List Building: Who Wants More Opt-Ins?

When you think squeeze page, you're probably thinking: Headline, bullet points, opt-in box, right? Well sure, those items make up a good squeeze page, but are they truly elemental? Of course not! Underlying the mechanical, there's also a persuasion perspective that you have to consider when you're list builidng. So, what are they?

The first thing they see on the list building page is your headline. How well written is it? Does it tell readers: What's in it for me? Or the WIIFM principle. What's in it for them is very, very important. Your headline has to show people some benefit of being on your list. If it's something you want, you're more likely to sign up, right? For instance, if you consider the title of this article, you want more opt-ins or you wouldn't be reading now. Well, it's the same thing with your squeeze page. If you don't give people a good reason to join your list, they won't.

Even then, they may not join if they aren't curious. I mean, their mailboxes are already so crammed with messages, why would they want one more from you? They won't unless you make them crazy to know something that you're going to tell them. So, tease them a little. They want to know the "how." You're reading because you want to know how to get better results with your list building pages and ultimately, more opt-ins. You're wondering how to do it.

Titles should always lead readers to what they'll discover if they sign up for your list, and they should be pretty tight and punchy. They need to hit readers in the face and make them think, "Oh, I want that." A good example might be, "Kicking the Junk Habit and Making Money." Is it about quitting drugs? No, it's about selling on eBay. But the title may lead people to want to know what the title means. It's a curiosity issue, and it works every time, especially if you use these punchy, weird titles on your list building pages.

Use the same concepts when writing your bullet points, too. You want them to be mini-headlines, not full sentences or worse, paragraphs. Keep them short and easy to read. "How to set up an automated money-making system" or "How to get others to send traffic to your website for FREE." If you're a business owner, you'll surely want to know how you can do these things. They're benefits for obvious reasons--more traffic, more money. They're easy to figure out, but interesting enough to make people want to know "how" even more.

Also include a sense of urgency. You'll notice in the title above, I used the word "today," which implies that if you do the things I recommend in this article, you'll have more opt-ins right away. Change your "submit" button to read something better, too, like "order your free subscription," or "immediate access." Anything that calls people to action will work better than the plain old submit button.

Writing a good list building page is as important as having an opt-in box. Without that, readers can't sign up for your list. But without good copy on your list building page, they won't sign up, either. Remember to let readers know what the benefits are of being on your list, to write as short and punchy as possible, and to give readers a sense of urgency. If you do those things, you'll be amazed at how quickly your list building rate improves. Do it today; get more opt-ins today, it's just that simple.