Create Stunning Opt-In Forms That Convert With These 9 Best Practices

These are the 5 most popular types of pop-up opt-in forms:

But which one will work best for your marketing strategy? Let’s find out.

A popup is a form that pops up in front of the visitor after they’ve been on your site for a certain amount of time.

Whereas, a landing page is an entirely separate webpage with the intent to convert visitors.

Pop-ups tend to be more effective than landing pages — here’s why:

Using only one type of opt-in form isn’t effective at encouraging new subscribers.

Different users will consume your content in different ways, so make sure that you’re catering to everyone.

Here’s an example from the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI):

There are two opt-in processes that you can follow — either a single opt-in or a double opt-in.

A single opt-in requires only one action — usually inputting an email address.

The double opt-in involves more than one step.

This opt-in method is used effectively by Sam Dey and consists of just 2 steps:

Creating an opt-in form that’s triggered by a specific action (like abandoning a cart) helps you target users based on their specific interests.

Here’s an example from Everlane — the opt-in form is triggered depending on which section of their website you’re browsing:

The more time users need to spend to fill in your form, the more likely they are to bounce, so make your opt-in process as simple as possible.

You can limit it to just one field, as Pull&Bear have done:

You want the CTA button to be visible immediately — your visitors shouldn’t wonder what you want them to do or where they should sign up.

For example, have a look at how Coschedule uses contrasting colors to make their CTA eye-catching:

While a sticky bar reminding users of your weekly newsletter might convince some visitors to subscribe, a pop-up lead magnet won’t have the same effect.

Don’t interrupt your visitors while they’re reading your content to ask them to sign up for your newsletter.

You need to promise them something more valuable!

Here’s a great example — Olivier Roland provides his viewers with a real incentive (more powerful than a newsletter) to get their email addresses:

A great way to encourage more email opt-ins is by creating forms and lead magnets that speak directly to the user’s intent.

The more specific the form, the more leads it will gather.

SEMRush’s in-content opt-in form appears on a blog post about why you need a content calendar:

How the different design elements interact with each other greatly affects the viewer’s response.

Here’s an example from goop:

Images can also be a great addition to your opt-in form, but they need to be relevant to the offer and evoke the right emotion.

A/B testing is your best friend in the marketing world.

Test everything!

From the copy to the colors, to the layout — the more you test, the better your form will be.

By partnering with a tool like systeme.io, you can easily split test your pages and compare the data:

All of systeme.io’s features are geared to help you launch, grow, and scale your business.

With us, you’ll get access to:

With systeme.io, you also get tools to:

And more, for free!

Having everything you need seamlessly integrated into one platform will allow you to run your business more efficiently.

With the Freemium plan, you also get access to:

Scaling your business with systeme.io also couldn’t be more affordable:

Join the systeme.io family today!

A well-designed opt-in form can be the key to building your list and converting more leads into paying customers.

With systeme.io, you can build a great opt-in form and manage all those contacts that come streaming in!

Visit systeme.io today to sign up for your free account, and get a head start in running your business!