Here’s a curious thing…
Very early in my “internet” years, I discovered that the fewer options I put on the site, the more people opted in. That’s where my “single purpose websites” philosophy comes from.
And when you think about it…
Now, look at the majority of the websites out there. If you have ten other things that somebody can click on, the odds of them opting in are one in ten. But when the only thing your visitor can do is to leave their name and their email address, the response rates go up very high.
I noticed how, for most of them, it only LOOKED like the only thing you could do was to leave your email address… but in reality, you still have access to the rest of the content? That’s because they all have “the escape valve” in place. I’m sure you’ve seen it around. You come to a site, and almost immediately, you get a pop-up, a “welcome mat” asking you to opt-in to a newsletter or offering you “3 Ways To Do X”.
What do you do?
Like most people, you click on the “No thanks” option. You want to have a look at the rest of the content first.
That’s the escape valve!
And even if you’re interested in what they’re offering, just because there was something else you could do on that website was enough reason for you to NOT opt-in immediately.
In all of the highest converting things that I do…
There’s always a single-purpose approach to it. There’s an offer for a specific book or a specific report and nothing else. All you can do on that site is leave your name and email address. It may sound limiting, but you know what? I get 60 to 70% to opt-in rates on pages like that. And a massive part of it is because there’s no other choice or escape valve.
Because here’s the thing: People will take the available option when interested in something. And if you dilute their votes to ten other things…
You’re going to dilute your results, too.
for more on the escape valve, listen to the podcast here.
