10 Tips for Using a Blog to Increase Email List Signups

So, here at the PayAnywhere Blog, every post we make is geared towards helping your business prosper. One great way to do that? Start a blog of your own! As Small Business Trends recently put it, "Email marketing is still one of the most powerful online marketing strategies around. With a healthy and growing subscriber list, you can generate more leads and net more sales through every mailing." So what tactics did they recommend to increase email list signups?

1.) Use a Feature Box

If you don't already have one, a Feature Box (the area between your header and your content) on your blog can give you a significant increase in subscribers. You can also build a Feature Box in WordPress with widgets.

2.) Offer a Freebie with Signup

Most people enjoy getting something for nothing. If you have an eBook, whitepaper or special report that's associated with your business, you can give it away free to anyone who signs up for your email list. One great way to increase email list signups with this tactic is to offer your free eBook or other bonus right in your Feature Box.

3.) Provide Subscribers with Exclusive Content

If you're fresh out of eBooks to give away, or your business doesn't really lend itself to long-form content, you can entice more subscribers by offering them exclusive content (like a regular newsletter, video content or read-it-first links) that isn't published to general visitors.

4.) Use Plugins to Generate Leads

For small business blogs running on the WordPress platform, there are several plugins that will help you increase email list signups with professional opt-in boxes and forms.

5.) Call Attention with an Unobtrusive Popup

Many people are using lightbox-style popups that gray out the rest of the page - which can work, but can also really annoy your visitors unless they're done well. Luckily, there's a more unique way to attract subscribers with popups. The free Hello Bar is a narrow strip that "pops up" along the top edge of your blog. You can customize this to either direct visitors to your signup page, or have them enter their email address directly in the bar.

6.) Provide More Chances for People to Sign Up

While you don't want to go crazy with opt-in boxes, you should have at least one place on every page of your blog where people can subscribe to your email list. Place signup boxes at the top of the page (use a Feature Box for best effect), in the sidebar and at the end of every post. Include a brief call to action like, "Enjoy this post? Enter your email address to sign up for our list, and get notified whenever we post fresh content."

7.) Split Test Your Wording Choices

If you're not getting many email list signups, changing the wording on your calls to action can help. Try performing A/B testing on different wording, such as "Get Email Updates," "Subscribe Today," or even "Download Now!"

8.) Get Social for Greater Visibility

Social sharing is a great way to attract more visitors and increase email list signups. To boost your social media circulation, be sure to include social sharing buttons somewhere in your page template, and at the end of every blog post.

9.) Switch to a Full RSS Feed

People who are subscribed to your blog receive email notifications whenever you post new content. If you allow full RSS feeds, you'll not only get your content read more often, but you'll also be emailing the opt-in form at the end of your posts to all of your RSS subscribers.

10.) Practice Good SEO to Get More Visitors

The more people who find their way to your blog, the more potential email list signups you have. So, one of the best ways to increase email list signups is to make sure your blog is optimized for search engines, and therefore bringing you more traffic.

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