6 Little-Known Factors That Are Reducing Your Email Opt-ins

The whole point of big traffic is to grow a massively engaged email list.

It’s those email subscribers that allow you to build a sustainable blogging income that lasts for many years.

You need them badly.

But there are so many subtle forces at play on your blog. Things that affect how many people sign up to your list or subscribe to your updates.

Things you might never have thought about.

In this post I’m going to show you 6 little-known factors that could be reducing your email opt-ins.

Don’t make these mistakes.

6 little-known factors that are reducing your email opt-ins

Okay so let’s dive right in here. These factors could be significantly affecting how well your blog subscription areas are converting.

1. Your color scheme screams “spam”

Did you know that there are people who spend their whole lives thinking about how color affects people?

Needless to say, there are marketers who then figure out how that applies to making money.

The colors you use in your optin area and your blog itself, play a huge role in how people perceive your blog.

Here are some things you should look out for:

• DO - Study what colors mean to our psyche and apply them to your optin form areas.
• DON’T – Use red as your link color. It represents spam, stop and danger in our society.
• DO – Use colors like blue, purple and orange that connote calm, trust, and strength.
• DON’T – Use a color scheme that has more than three colors. And make sure they interact well.
• DO – Ensure your color scheme matches your branding, logo and site design.

I once wrote an article about increasing conversions that talked about how my brother wore a blue shirt to his final interview before being accepted into Medicine.

Sure, the medical board doesn’t admit students based on shirt color, but it could have played a role in their original mindset as he walked into the room.

Colors are important.

2. You’re skimping on the details

We all know the saying that “less is more”. Well, not always.

When it comes to opt-in forms on your blog or website, it’s often better to have more details than less.

Sometimes people need a little bit of extra clarification before handing over their name and email address.

You need to remember that giving out your email is a big step for a lot of people. It is important that you use that opt-in area to calm their nerves, show them what the benefits will be and guarantee quality.

A good example of this is the traditional sales landing page.

We all know those long winded, single-column designs that have testimonial after testimonial and lots of talk about benefits and how rich their product is going to make you.

These things are long for a reason.

People often need to be convinced that what they are doing is a good idea.

Try adding a little bit more text to your opt-in area or, as I did, add some dot points.

I increased my conversions about 1% by doing this.

3. You’re not overcoming people’s objections

A classic marketing technique is to make sales by overcoming people’s objections. In actual fact, that is what your opt-in form is trying to do.

Think about the last time you subscribed to something.

It’s very rarely the form itself that initiates the desire to subscribe.

That seed is planted much earlier. What the form does do is convince you that everything will be alright.

Make sure your form either subtly or overtly:

• assures people their email address is safe;
• lets people know they can unsubscribe whenever they want;
• shows people that they aren’t the first ones to do it.

Think about what reasons people might have for not subscribing to your blog and then try to overcome them.

4. You focus on features, not benefits

Another mistake a lot of bloggers make is that they focus on the features of their mailing list and not the benefits.

This makes a huge difference, particularly if you are giving away a free eBook in order to get subscribers.

Here’s an example to give you the idea:

• Features: Get a six part video course
• Benefits: Six videos that will change your business forever

See how the one focused on benefits gives you an emotional reaction? That is what you are looking for.

NOTE: Ana does this really well in the top left when she says “Start flooding your website with traffic today” because it instantly gives you a visual and emotional feeling about what is going to happen.

5. Your opt-in form is causing ad blindness

Ad blindness is a terrible, medically diagnosed condition that many web browsers suffer.

The symptoms are never clicking on any ads or signing up for any email lists because you feel like you’ve seen it all before.

Well, it’s not really a medical condition, but it’s really powerful.

People get blind to ads.

And if your opt-in form looks like an ad as opposed to a perfectly integrated part of your website, then people will become blind to it.

Some things you can do to ensure your opt-in form doesn’t look too much like an ad are:

• Margins – make sure the margins and spacing of your text is the same as your blog;
• Fonts and colors – try to keep the fonts and colors consistent;
• Graphics – go easy on the images and graphics unless they really tie-in;
• BS – avoid movement and flashy techniques;
• Integration – think “integration” as opposed to “stand out”.

6. You don’t set expectations at the start

The flip side of all this is that you are losing people once they are subscribed. This is called attrition.

If your attrition rate is really high, you are basically wasting your time because all the hard work you have done capturing these email subscribers is amounting to nothing.

What’s the point of doing all these guest posts and social media campaigns and brilliant blog articles if you lose them after they sign up?

To help combat this you need to be really clear with people about what they are getting when they sign up.

Don’t deliver something unless it is expected. It’s a good way to lose subscribers and get your emails marked as spam.

What stops you from subscribing to a list?

I’d really like to know what stops you from subscribing to a blog or email list?

Can you put your finger on the subtle factors that are at play?

Please leave a comment and let me know. I’d be really interested to hear about what is at play in this process.

Ramsey, the Blog Tyrant

photo credit: JD Hancock

The Blog Tyrant is a 26 year old Aussie guy who has sold several blogs for around $20,000 and has worked full time from home since 24. His blog is all about helping you to grow your email list, build a sustainable blog and quit your job.

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