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Where should I have my opt in form?
By Mike | August 19, 2007
Today’s question -
We currently have an opt in on a page on our site but it does not see much traffic. Would you advise a pop up or sidebar? Do you prefer exit or entrance pop ups?
Okay this question is tough and the first thing I will say is to always test different options. What works for one will not always be best for the next one.
Lets first discuss a question that I would ask were we discussing your blog. Is the optin the most important function of your blog in your process?
See some of the things that might give you the best signup ratio may actually hurt your blog reading. I have found nothing more effective than the lightbox pop up. This is the one used in a lot of exit scripts. It grays the page and you only see the optin form. You need to take an action to continue reading.
While it will get you the most signups it may cause a decrease in readership because it is very intrusive. That being said if building your list is the prime use of your blog it will probably be the most effective.
The other types to consider are the sidebar optin and the slide in or hover pop in optin.
On this blog I use the hover pop. It is set to only show once so if people keep coming back they won’t be interrupted each time (unless they clear their cookies regularly). It is also set to not come in until people have been on the page a bit. Hopefully, they have enough time to be intersted in what I have to say so they will continue even if they have been disrupted.
The exit software has become quite popular and is something I plan to test on a few blogs. Thing like Exit Prophet Pro look like they may solve the problem. They create a light box pop but only when they are triggered by the mouse moving like it will leave the page.
Making your opt in offer at the time and using the lightbox pop would seem to be the most effective but as I have not tested it yet I would be guessing.
Probably the most important thing though for getting people to opt in is your content and offer. Now if you are offering something for opt in that is of value to me I will probably grab it. If your content is great, then I want to know about new posts again I will opt in because there is something in it for me.
At the end of the day that is probably the biggest key - make an offer I can’t resist and I will sign up.
As always if you would like clarification or have a different question please leave a comment or click the survey link above.
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Topics: questions | We do follow trackback
August 29th, 2007 at 1:51 am
Mike, what do I need to change to make the plugin files editable?
Currently I have this message displayed when I login and select Plugins:
“If this file were writable you could edit it.”
Thanks
Gary