Need to build a list of qualified leads from visitors to your WordPress website?

Who doesn’t?

Growing an email list of people who are genuinely interested in your product or service will help you grow your business. In fact, 80 percent of small businesses find email marketing to be an important tool for driving both customer acquisition and retention.

How can you get a steady stream of new email subscribers from your WordPress site?

The first thing you need to do is add a sign-up form to your website. A free plugin like Constant Contact Forms for WordPress makes it easy to capture contact information from visitors and automatically add contacts to your email list.

If you’re looking to take your list growth to the next level, here are five tips to consider:

1. Make your opt-in forms eye-catching

The average reader has to come across an offer seven times before they are ready to make a decision about it.

One of the most effective ways to do that is to use well designed, targeted pop-ups and opt-in forms placed throughout your site.

A tool like OptinMonster makes this super simple using their powerful display rules. It integrates easily with Constant Contact, as well as every other major provider.

Adding subscribers to your Constant Contact list using OptinMonster is simple. Start by choosing Constant Contact from OptinMonster’s available integrations.

Log in to your Constant Contact account.

Give OptinMonster access to your Constant Contact account.

Then select the list you’d like to connect to this opt-in form.

Ready to connect OptinMonster with your Constant Contact account? Start here. 

Most people start by adding an opt-in form to their website’s sidebar. However, if you only offer your email subscription form in the sidebar of your website, you’re not giving your reader enough time to make up their mind. Remember, they need to see your offer at least seven times!

Instead, consider adding multiple opt-in forms to your website. Here are a few examples of the kinds of forms you can add to your site.

• Slide in

Slide-ins appear on the bottom right-hand corner as the user scrolls down on your website. This makes scroll boxes highly noticeable and effective.

• Exit intent lightbox

Exit-intent forms appear when the reader motions towards the browser, leaving the page they’re on. By offering a deal too good to pass up, you can often convert these abandoning visitors before they leave your website forever.

Need ideas for your own exit-intent optin? Take a look at OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent Gallery.

• After entry

Add your opt-in forms below your post or page content to capture the attention of your most engaged visitors without disturbing their reading experience.

In the example above, displayed after the content but before the comments, readers can click to register for a webinar.

2. Tailor your offer to the reader

A generic offer like, “Subscribe to my newsletter for tips and tricks” will not convert as well as an offer more targeted to the individual reader.

Personalizing your sign-up form’s copy and images to the various types of content on your site will increase conversions. You can do this by crafting an offer for each category of content on your site.

For example, if you sell women’s clothing on your site, an opt-in form offering a coupon for skirts and dresses would be more appropriate to display on those categories than on the jeans or blouses categories.

3. Make your content exclusive

Content-locking denies access to content until the reader completes a specific call-to-action.

Making content exclusive could be just the push your website visitors need to give you their email address.

There are several great plugins for blocking content from readers. Restrict Content Pro, Members, and Paid Memberships Pro are three well-respected options.

4. Add sign-up forms to your most popular posts and pages

The most popular pages of your site represent a huge opportunity for increasing subscribers. Researching the top five or six most popular pages on your site, and placing an opt-in form on those pages will add scores of subscribers to your site.

Likewise, the pages with the highest bounce rates can also be a great place to add an opt-in. Readers of those pages either found what they were looking for, and left happy… or didn’t find what they were looking for, and left without it.

Either way, you have an opportunity to offer the reader more of the same type of content they came for, all in exchange for an email address.

5. Run a contest

Everyone loves a giveaway! Hosting a contest on your website is a great way to add subscribers to your list.

Using software like Rafflecopter with an email marketing program like Constant Contact makes it easy to launch a giveaway, awarding entries or prizes in exchange for an email address. It can be used on your WordPress website, and also within your social media accounts.

What could more email subscribers mean for your business?

Increasing the size of your email list should be a priority for your business. The more quality leads you have on your list, the more sales you can bring in with each send.

The best thing about these tips? Once set up, they don’t require much heavy lifting on your part.

Your website will continually bring in more leads and you’re free to focus your energy on providing the quality products and services you’re known for.

Ready to turn your website into a profitable marketing channel? Get started by adding a sign-up form to your WordPress site.

About the Author:

Syed Balkhi is the founder of WPBeginner, the largest free WordPress resource site. With over 10+ years of experience, he’s the leading WordPress expert in the industry.

Syed is also the founder of several popular software companies such as OptinMonster, WPForms, MonsterInsights, and others that help small businesses grow & compete with the big guys. His software runs on over 3 million websites serving billions of impressions every month. You can learn about his suite of companies at the Awesome Motive website.

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