In the last few weeks I’ve received a number of emails asking about squeeze pages and blogs.
What is the difference between a blog and a squeeze page? Do I need to have both? What are the pros and cons of each?
These are just some of the questions I’ve been getting.
In fact, there must be something in the water as in addition to these emails, the topic came up at my meetup group on Tuesday night here in London and again yesterday during our Gain Higher Ground live webinar!
It seems like a blog post on the subject is in order so here goes…!
Squeeze Pages
Here is an example of one of my squeeze pages:
As you can see a squeeze page is a single webpage who’s only job is to encourage visitors to sign up for your email list.
Most squeeze pages just consist of a headline, a list of benefits that the visitor will get when they subscribe (such as a newsletter and a free gift) and an opt-in web form.
They don’t have to look especially pretty, they just need to convert well! Conversion rates obviously vary depending upon the type of traffic you send to the page, by niche and how good the copy on the page is.
But to give you an idea, the conversion on the squeeze page I’ve linked to above is currently around 60%. This means out of every 100 people that visit this page, on average 60 of them enter their name and email address and join my list.
Blogs
Unlike squeeze pages, blogs have several different purposes.
However, to me the most important purpose of a blog is to act as a platform for building relationships with your subscribers.
As the internet’s landscape changes building trust with your subscribers is becoming more and more important and in the last few years blogs have become an excellent way of doing this for small business owners and larger corporate companies alike.
So whenever you write a blog post, email your subscribers with a link to it! Your blog is a great place you can bring all your subscribers together and give them the chance to interact…
The great thing about blogs is that you get many other benefits too:
1. Social Proof
When people comment on your blog, tweet or Like your posts this tells others that people are listening to you and what you have to say is valuable.
2. Google Traffic (SEO)
Google does not like squeeze pages (since they contain no content in themselves) so it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever get Google sending you visitors to your squeeze page.
On the other hand Google LOVES blogs! Written posts, images and embedded YouTube videos all tell Google that you are making a valuable contribution to the internet. Over time, if you keep up your blogging you’ll find you’ll get more and more traffic from Google.
Although this process can take months, it’s lovely when it happens as the traffic is passive! To give you an example, I have a niche blog site that I literally have not updated or touched for at least 7 months and Google still sends me between 80-120 targeted visitors per day (not a great deal but remember this is 100% “hands free” traffic for me now). Please also note that you DO need to regularly update your blog before you earn the Big-G’s trust in this way.
3. Opt-ins
Last but not least, blogs also provide a way for collecting names and email addresses just like squeeze pages do.
I think this is one point that gets people confused sometimes: Why bother with a separate squeeze page at all when you can just collect subscribers from your blog?
The answer to this question lies in the conversion rates…
Remember I mentioned that this page gets up to a 60% conversion rate? Well the form on the right hand side of this blog (scroll up to see) is EXACTLY the same offer yet it’s conversion rate is only around 9%.
The reason is because there are so many other distractions (good ones I hope!) such as the blog posts, navigation menu at the top and links to my membership site. Again the actual numbers will vary but this difference (i.e., blogs have lower conversions than squeeze pages) is somewhat of a “fundamental law” which holds true across all niches on the internet.
So, in a nutshell: Have a blog to build subscriber trust, Google LOVE, social proof and (some) optins. But also have a squeeze page to direct targeted traffic to absolutely maximise the growth in your email list.
Like I said, once people have signed up you can email them to send them back to your blog anyway!
Just like I did with this post 😉
Was this post useful for you? What are your thoughts and questions? Please drop a comment below and let me know…
Hi Rob
Love the post, especially in light of your fantastic webinar last night. Wow! a 60% conversion rate as opposed to a 9% conversion rate. This has to be a ‘no brainer’. Off to sort out my squeeze page. Thank you.
Thanks Kate 🙂
As I said these actual number will vary (and do vary for me depending upon the type of traffic I generate) but the “rule” definitely applies to all niches.
Good luck with your squeeze page!
Kind regards,
Rob.
Hi Rob,
Many thanks for this explanation…it certainloy clarifies matters.
However, where is the squeeze page stored – presumably as a page on the website? Also, are squeeze page software generators any good?
Hi Graham,
Thanks for your contribution. 🙂
Yes, you can store the squeeze page on a page on your website. For example: mywebsite.com/squeezepage. Alternatively you could buy a separate domain for it: Squeezepage.com.
It doesn’t REALLY matter but the advantage of a separate domain is that its easier for people to remember, looks a little cleaner and there’s less chance people will play around with the web address to explore your site (rather than just signing up which is what we want them to do!). The disadvantage of a separate domain is obviously you have to pay to register it (although only $10 for a year so no a massive deal).
Automatic squeeze page generation software can be good. The absolutely best on the market is Optimize Press. I own it and it really is a fantastic piece of kit. However, it does cost money.
I actually think it is well worth spending some time learning how to create separate squeeze pages. To do this you need to learn Kompozer (a free HTML editor), FTP (to get the page online) and obviously Aweber to put the opt in form there. These are not difficult and its well worth learning as these skills are very useful for other things you’ll want to do in your online business.
Without wishing to do a veiled pitch for my membership site(!) we do look at all of this in exact detail so you can learn how to do it right (and for free rather than paying for software).
Hope this helps Graham!
Rob
Hi Rob
Please go into more detail regarding your comment: “…there’s less chance people will play around with the web address to explore your site (rather than just signing up which is what we want them to do!).
Some IMers advise using an extra folder between the index and sales page e.g. mywebsite.com/goto/squeezepage Do you think this helps?
Richard
Hi Richard,
I just meant that if you land on a squeeze page which has the address:
http://www.richardswebsite.com/squeezepage
Then I might be tempted to edit the address in the browser and check out just the main domain http://www.richardswebsite.com to see what is there.
It’s a small point really – nothing to worry about. But with squeeze pages you just want to do everything possible to avoid distractions and encourage as many people to sign up as possible.
And yes, you certainly can use an extra folder. It probably doesn’t help with your first point although it can make organising your files in your hosting account a little easier.
Hope this helps – hope to see you here on the blog again soon 🙂
Rob
Hi Rob,
Thanks for the very clear explanation of the difference between blogs & squeeze pages. I particularly liked the fact of having your opt-in forms in different places to increase your conversion rates.
Nick
Hi Nick,
My pleasure, as I said I know a lot of people were asking so it seemed to make sense to blog about it. Especially as this is often not talked about very often.
Glad you found it useful!
Cheers! Rob.
Hi Rob
Great post as usual – but how do you get traffic to your squeezepage – I am slightly confused.
Hi David,
Traffic is a big topic and outside the realm of this particular post.
Guest posting, blog commenting, forums, offering free content, webinars, solo ads, JV giveaways, interviews, keyword targeting, Joint Ventures, the list goes on.
Traffic is something that a lot of people struggle with but its really just a skill like anything else. Something you need to invest time in to get the results you want.
If you’re looking for extensive in depth training then you might like to consider this or alternatively click on the “Traffic” category on the left hand side of this blog.
Kind regards,
Rob
Hi Rob,
Thanks a lot for your explanation between blog and squeeze page.
My question is this : Is it possible to upload free squeeze page containing template and opt in form saved on my hard drive to my blogger squeeze page? If it is possible how will i do it because i don’t know how to design blogger squeeze template.
Hi Adekola,
Glad you enjoyed this post and thank you for letting me know.
I’m not sure whether you can do this with Blogger I’m afraid. In general I wouldn’t recommend using this or other hosted blogs it’s much better to have your blog installed on your own domain and upload your squeeze page there.
If you’re not sure how to create squeeze pages then I highly recommend you check out OptimizePress. It’s probably the best value product I’ve purchased online EVER!
Hope this helps 🙂
Rob
Your post is very informative! Correct me if I’m wrong: You mean that a optin page converse better than a squeeze page? I bookmark your page, so I’m waiting for you to answer me!
Yes, Joenie thanks correct! Cheers – Rob.
OK… I get it. That makes so much sense after reading through this. It cleared up all the questions I had. Thanks! 🙂
Hi Deb, Great stuff – glad this helped 🙂 Cheers, Rob.
Thanks Rob this has been useful for me today. I had my biggest surge in traffic yesterday to date but no subscribers an barely any comments. Blegh! I know I need to work on something to sort this out so a squeeze page it is! I maybe need to put together a better free product. Thanks anyway for a useful post 🙂
Hey Laura,
Thanks for letting me know – glad this came at the right time for you 🙂
Cheers,
Rob
P.S. Really like the look of your site by the way – great job!