An opt-in page, also known as a landing page, is a key component of any successful digital marketing campaign. The goal of an opt-in page is to convert visitors into leads by collecting their contact information in exchange for a valuable offer.
Creating an effective opt-in page requires a combination of design, copywriting, and psychology. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the anatomy of an opt-in page that converts and discuss the key elements that you need to include in order to boost your conversion rates.
Headline:
The headline is the first thing that visitors will see when they arrive on your opt-in page. It should be clear, attention-grabbing, and convey the main benefit of your offer.
Offer:
Your offer should be clear, specific, and valuable to your target audience. Be sure to highlight the main benefits of your offer and how it will solve a problem or meet a need for your audience.
Form:
A form is a crucial element of an opt-in page as it allows visitors to provide their contact information in exchange for your offer. The form should be above the fold, simple to fill out and easy to locate.
Image:
A high-quality image or video can help to grab the attention of visitors and convey your message more effectively. Use images or video that are related to your offer and that are visually appealing.
Social proof:
Including social proof such as testimonials or logos of well-known companies that have used your product or service can build trust and credibility with your audience.
Call to action (CTA):
A clear and prominently placed call to action button is a must-have on any opt-in page. The CTA should encourage visitors to take action and convert.
Design and layout:
The design and layout of your opt-in page should be clean, simple, and easy to navigate. Use white space to create a sense of openness, and use contrasting colours to guide the eye to important elements on the page.
In conclusion, an effective opt-in page requires a combination of design, copywriting, and psychology. By including a clear headline, valuable offer, simple form, compelling images or video, social proof, clear CTA, and a clean design, you can increase the chances of converting visitors into leads. Keep testing different elements and track your conversion rate, you will be able to optimise your opt-in page over time to increase your conversion rate.
What tools can I use to design an opt-in page?
Landing page builders:
These are tools specifically designed for creating and optimising landing pages. Some popular landing page builders include Leadpages, Unbounce, and Instapage. These tools typically include a drag-and-drop interface and a variety of pre-designed templates to choose from.
Content management systems (CMS):
If you are already using a CMS for your website, you can use it to create your opt-in page. WordPress, for example, offers a number of plugins and themes that can be used to create landing pages.
Graphic design software:
If you’re comfortable with graphic design tools like Adobe Photoshop or Sketch, you can use them to design your opt-in page. These tools will give you more freedom to create a custom design, but they may require a bit more technical skill to use.
Email marketing software:
Many email marketing platforms such as Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, ConvertKit, Aweber, etc allow you to create landing pages that integrate seamlessly with their email marketing platform. This could be a good option if you are using one of these services and are looking to create a landing page that captures email addresses.
Web development:
If you have a development team or can do it yourself, you can code a custom opt-in page from scratch. This will give you the most flexibility in terms of design and functionality, but it also requires the most time and technical expertise.
Ultimately, the tool you choose will depend on your technical skill level, design preferences, and the level of customisation you need.
A step-by-step guide on how to build create an opt-in page
Building an opt-in page can be broken down into a few key steps:
1. Define your goals and target audience:
Before you start building your opt-in page, it’s important to have a clear understanding of your goals and target audience. What problem is your offer solving? Who are you trying to reach with your opt-in page? These answers will help you create a page that is tailored to the needs of your target audience.
2. Choose a tool:
Next, decide on a tool that you will use to create your opt-in page. As I mentioned before, there are a number of options available, including landing page builders, content management systems, graphic design software, email marketing platforms and web development, choose the one that best fits your needs.
3. Create a design:
Once you have chosen a tool, it’s time to start creating your design. Use the tool’s templates or design a custom layout. Keep in mind the key elements of an effective opt-in page that I have mentioned before and ensure it has a clear headline, valuable offer, simple form, compelling images or video, social proof, clear CTA, and a clean design.
4. Add your content:
Once you have your design in place, it’s time to add your content. Write a clear headline that grabs attention and communicates the main benefit of your offer. Use the body copy to provide more details about your offer, including how it will solve a problem or meet a need for your target audience.
5. Add a form:
Add a form that allows visitors to provide their contact information in exchange for your offer. Make sure that it is placed above the fold, simple to fill out and easy to locate.
6. Add a call to action (CTA):
Add a clear, prominently placed CTA that encourages visitors to take action and convert. Use contrasting colours to make it stand out.
7. Test and optimise:
Before launching your opt-in page, make sure to test it thoroughly and optimise it for conversions. Use A/B testing to try out different versions of your page, and track your conversion rates to see which version performs best.
8. Launch:
Once you are happy with the final version of your opt-in page, it’s time to launch it to the public. Use your existing website traffic, social media, and paid marketing to drive traffic to your page.
By following these steps, you can create an effective opt-in page that will help you convert more visitors into leads. Remember to always be testing and optimising to increase conversions over time.
What are the typical things I can optimise on an opt-in page so that it converts better?
Optimising your opt-in page can help increase conversions and turn more visitors into leads. Here are a few things you can optimise on your opt-in page to improve conversions:
- Headline: Your headline is the first thing that visitors will see, so it’s important to make it attention-grabbing and clearly communicate the main benefit of your offer. A/B testing different headlines can help you find the one that performs best.
- Offer: Make sure your offer is clear, specific, and valuable to your target audience. Consider how it will solve a problem or meet a need for your audience and highlight these benefits in your copy.
- Form: Keep your form simple and easy to fill out. Make sure that it is prominently placed above the fold, and consider testing different form field variations (e.g. number of fields, field labels, etc.)
- Image and video: Use high-quality images or videos that are related to your offer and that are visually appealing. Consider testing different images or videos to see which ones perform best.
- Social proof: Including social proof such as testimonials or logos of well-known companies that have used your product or service can help to build trust and credibility with your audience.
- Call to Action: A clear and prominently placed call to action button is a must-have on any opt-in page. Make sure it stands out and encourage visitors to take action.
- Design and layout: Keep the design and layout of your opt-in page clean and easy to navigate. Use white space to create a sense of openness and consider testing different design variations.
- Mobile optimisation: Make sure that your opt-in page is optimised for mobile devices. Many visitors will likely be viewing your page on their smartphones, so you need to make sure that it looks and works well on mobile.
By testing and optimising different elements of your opt-in page, you can increase conversions and turn more visitors into leads. Keep in mind that optimisation should be an ongoing process and you should be constantly testing and refining to improve your conversion rate over time.
What different tools can I use to optimise an opt-in page?
There are a number of tools that you can use to optimise your opt-in page, including:
A/B testing tools:
A/B testing allows you to test different versions of your opt-in page to see which one performs best. Tools such as Optimizely, Google Optimize, and Visual Website Optimizer are popular choices for A/B testing.
Heatmap and click tracking tools:
These tools allow you to track where visitors are clicking on your opt-in page, which can help you understand how they interact with your page and identify areas that need improvement. Some popular options include Crazy Egg and Mouseflow.
Form optimisation tools:
Tools like Formisimo, FormKeep and Gravity Forms can help you optimise your form for conversions by tracking key metrics such as conversion rates, form abandonment, and field drop-offs.
Surveys and feedback tools:
Tools like SurveyMonkey and UserTesting allow you to gather feedback from visitors about your opt-in page, which can help you identify issues and areas for improvement.
SEO and analytics tools:
SEO and analytics tools such as Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Ahrefs can provide valuable data on how visitors are finding and interacting with your opt-in page.
Landing page optimisation:
Some email marketing software such as Mailchimp, Convertkit, and Aweber offer built-in landing page optimisation features, that allow you to create and optimise your landing page within their platform.
These tools can help you to identify areas of your opt-in page that need improvement, track the performance of different page elements, and make data-driven decisions about how to optimise your page for conversions. Remember that testing and experimenting with different variations is crucial when optimising your opt-in page for conversions.