In this, the final installment in our series Optimizing Your Website, I discuss newsletters and ways to get more people to subscribe to your email. Your great new optimized website deserves as much traffic as possible, and one way to get and keep visibility is through a newsletter subscription. A call-to-action (CTA) on your website can offer a free newsletter subscription in return for an email address – the first step in converting visitors to leads. Your challenge is to get readers to opt-in to your offer and then to provide them with email worthy of their time.

Here are seven tips for increasing email subscriptions:

1)    Give your newsletter subscription form prominence. You don’t want to make it hard for people to subscribe. Besides featuring a sign-up on your website, put links to the form in social media sites and in your signature block.

2)    Offer value. The CTA shouldn’t say something lame like “Subscribe Now”. Instead, point out the value proposition: “Our email newsletter will keep you up-to-date about events in our industry”. In this way, visitors can easily discern what’s in it for them.

3)    Give a special incentive to subscribers. By giving them exclusive access to free content, resources, coupons and discounts, not available to non-subscribers. For instance, you could advertise special whitepapers not available on the website. Make sure you make the incentive worthwhile.

4)    Tease ‘em a little. If you offer, say, a five-step program, let them get a sneak peek at Step One. You could do this with a short video presentation. The accompanying CTA could ask readers if they want to see the rest and direct them to sign up to gain access. This is a great lure for new subscribers.

5)    Be authoritative. Point out how many subscribers you have and include testimonials regarding the value of your newsletters. This is a form of customer proof, which we discussed in an earlier post.

6)    Share your email. Put in a “Forward to a Friend” link in your emails. You can take advantage of online tools to help you set up sharing via social media. If you have a landing page, add this functionality there as well.

7)    Test alternative subscription options. You can vary the offers, form placements, headlines or incentives. There is free A/B split testing software available from Google that can help you sort through the alternatives and identify the best one.

Well, that’s it! I hope you’ve found this series informative and welcome your comments and suggestions.

Eric Bank