In Module 1 we talked about the importance of converting the traffic coming to your blog. What you need is to create a traffic net that catches visitors and turns them into subscribers.
A fully functional traffic net consists of three pieces:
Let’s talk about the autoresponder first.
The best way to collect subscribers is by adding them to an email list. Previous ways of collecting subscribers, like with Feedburner, don’t work well anymore. A good option is to collect them by using an autoresponder service.
The reason building a subscriber list is important is because the people on your list want to be reminded of new posts you publish, and are potential clients when you are ready to monetize your blog.
There are quite a few autoresponder services out there, but not all are equal. Some, like Ontraport (the service I use), are expensive and complicated to run.
Others, like AWeber or MailChimp, are much cheaper and really easy to run.
If you don’t yet have an autoresponder account, I suggest going with MailChimp as they offer a free starter option, which means you won’t have to pay for the service for a long time.
There is a drawback with MailChimp, though… it uses only double opt-in (but I have a solution I’ll tell you about in a moment).
The difference is simple.
With double opt-in, someone has to make the decision to sign up twice. The first time is when they fill out the form and give their email, and the second time is when they have to reconfirm their decision by clicking on a link sent to them by email. Research shows that you lose up to 30% of leads by using a double opt-in process!
Single opt-in, on the other hand, means that your prospective subscriber needs to make the decision only once. That’s a much better option.
AWeber offers the choice between single and double opt-in, but MailChimp only offers double opt-in.
Luckily, there is a solution, but it’s not free. There is a fantastic option called OptinMonster. I use it to install signup boxes in many different places.
OptinMonster can be set so that MailChimp has single opt-in forms. I’ll say more about this when we talk about opt-in forms.
In marketing terms, subscribers are called ‘leads.’ A lead magnet is an opt-in gift that turns a visitor into a lead or subscriber.
For a long time, I worked on the premise that more is better. I created whole ebooks to give away to new subscribers.
But research shows that these days, lead magnets that are easy to consume are much more effective. The rule of thumb is that an opt-in gift should be consumable within ten minutes.
This is good news for us because it’s much less work to produce a two-page report than a fifty-page ebook! In the next lesson, I’ll outline how to create a lead magnet within five hours.
The main thing to remember is that the more visible your lead magnet, the more signups you’ll get. Signup forms should be everywhere on your site! The easiest way to make this happen is by using a viral plugin.
Using a viral plugin will boost your conversion rates significantly. I’ve tried a whole raft of them and I’ve now settled on a relative newcomer to the market, OptinMonster. This plugin allows you to create attractive opt-in forms and display them in many different places on your blog.
Of course, you can also use the signup boxes that come with AWeber or MailChimp, but you won’t get the same results.
If you’re conservative in your approach, you can use OptinMonster just for static forms that appear automatically under each post, in the sidebar, or in the footer bar.
But if you’re more adventurous, like I am, you can use some other wonderful options. For example, you can use a popup that appears on the page after a specific time has elapsed, or you can use an exit-intent popup.
I’ve been experimenting with exit-intent popups and they are amazing. I don’t mean the horrible things that come up and say something like, ‘But wait… there’s more!” I’m talking about well-designed light boxes that appear when someone starts to leave the site.
I use an exit-intent popup on Alistblogging.net and the conversion rate is over 20%!
If you want to get OptinMonster, make sure you buy the Pro version. It costs $199 but it’s worth it. The Pro version includes the exit-intent popup, as well as effects. For example, the exit-intent popup I use on Alistblogging.net has a funny wobble effect which makes people smile.
This is an overview of how to create a traffic net for high conversion.
I’ll revisit this in more detail later in the course.
The next lesson will show you how to create a lead magnet that works.
Here are two lead magnets you can download to see two examples that work well.
1. Click here to reach the download page for Write Like an A-List Blogger
2. Click here to reach the download page for the report, 10 Free Resources to Skyrocket Your Subscriber Count.
Author: Mary Jaksch
Note: Some of the links above are affiliate links.