their life and don’t know who you are, either.
In today’s competitive market online, people are much, much, much more likely to opt-in when the opt-in invitation is incentivized by something free that seems very valuable to them. It must be something that, whether or not they realized before they visited your site, they really want to have it.
My goal in this article is to give you ideas and instructions for simply and quickly adding that opt-in opportunity to several or all possible places on your website to make sure not one person misses out. Truly, do this before you do anything else in your business if you don’t currently have any opt-in opportunities on your site.
Below, you’ll find 7 possibilities for where and how to insert your opt-in invitation throughout your website. No matter which of the possibilities you choose, or if you choose all of them, which is totally possible to do without having your site bee and look annoying, you’ll want them to be similar to your landing page: You’ll need a headline, brief summary, opt-in kind and also a call-to-action (CTA) button.
Possibility # 1: Pop-up Opt-in Form
I’m sure you’ve seen these pop-ups I’m talking about here. You go to a website and after 2-3 seconds, or maybe when you move your cursor as if you’re going to leave/close the page, like magic, a special deal appears. It just, well, pops up, right in your face, right over what you were looking at, inviting you to an offer/invitation that provides them with tremendous benefit if they will enter their email address. These pop-ups are not only attention-grabbing; they have terrific conversions, too, depending on the significance of your offer to them.
Are pop-ups annoying? Well, when you’re the pop-up recipient, sure they are. But they’re used ubiquitously by marketers of all stripes and for organizations from solopreneurs to multi-million-employee corporations because they are among the most popular and efficient strategies for lead capture. Thus, lots of website design and development packages and e-mail service providers include pop-ups. You can also utilize any number of WordPress plugins for this; some are free, some paid. Be sure to research the plugins carefully to check for ease of use, as well as software integration with your e-mail company. As always, free plugins will have restricted attributes as opposed to their paid versions; so consider that as well.
Possibility # 2: Header Opt-in Form
Any portion of your website layout and copy that appears “above the fold” is what will certainly get your visitors’ attention first. “Above-the-fold” (ATF) means the area prior to the point at which you have to begin scrolling to see more. So, make the best use of that room to draw clients to your complimentary deal.
Here is an example of maximizing the entire above-the-fold space on the front/home page of a website for attention-grabbing, lead-capturing rocket fuel: NatalieEastmanMarketing.com <- Click here.
Possibility # 3: Header Opt-in Plugin
If you want something more subtle— and also very easy to implement on your website, something you can do yourself— try integrating an opt-in box directly into your website header using a plugin for WordPress. A tool like that inserts a bar across the header of your website with your opt-in deal. It’s subtle; but, since it lives permanently in that precious “above-the-fold territory,” it’s among the first things your brand-new visitors will certainly see; so it works.
Whether you use the Header Form or the Header Plugin or both, they’re both effective because your website visitor doesn’t need to scroll around wondering, “What do I do next?” All indicators point to the instruction on how to get your highly-desirable, valuable-to-them free item: sign up now and sign up here.
Possibility # 4: Listed below Blog Posts
Let’s say you’ve composed a brand-new blog post and you’re advertising it on a couple of social media networks. You’re routing tons of website traffic to your post, yet most of these individuals are new visitors. What do you desire them to do AFTER they read your message?
Your solution should be: I want them to subscribe to my list.
The solution is always: I want them to subscribe to my list.
Make that perfectly clear by putting a simple opt-in at the end of each post. These visitors desire the post initially. After all, that’s why they clicked your link in the first place. So they probably weren’t all set to subscribe when they saw your header opt-in, which you smartly installed after reading Possibility #3, above. Therefore, capture them at the end of the blog post, so you do not lose them forever.
To apply this possibility, you can create your opt-ins with your email company OR research some WordPress plugins (such as Optin Forms). In either case, you’ll have to put code at the end of each blog post. Do note that, usually, plugins usually use something called “shortcodes,” which are far less complicated to both locate and utilize, because they’re right there in your WordPress dashboard. You just click on the plugin name in your WP Dashboard and quite often there’s a sub-menu called “Shortcodes” or “My Forms” or something similar. Typically, using your e-mail carrier’s forms is more involved; that said, I do it all the time. Learn it once, you’ve got it. Each email provider will have different instructions on designing their forms and locating the code for it, but there’s only a few basic ways to put it on your website.
Scroll to the bottom of this blog post to see an example of utilizing the prime real-estate at the end of a post to inject that lead-capturing rocket fuel!
Possibility # 5: Don’t Forget the Footer
Keep in mind, you’re making the most of your web property, so use your Footer! You just never know when somebody will scroll all the way down there to look at it! It’s a highly-underrated portion of your real estate. So…you guessed it: use this area for an opt-in form!
Once again, for the form itself use either your e-mail provider’s code or a plugin that’s easily integrated with your email provider. If you’re using a WordPress theme, check your theme, too, for opt-in and form features you could use and research those features’ integration with your email provider.
On my website, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page to see an example of an opt-in within the footer space: NatalieEastmanMarketing.com. The footer appears on all of the primary pages for which you don’t “suppress” the footer. As a result, it’s seen frequently by visitors. Don’t overlook this valuable portion of your website.
Possibility # 6: Place A Link in the Main Navigation Menu
Despite the fact that this may appear repetitive if you already have a header opt-in, this is still a clever move. It reaches those visitors who enter your website someplace apart from your web page (which is probably where your header opt-in is located). Your navigating menu, in most cases, shows up on ALL your pages. So no matter how your visitor comes into your website, they will definitely see your opt-in offer. You can see an example of using the menu for an opt-in opportunity (look for “Checklist” on the menu) on my website natalieeastmanmarketing.com.
Possibility # 7: Sidebar Banner
Sidebars in WordPress were made to house countless widgets for advertisements as well as product recommendations. However, sidebars are frequently ignored by those with internet experience, so do not depend entirely on this positioning to expand your checklist.
Pro idea: Begin simply. Use one of these 7 Opt-in Possibilities and just get it carried out. Learn to track your results with that one opt-in spot before including another opt-in in an additional place.
Also, think about altering the message a bit each time, if you intend to place multiple opt-ins on your site. Alternatively, you can insert different deals altogether in each area.
You can start as soon as you have established some sort of procedure for producing these opt-in opportunities!
More Examples of How to Use An Opt-In Form on/in A Blog Post:
1. You could end your post with a friendly signature and hyperlink your website with an offer URL, like this:
Your friend in lead-capturing and list-building,
Natalie Eastman
GET ACCESS TO OUR CHECKLIST: How to Get 100+ New, Ideal Subscribers in 30 Days!
2. You can put an offer after your signature, like this:
Here are some examples of placing an opt-in offer at the end or a blog post. You have several options on how to do this. Never underestimate the rocket fuel injection your list will get by utilizing every square inch (or millimeter!) of real estate on your website, including these kinds of out-of-the-way places
Use A “PostScript”
You could place a “P.S.” after the main body of your blog or put a title before it, then add your offer lead-in description and hyperlink it.
Use A Title to Set It Off:
Hey, Busy Online-Business Builder (who wants to be less busy!), would it help speed up your lead-capturing efforts if you had more strategies and examples like this, all clearly described in simple language? If yes, then I’ve got a SPECIAL OFFER for you:
Get complimentary access to my special, strategic, step-by-step, in-plain-language checklist, “How to Get Your Next/First 100+ Email Subscribers in 30 Days!”
Use A Button:
If you’re able, you can also insert a button labeled, in the case of my example, “Get Checklist Access!” You would label the button with something attention-grabbing for whatever your particular offer is, such as “Download Now!” or “Get the PDF!” Or “Get Your Instructions…,” etc. Or you can just say “Get It Now!” or something simple like that.
Button Example:
Time for You to Take Action!
First Exercise: Design your pop-up in your email service provider (or a WP plugin).
Step 1: Research + Select an Email Provider (Here’s the one I’ve used for nearly three years and really like.)
Step 2: Craft an Attention-Grabbing, Value-Filled Headline + Free Offer (But remember: call it something other than “free,” such as “special offer,” etc. See tip above to refresh on this. ☺)
Step 3: Add Your Photo(s), if you want.
Step 4: What Does Your Button Say? Make it hot!
Step 5: Add the Form Code to Your Chosen Places.
Exercise: Decide on 3-4 places on your site to highlight your new opt-in(s).
✓ Header
✓ Below Blog Posts
✓ Footer (global)
✓ Main Navigating Menu (global)
✓ Sidebar (global)
✓ In-content Opt-ins
Where else can you put it? List your ideas.
This is a guest post from Natalie Eastman if you would like to be considered for a guest post please contact me.
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