Static squeeze page vs blog?

24 replies
Hi everyone.

So, I've read that static squeeze pages (no navigation bar, just sales copy/letter and opt-in box) convert much better than the equivalent on blogs (blog posts or sidebars with opt-in boxes on the site). Is this true?

If this is true, is the higher conversion rate significant enough to be more profitable than the better search engine rankings a blog would get because of its keyword-rich blog posts?
#blog #page #squeeze #static
  • Profile picture of the author tim_buchalka
    Generally speaking the less choices there are on a page the better.

    Because chances are a visitor will perform the action (choice) you do NOT want them to take.

    Blogs can be really distracting, with category links, headers, ads, links to other articles, etc.

    You can get around this to a degree by making it very clear in each article what you want them to do.

    Focus not so much on "conversion" in my opinion, but whats best for your customer. While in there a static squeeze page may technically be a better converter is the visitor going to have enough information about you to decide to opt-in?

    A blog is a good vehicle to show people you know your niche well and have a good level of expertise - Hard to do this on a static squeeze page.

    Personally I would go the blog approach.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
      Originally Posted by tim_buchalka View Post

      Generally speaking the less choices there are on a page the better.

      Because chances are a visitor will perform the action (choice) you do NOT want them to take.

      Blogs can be really distracting, with category links, headers, ads, links to other articles, etc.

      You can get around this to a degree by making it very clear in each article what you want them to do.

      Focus not so much on "conversion" in my opinion, but whats best for your customer. While in there a static squeeze page may technically be a better converter is the visitor going to have enough information about you to decide to opt-in?

      A blog is a good vehicle to show people you know your niche well and have a good level of expertise - Hard to do this on a static squeeze page.

      Personally I would go the blog approach.
      Ok thank you for the feedback. Would a blend of these two work? Like maybe have the homepage of the blog act as a squeeze page and have a link to all of the recent articles (like a normal blog) as a button called "Blog" in the navigation bar? Or I could have a squeeze-box with a short paragraph or bullet list and an opt-in box on the homepage above the recent blog posts, but below the navigation bar?
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  • Profile picture of the author Studio13
    Best squeeze page conversions I've ever seen came from a graphic that looked like a video waiting to be played - and a script installed so when you clicked the play button a popup came up and told you to sign up to watch the video.

    Of course, the headline over the video made a bold promise that the video was expected to deliver. Either way, this can be done on a blog or static page. Optimize press is less busy WP theme and is getting some buzz lately in the IM community.
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  • Profile picture of the author b2finc
    bcarl6,

    I found that video squeeze page work well for my niche. I can deliver a solid amount of content and still get the CTA within a specific amount of time without losing the visitor. If you have a good tight script that hits all the triggers and then you finish with a strong call to action you shouild see very good opt-ins from your video squeeze page.

    I like to provide about 90% content and then transition into my close. I'll say something like if you like this information i just delivered you'll love what else i have for you. I'm no expert, but it seem to be working for me, and I'm always trying to tweak my tone, and style to connect with my viewer.

    I learn this directly from Brendan Burchard's Total Product Blueprint. That's a fantastic course on product creation and marketing.

    I too love Blog's, but i use them differently. Tim is right a blog can have too much details and your vistor could get lost, but with solid content mostly likely they'll come back.

    I hope that helps.

    Be Well

    B2finc
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    • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
      Originally Posted by Studio13 View Post

      Best squeeze page conversions I've ever seen came from a graphic that looked like a video waiting to be played - and a script installed so when you clicked the play button a popup came up and told you to sign up to watch the video.

      Of course, the headline over the video made a bold promise that the video was expected to deliver. Either way, this can be done on a blog or static page. Optimize press is less busy WP theme and is getting some buzz lately in the IM community.
      Woah, great idea. Never would have thought of that! Is that feature built into Optimize Press? If not, where can I get a plugin like that? That sounds amazing

      Originally Posted by b2finc View Post

      bcarl6,

      I found that video squeeze page work well for my niche. I can deliver a solid amount of content and still get the CTA within a specific amount of time without losing the visitor. If you have a good tight script that hits all the triggers and then you finish with a strong call to action you shouild see very good opt-ins from your video squeeze page.

      I like to provide about 90% content and then transition into my close. I'll say something like if you like this information i just delivered you'll love what else i have for you. I'm no expert, but it seem to be working for me, and I'm always trying to tweak my tone, and style to connect with my viewer.

      I learn this directly from Brendan Burchard's Total Product Blueprint. That's a fantastic course on product creation and marketing.

      I too love Blog's, but i use them differently. Tim is right a blog can have too much details and your vistor could get lost, but with solid content mostly likely they'll come back.

      B2finc
      Excellent advice. Will definitely be looking into videos.

      I am just worried that I will struggle far more trying to rank a dual/triple page squeeze-based site rather than a full blog with keyword-rich articles. The search engine ranking issue is the only thing holding me back from creating the squeeze site.

      (squeeze page opt-in homepage offering sample ---> redirect after opt in ----> sales page for full ebook)
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  • Profile picture of the author paul_1
    Wow something to think about... So we can launch a hundred websites, but all just squeeze pages...
    Signature
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    • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
      Originally Posted by paul_1 View Post

      Wow something to think about... So we can launch a hundred websites, but all just squeeze pages...
      I'm saying that the homepage of the site would just be a squeeze page - no articles, blog posts, or other information besides links at the bottom of the page for privacy policy, contact us, etc.

      After the visitors opt-in to receive the free report, they are redirected to the sales page for the ebook (on the same site: www._____.com/productname.html).

      This is not uncommon at all.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
        Originally Posted by illinimatt81 View Post

        Why not have your blog and then have a link to the squeeze page somewhere? It can be on the same domain. Once you link to it have the squeeze page not have navigation or anyway out other than the back button, thus the natural course of action is to opt-in or buy, whichever the case may be?

        This is easy accomplished if you are using wordpress.
        Yeah, that was one of my ideas.

        It's just that I want the main purpose of the site to be to capture emails or sell the ebook. I know that conversational and informative blog posts are helpful to build an audience, but I want to converse with my audience via email, not through a blog.

        I just feel like a simple squeeze page homepage (two or three page total) site would be more effective for my goals.

        The only reason I would use a blog as my site model would be to boost my google rankings by providing 10 or so keyword-rich blog posts. I could not do that with the squeeze page model. I would have to find some other way to boost my ranking.
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        • Profile picture of the author Sid Hale
          Originally Posted by bcarl6 View Post

          I just feel like a simple squeeze page homepage (two or three page total) site would be more effective for my goals.

          The only reason I would use a blog as my site model would be to boost my google rankings by providing 10 or so keyword-rich blog posts. I could not do that with the squeeze page model. I would have to find some other way to boost my ranking.
          But you could...

          Put your squeeze page and related pages at the root domain, so that the "home page" of the site (i.e. http://mydomain.com) is the squeeze page. Set the return page (from the optin) to the download page for your freebie (i.e. http://mydomain.com/download.htm).

          On that page, give the visitor
          • a download link for the free ebook,
          • a link to your sales page for your paid ebook, and
          • a link to your blog (which you will install in a subdirectory).

          In a subdirectory (i.e. http://mydomain.com/blog/) install Wordpress to get help with your site SEO. In each of the dozen or so posts, mention your free offer in the sidebar, and link back up to your squeeze page.

          Note - instead of naming the folder "blog", name it using your primary keyword phrase ( i.e. http://mydomain.com/golfarticles/)

          Your free ebook should also contain a blurb about your paid ebook, and include a link back to that sales page.

          Voila! Your minisite and blog co-exist on the same domain. You reap the benefits of enhanced SEO from the Wordpress blog, and the internal linking back to your minisite pages will help their rankings, as well (which, if I'm not mistaken, was your original goal).

          Hope this helps,
          Signature

          Sid Hale
          Coming Soon... Rapid Action Profits (Pro)

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          • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
            Originally Posted by Sid Hale View Post

            But you could...

            Put your squeeze page and related pages at the root domain, so that the "home page" of the site (i.e. http://mydomain.com) is the squeeze page. Set the return page (from the optin) to the download page for your freebie (i.e. http://mydomain.com/download.htm).

            On that page, give the visitor
            • a download link for the free ebook,
            • a link to your sales page for your paid ebook, and
            • a link to your blog (which you will install in a subdirectory).

            In a subdirectory (i.e. http://mydomain.com/blog/) install Wordpress to get help with your site SEO. In each of the dozen or so posts, mention your free offer in the sidebar, and link back up to your squeeze page.

            Note - instead of naming the folder "blog", name it using your primary keyword phrase ( i.e. http://mydomain.com/golfarticles/)

            Your free ebook should also contain a blurb about your paid ebook, and include a link back to that sales page.

            Voila! Your minisite and blog co-exist on the same domain. You reap the benefits of enhanced SEO from the Wordpress blog, and the internal linking back to your minisite pages will help their rankings, as well (which, if I'm not mistaken, was your original goal).

            Hope this helps,
            You are a god! I have no idea why I could not think of that. I am 95% sure that is the model I am going to use. Thank you so much for the straightforward and practical answer.
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            • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
              Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

              You should setup a squeeze page, capture the lead, then redirect to your blog. Then give them tips via email and drive them back to your blog where you have adsense and affiliate links (Clickbank) inserted onto your blog in all the right places.
              Great ideas. Also did not think of using Adsense on the blog. I was too focused on promoting JUST my ebook and the free report.

              Originally Posted by chinacharly View Post

              lala77, I'm not a forum moderator and really not qualified to "correct" you as I just registered myself not too long ago but I think you might be "highjacking" the original poster's thread. But I'll answer your question anyway.

              If you are using an autoresponder like AWeber or GetResponse, et al...they have easy to implement tools that will generate the opt-in popup for you. If you are not...well, why not? But really, if you aren't using a paid autoresponder, there are many software popup packages out there, free and paid, that will do the trick. But you DEFINITELY need to be capturing those visitors that you have worked so hard to get.

              bcarl6, Sid Hale is right. Just having a squeeze page will not in itself be enough IF you are trying to get SERP rankings. The SE's don't like "squeeze pages" and they will not rank well on their own (disregarding BH methods which are just temporarily effective at best and could get you in trouble). A squeeze page/sales page backed by your blog will be the best of both worlds. I would add to make the blog a membership site (free membership if they opt-in to your list) and charge for it if the content is something you feel is worth paying for. Or better yet, have a "free" section as well as a members-only section. Free section is where you can place all your SERP articles and the good stuff goes in the paid section. Don't forget to edit the robots.txt file and protect any downloadable content if you go this route.

              May sound complicated but if using wordpress or Joomla or any good CMS package, it isn't all that hard. Plenty of plugins to help.

              But going back to your first thread, don't get too bogged down in all the details and suggestions that are getting thrown at you (including mine!). If you do, you'll find yourself 6 months later still "working on it"!

              1. Get the ebook done
              2. Get the squeeze page done
              3. Launch it
              4. Do all the rest after....

              That way, you have gotten started already!
              Thank you so much for your detailed response.
              You and Sid have got me past my creative block. So refreshing!
              And thanks for reminding me about the robots.txt, I actually already knew that but would have completely forgot about it if you didn't just post that.
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              • Profile picture of the author Stella Foong
                Thank you so much all and sorry for "hijacking", bcarl6. I thought it's relevant here.
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              • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
                Originally Posted by lala77 View Post

                Thank you so much all and sorry for "hijacking", bcarl6. I thought it's relevant here.
                Oh it's fine. People help me as well when they answer your question.

                Originally Posted by Jon Penberthy View Post

                To give you an idea...My sidebar opt in box converts around 10% on my blog where as my squeeze page converts around 30%-40%.
                Ok thank you for the definitive stats. I am definitely going to use the squeeze page model now.
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  • Profile picture of the author Studio13
    The script I was referring to earlier is a javascript obviously. It needs to display a popup message when an image is clicked. Those are the basic parameters you'll want to search for on Hotscripts or the likes.
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  • Profile picture of the author Stella Foong
    I have a blogsite that already ranks as top 3 in Google for a certain keyword but I'm not capturing visitors. I don't know which would be better. To have a opt-in box on the side bar or have a pop-up. I would think that the pop up box would be more effectively but I don't know how to do that. Any advice?
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    • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
      Originally Posted by lala77 View Post

      I have a blogsite that already ranks as top 3 in Google for a certain keyword but I'm not capturing visitors. I don't know which would be better. To have a opt-in box on the side bar or have a pop-up. I would think that the pop up box would be more effectively but I don't know how to do that. Any advice?
      You should setup a squeeze page, capture the lead, then redirect to your blog. Then give them tips via email and drive them back to your blog where you have adsense and affiliate links (Clickbank) inserted onto your blog in all the right places.
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  • Profile picture of the author chinacharly
    lala77, I'm not a forum moderator and really not qualified to "correct" you as I just registered myself not too long ago but I think you might be "highjacking" the original poster's thread. But I'll answer your question anyway.

    If you are using an autoresponder like AWeber or GetResponse, et al...they have easy to implement tools that will generate the opt-in popup for you. If you are not...well, why not? But really, if you aren't using a paid autoresponder, there are many software popup packages out there, free and paid, that will do the trick. But you DEFINITELY need to be capturing those visitors that you have worked so hard to get.

    bcarl6, Sid Hale is right. Just having a squeeze page will not in itself be enough IF you are trying to get SERP rankings. The SE's don't like "squeeze pages" and they will not rank well on their own (disregarding BH methods which are just temporarily effective at best and could get you in trouble). A squeeze page/sales page backed by your blog will be the best of both worlds. I would add to make the blog a membership site (free membership if they opt-in to your list) and charge for it if the content is something you feel is worth paying for. Or better yet, have a "free" section as well as a members-only section. Free section is where you can place all your SERP articles and the good stuff goes in the paid section. Don't forget to edit the robots.txt file and protect any downloadable content if you go this route.

    May sound complicated but if using wordpress or Joomla or any good CMS package, it isn't all that hard. Plenty of plugins to help.

    But going back to your first thread, don't get too bogged down in all the details and suggestions that are getting thrown at you (including mine!). If you do, you'll find yourself 6 months later still "working on it"!

    1. Get the ebook done
    2. Get the squeeze page done
    3. Launch it
    4. Do all the rest after....

    That way, you have gotten started already!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[5617735].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jon Penberthy
    Yes squeeze pages convert a hell of a lot better than sidebar webforms on blogs etc.

    With blogs there is too much to distract the visitor from what you want them to do (opt in) but with a squeeze page obviously it's primary focus is to lead them to the opt in box.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Penberthy
    To give you an idea...My sidebar opt in box converts around 10% on my blog where as my squeeze page converts around 30%-40%.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brendan Carl
    Just a quick question though Sid.
    Thats a great idea to link to the sales page and the blog on the thank you/ download page. But, I feel like I'd make more sales if I redirected visitors (directly after opt-in) straight to the sales page for the ebook.
    Maybe I could write up a quick bullet list and nice headline above the sales page link to get more clicks? That would probably work best if the page visitors are redirected to after opt-in was a thank you/download page.
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  • Profile picture of the author successproducts
    Yeah I could not said it better myself. Definitely squeeze page static and install blog inside a sub-domain. Definitely add videos and text together -- and yes -- to almost all posts here.
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