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squeeze page vs. blog

by chrislewis217
14 replies
Hey guys Merry Christmas and hope everyone is having a wonderful and joyous day. Anyways had a question which method of list building gives you a better return on investment:

1. Having a blog posting solid content and having your opt-in box on the side

or

2. Having just a squeeze page where the viewer fills in their info and get on your list with the offer of a freebie ?

I know this is kind of debateable and most would argue that a blog with a opt-in box on the side will give you a better ROI vs. people opting-in your squeeze page just for the sole purpose of getting the freebie and not purchasing anything from you. Now I've noticed that most or some of the gurus seem to use mostly squeeze pages more such as Frank Kern, John Reese, and Jeff Walker to build their lists. I don't know, what do you guys think?

-Chris
#blog #page #squeeze
  • Profile picture of the author Jeremy Stephens
    I think blog with optin box. Especially if you offer a free report or something on completing the opt in. If the blog has good regular content, people will be drawn and will return to the blog.

    Just my thoughts.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by chrislewis217 View Post

    I don't know, what do you guys think?
    Honestly, Chris, it doesn't much matter what any of us thinks.

    All that matters is which works best for you, in your business. And you can find that out only by split-testing it in your business.

    The answer's going to depend on many different factors. In my opinion, the "traffic demographics" are the single most significant variable. (In other words, who the people comprising the "traffic" are, how you're attracting them, what you're offering them as an incentive to opt in, and so on.)

    Wanting to learn the answer to this myself, last year, I split-tested, in each of four entirely unrelated niches, over a 6-month period.

    I found that in all four I built a bigger list from the squeeze pages but earned more money from the resulting lists built without them (i.e. with just a prominently incentivized opt-in on a landing-page of a content-rich site/blog). So I don't use squeeze pages any more in any of my current 8 niches (the niches themselves are totally unrelated, but my traffic demographics remain very similar).

    I think the specific mistake to avoid, here, is the assumption (because that's all it is) that building a bigger list will necessarily lead to more long-term income.

    When I tested, I actually found the exact opposite, independently, four times over, in each of four unrelated niches.

    It's tempting (but deeply mistaken) to imagine that if one method opts in more people than another, that's because one is attracting the same, relatively fixed group of people plus some additional ones. Although there'll be some overlap (and the higher the numbers are, the greater will be the overlap), this is typically not the case: what one's often really attracting is different people. And that's why these things can be a little trickier to measure "meaningfully" than many people think.

    Realistically, in my opinion, "other answers", without your split-testing it yourself, are pure guesswork.

    Specifically, I'd advise you to treat with some caution the views of anyone urging you "just to use squeeze pages", without adequate split-testing, on the "grounds" that they may build lists more quickly. Those may also be lists with poor open-rates, which is what really matters, after all. Quality is far, far more important than quantity. I'm "just saying".
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    • Profile picture of the author chrislewis217
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Honestly, Chris, it doesn't much matter what any of us thinks.

      All that matters is which works best for you, in your business. And you can find that out only by split-testing it in your business.

      The answer's going to depend on many different factors. In my opinion, the "traffic demographics" are the single most significant variable. (In other words, who the people comprising the "traffic" are, how you're attracting them, what you're offering them as an incentive to opt in, and so on.)

      Wanting to learn the answer to this myself, last year, I split-tested, in each of four entirely unrelated niches, over a 6-month period.

      I found that in all four I built a bigger list from the squeeze pages but earned more money from the resulting lists built without them (i.e. with just a prominently incentivized opt-in on a landing-page of a content-rich site/blog). So I don't use squeeze pages any more in any of my current 8 niches (the niches themselves are totally unrelated, but my traffic demographics remain very similar).

      I think the specific mistake to avoid, here, is the assumption (because that's all it is) that building a bigger list will necessarily lead to more long-term income.

      When I tested, I actually found the exact opposite, independently, four times over, in each of four unrelated niches.

      It's tempting (but deeply mistaken) to imagine that if one method opts in more people than another, that's because one is attracting the same, relatively fixed group of people plus some additional ones. Although there'll be some overlap (and the higher the numbers are, the greater will be the overlap), this is typically not the case: what one's often really attracting is different people. And that's why these things can be a little trickier to measure "meaningfully" than many people think.

      Realistically, in my opinion, "other answers", without your split-testing it yourself, are pure guesswork. Specifically, I'd advise you to treat with some caution the views of anyone urging you to use squeeze pages without adequate split-testing on the "grounds" that they may build lists more quickly. Those may also be lists with poor open-rates, which is what really matters, after all. I'm "just saying".

      Hey Alexa before I asked the question on this forum I googled it and saw your reply to most people's similar question. Anyways, I appreciate the reply and had one question if you dont mind me asking. What was your sales conversion rates when you presented an offer to both of the tested lists?
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by chrislewis217 View Post

        What was your sales conversion rates when you presented an offer to both of the tested lists?
        "Sales conversion rates" are close-to-impossible to discuss (especially here) without endless definitions/discussions of parameters, and it's honestly a subject to which I don't attempt to put figures in public, Chris, sorry. (Some previous experience of trying to do so has led to quite some disputes!).

        However, if it helps, the income I made in the four niches tested, with the segregated lists, over a 6-month period, sending identical material to each, was (in round numbers) between 15% and 30% higher from the "opt-in-box lists" than it was from the "squeeze page lists".

        Accurately measuring open-rates is a little more difficult than some people claim (for quite a variety of reasons, some connected with the pixel system which autoresponder companies use in HTML-versions of emails, to monitor this), but my impression (offering no proof) is that my open-rates - especially for the first few emails of the series - were significantly higher among people who'd seen a content-rich site before/while opting in, rather than having seen only a squeeze page, and this may account for at least some of the difference.

        I can offer you no convincing evidence of this, but my feeling is that squeeze-page sign-ups include a significantly higher proportion of what one might call "pure freebie-seekers", and my strong suspicion is that some people will even use a different (and in their mind "lower priority") email address for signing up to a squeeze page from the one they'll provide if I've already established a much higher degree of trust with them by showing them a content-rich site first.

        Given that income from affiliate sales is inherently trust-based (many people buy, ultimately, "because they trust the recommendation"), I think this is very significant.

        It is for my business, anyway: I've found that it pays to avoid just "building as big a list as possible".

        And I know with certainty (from subscriber feedback) that there are also many people who will subscribe using an opt-in on a content-rich site but simply won't at all, from a squeeze page. (Until I became an internet marketer, I was actually one of them, myself, too).

        I associate those customer demographics with (very broadly speaking, in generalisations!) "older, more affluent, better educated, more literate people" who I know are far better long-term customers for me, and who are alienated by many "typical marketers' presentations". So it suits me to cater for this huge and (in my opinion) undertargeted demographic.

        There's a lot of "theory" in this, and to what extent any of it applies to you, of course, is a totally different issue, and one you can resolve only by split-testing for yourself. But for me, opt-in-box subscribers, overall, are "better quality" than squeeze-page subscribers, and that translates very directly into money in the bank.

        To put it bluntly, the view that "the more people who subscribe, the more money you make" is simplistic nonsense, widely believed by people who haven't split-tested it for themselves, but just enjoy repeating the doctrines of the ever-pervasive "Urban Myth School" of internet marketing. A lot of this stuff boils down to "This must be the right way to do it, because it's what everyone does, and they must all know what they're doing". Let's hope you can manage a little better than that, for the "reasoning" behind your business decisions. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author tweakr
    I would say a combination of the two, a blog will get you more attention and more readers, but a squeeze page will help you "funnel" more of your visitors into doing what you want them to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    By far, BY FAR, a Squeeze Page.

    List building and proper list management should be a #1 priority in this business, and dedicated Squeeze Pages build lists much faster than opt-in boxes embedded into a blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author steve72b
    blog is far more scalable solution than sqeezing in. Depends how you plan your project you may start as a guest and then transfer the content to your blog
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  • Profile picture of the author tarad
    I think I prefer the squeeze page opt-in.
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  • Profile picture of the author GeoMasters
    The best advice I can give you is to split test. I have tried both and have had great success with each one. I like to setup a squeeze page before I start writing content for my blog so I can build a list while I get articles done.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nexstair
    A squeeze page works well but what if you get it in wordpress???

    Enjoy both squeeze page and blogging experience !
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    Custom Website design | Affordable Theme Development | Special Discount for Warriors
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Lead them straight to the squeeze page. Keep the marketing as simple as possible. Get them to sign up, pitch them some high quality information, and continue to email them every 3 days until they buy.

    I have no squabbles about blogs and the opt-in box on the side, but due to my research/experience on the topic, i've found that the squeeze page out pulls in terms of sales definitely.

    I might get 20 leads a day from the squeeze page, and only 5 leads from the blog from the same amount of traffic. And i've found that the more leads you have, the more money you're likely to make.

    Plus, if they found your "freebie" very useful and helpful... they'll be more inclined to view you as an expert and stay subscribed to your email newsletter so that they can get more good tips. And then of course, this is where you should sell them on your product.
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    ==>> Free book reveals make money with affiliate marketing
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  • Profile picture of the author ryuchi
    It really depends on the niche, the type of readers you have. But the best way of getting emails for me is through annoying pop-ups. It does get the reader's attention. Next is the squeeze page and last is the opt-in in the side bar.

    Ryuchi
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    • Profile picture of the author JudeS
      A squeeze page is in line with the 'sales funnel' school of thought a blog on the other had is quite casual. From an Optin perspective a blog is a better idea, the customer glances across and opts in if he feels good about it.
      A squeeze page on the other had should be designed to "squeeze"(read persuade) the customer through a sales process filled with trial buys in order to persuade the customer to buy(which is the bottom line).
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteSmarty
    The speed at which you build our list is irrelevant, so is the size of your list. You want folks who want your remarkable information to optin. Then eventually sell them something.

    You can have both a blog and squeeze page. On the blog hang your otpin description just under your nav menu with the text on the left and optin form on the right. Your posts and sidebar will be under the optin stuff.

    Use squeeze pages when you send someone to your site. Say you send them form the Warrior Forum. Send them to your landing or squeeze page.

    Sprinkle optin fields throughout your site and segment your lists to what interests your visitors.

    I agree with those who recommend testing. Test everything, all the time.
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