Your Squeeze Page and List Building

Your squeeze page is the page on your site that is designed to squeeze names and email addresses out of your site visitors. It’s aptly named, don’t you think? You will want to spend a lot of time and a lot of effort on this page. When your website visitors get to the squeeze page, it is the biggest opportunity you are likely to have to capture names and email addresses and build your opt-in list.

The first thing that you need to be aware of is that in general people don’t like to give their names and e-mail addresses. Overcoming this hurdle is the first thing on your list to building your list.

In today’s world of hackers and identity thieves it isn’t hard to understand the reluctance people have about giving out information on the Internet. The very first thing that you must do is assure your squeeze page visitor that their information is safe with you. They must believe that you will not share or sell their names or email addresses with others. These assurances need to be made up front and in print large enough to read.

You must give your visitors a good enough reason to join your opt-in list. Whatever you are offering as an incentive must be of enough value to your visitor to make them want to sign up for it.

The physical design of your squeeze page is also important. You must use some bulleted points to convince them. People aren’t going to read an entire screen of fine print. People SCAN websites....they don’t actually READ websites.

Another important physical aspect of your squeeze page is that it shouldn’t be long enough that the scroll bar ever takes the sign-up box off of the screen. Make your points quickly and make all of them without making your visitor scroll past the sign-in box. Every obstacle you put in their way, even the little ones, will reduce the number of opt-ins your squeeze page provides you with.

Build your squeeze page, then take a close look to see if there’s any negatives at all, and correct them. Is it appealing to the eye? Are the benefits of opting-in obvious and notice-grabbing? If you’re offering an incentive like a free download, is it directly related to the content of your e-zine? Do you have a graphic of the gift or to represent your e-zine?

When you’re sure it’s perfect, get two or three people you trust in the same biz to look it over and make any suggestions. This really is important – as the creators of the work, we’re often blind to faults with it. Don’t be married to your design – if other marketers suggest changes, honestly consider the changes, and if they make sense, implement them right away. Don’t let your ego get in the way of your list building!