Building a list straight from your blog is one of the simplest and most reliable methods to do it. In this post, I’ll explain what a list is, why you need one, and—last but not least—discuss several methods for expanding your list via your blog. Let’s get going.
A List: Why?
A list is a collection of email addresses and names that you may use to send routine emails to. This is often done using an autoresponder service like optinmonster. You may use this as an alternative to optinmonster if you choose.
You should create a list for many purposes, one of which is to encourage people to return to your site. How often have you read a fantastic blog piece and then promised yourself that you would return to read more? After 30 minutes, you’ve likely forgotten about it and are unlikely to return to the location.
You’re not the only one, either. Your site will get a lot of traffic, and visitors will be impressed by the quality of your writing. However, the likelihood is that they won’t return to your site if you don’t also have their email address and have a mechanism to let them know about your most recent blog entries.
Increasing Subscribers
Now that you are aware of the benefits of creating a blog list, let’s discuss how to attract readers. Create your list and register for an account with an autoresponder provider. They will provide you a piece of code to paste into your website or blog in order to start collecting email addresses from visitors.
With an opt-in form on each page of your blog, you can get started quickly. Log in to the admin section of your blog to configure this. The opt-in form may be added most easily as a sidebar widget. If you don’t have a choice, manually change the theme file for your blog to add the opt-in form to the sidebar.
For the majority of my posts, I’ve found that the top of the side bar works best. Include a section for their first name and email address and a compelling headline outlining why they should join up. No matter where a visitor visits on your site, they have the option to sign up for regular email updates since the form is there on every page.
Next, think about establishing a special opt-in page. This is a single page with the sole objective of attracting subscribers to your list.
As an example, have a look at the page at the conclusion of this post. These opt-in sites are quite effective, but you must start directing traffic to them after you have put one up using your blog, social network accounts, article marketing, guest blogging, etc.
By providing a moral inducement to your readers, you may increase your opt-in rate—the proportion of them who eventually subscribe to your list. This simply means that you reward them for joining your list by giving them a little bit extra.
If you have your own product, this may be a brief report, a unique video, or even a promo code. Create a moral bribe and see if you can’t expand your list more quickly this way.
