Hover Opt-in Critique

It's hard to comment because the boxes alone are taken way out of context. You've got to look at the parent pages, when the opt-in box appears, where it appears on the page, is there annoying music or dialog playing...

There are many things to consider. I'd say that if you want significantly better results you consider creating opt-in pages completely devoted to getting sign-ups. Good luck.

Your copy is a little funky "blast your health into unchartered waters"
is bit strange way to make your point.

I think you could use some more specificity. I doubt folks want to
"blast their health" but they do want to know
"Why Some Foods Explode In Your Stomach" (a classic headline).

It's a little challenging to get specific when you feel your dietary
advice is a panacea for superior health, but to capture reader
imagination you really need to.

I'm not knocking the dietary angle, btw, because I've worked with
diet a lot and understand the benefits. But if you tell people who
want to lose weight "just stop eating crap!" they'll nod sheepishly
but they're unlikely to change their habits.

Real change, especially in the early stages, is tentative and fragile,
which is why that ad you see everywhere about the "1 rule for
losing belly fat" is so effective. It breaks down the benefit of losing
the fat to an implied cause-effect formula that is simple and easy -
just one old (proven and time tested) health rule.

I don't know anything about your traffic either, but if it's quality traffic
you should be able to bump your opt-ins by finding the specific appeal
in your stuff that lends itself to dramatization. Then your pop-up
should dramatize it.

I don't see your popup on your blog. Have you got it running?

Hi Mel [that's my daughter's name !}

I agree with lorin.....

I think that if you are more specific, and can offer a benefit it will be more compelling..

Like...Sign up to get my top tips to increase your energy and vitality!

Jane

Loren,

Yes, it's up. But I was testing a 50 second delay. So if you stay on the page long enough, it should appear.

Here's a selection of headlines I've tested:

"Transform ANY part of your life easily with 'The Lifestyle Makeover Guide...FREE today!
"Get Rid of Your Unhealthy Eating Habits Once and For All!"
"I'm Now Offering My Lifestyle Makeover Guide for FREE..."
"A Guide of Little Known Secrets Revealing Your Power to Change..."
"I'm currently offer my book 'The Lifestyle Makeover Guide' to you for FREE!"
"Because You Are New, I'm Offering You The Chance To Get My Book 'The Lifestyle Makeover Guide' Absolutely FREE!"
"Who Ever Heard Of A Woman Losing Weight And Enjoying 3 Delicious Meals At The Same Time?"
"This Free Guide takes you by the hand and enables you to overcome the bad habits which have led to your poor health!"

"...you should be able to bump your opt-ins by finding the specific appeal
in your stuff that lends itself to dramatization."

I'm not quite sure I follow you in that last sentence. Could you give an example?

Hi 'Mel's mum'

Isn't, "Sign up to get my top tips to increase your energy and vitality!" a little generic, too?

And never say "if" you join today. Always "when" you join today.

Where are you getting your traffic from? 2% conversion rate is extremely low for a squeeze page. Why dont you try mimicking double your datings old squeeze page, its worked well for many people

A 50 second delay is really long. Most visitors probably leave before
they see your offer.

^^ Agreed. I thought my ad blocker was catching it, until it finally showed up. Then it took quite a while to load, and if I had been on any other website I would have been dying for it to load so that I could close it.

The copy is mediocre, but it should be pulling in better than 2% if your traffic is at all targeted. My best guess is that the 50 second delay, and the load time of the lightbox, are quite possibly the big culprits in your low conversion rate.

To improve the copy, my only suggestion would be to try using that testimonial AS a headline, instead of burying it in a tiny font half way down the ad. Put the powerful message, the benefit, and the social proof front and center.

Good luck!

- Cherilyn

How much to hire someone to increase the subscription rate? Or how do you go about doing something like that?

Are copywriters paid according to performance? i.e. more money if you double the results rather than just get more?

No, even half decent copywriters dont write on speculation. There are many factors which can affect a piece of copy outside of the copywriters control (traffic, etc.)

That said your copy does suck so itd be a good idea to hire someone to do it.

Copywriters for squeeze pages will range from id say $100 - $1000. I think Raydal had a special where you got two landing pages, 7 emails and a salespage for like 3 grand. He has another one where you get just the salespage for $2000

So maybe you can ask him if he will do a squeeze page for like $350? I dono if thats what he charges or not, im just judging by the WSO, if you take the three things he does for $1000 and divide it by three that gives about $350. He may or may not go for that, I dono, youd have to ask. Im sure he'll chime in.

Oh Mike Humphreys good if you can afford him. I dono what he charges for a squeeze page. Metronicity's good. Subtle if you can hire him.

None of these guys are cheap so dont go in expecting el cheapo.

Thanks for the response, guys.

I wasn't asking those questions to belittle the work that copywriters do. Just wanting to be informed. I'm not an internet marketer as such. I've never created a product for sale or anything, even though I've been blogging for over three years.

I'm simply a health professional who works online.

Maximus,
I don't need a squeeze page. I have one that converts very well when people actually land on it: Free Book! ? Healthy Eating Ideas

However, only a couple of people each day go to it as I have one link in the authors bio of each article that directs people there. Most don't click on it.

I'm just wanting to get the lightbox opt-in converting higher, as hundreds of people see it every day.

A squeeze page and a light box are almost identical its just the format thats a bit different. From a copywriting perspective their about the same as it takes about the same amount of copy.

Also riddle me this, riddle me that, if you have a squeeze page that converts well then... use the same copy for the lightbox...

Also try putting a subscription box on your website instead of using a lightbox and then use more space and take the squeeze page that converts well and throw it on a sidebar of your website.

If you've got a squeeze page that converts then use it:

Add a link at the bottom of every post - "For more great information on staying healthy click here to get my FREE book" - or something.

Break your posts up more (your 5 ways, 7 methods etc. type posts) you'll then be able to post everyday which should further increase your traffic and the CTR to your squeeze page.

Get a good link (maybe graphic?) to your squeeze page above the fold on your main page.

If people are just after content your pop-up could be an annoyance. Can you tell how many people stay on your site after closing it?

Mel, I went to your website and maybe I am wrong, but I think you have a very strong theme that could appeal to the same type of personality that is most likely to take swift action: helping people take control over their own health.

You mention a diet obsessed world and I think that proves you have a very different approach than a lot of health oriented marketers out there. If people are finding your site, they obviously came of their own volition so maybe if you approached them from the angle of:

'Are you fed up with habits you hate having, but just as sick of advice you NEVER asked for? You can choose your own path to feeling calm, confident and looking exactly the way you want once you know your options'

The other thing I noticed is that you are really putting things into nice bite sized chunks for people and essentially doing their work for them. Something along the lines of, "Finding the simplest solutions to your most irritating health habits could take months - or my Lifestyle Makeover Guide could begin answering your questions in less than a minute!"

No matter what you decide on for your lightbox - great concept and excellent site, too!

Hi Mel - thank you for the compliment!

I like your new hover over, I just wanted to see if I could offer something that might tighten your copy?

You mention the reader being "too overweight" - I think maybe you meant either "too fat" (pardon the crudeness) or "overweight" but maybe not both?

Also you say "remove" embarrassment, but I think it flows a bit better as "eliminate embarrassment".

Either way, you've show a genuine tenacity towards raising the impact of your copy - bravo!

lol...

That hyped opt in? After 500 impressions, ONE submission!!!