How Important Is An Opt-In Form Above The Fold?

11 years ago

It depends upon what the main objective is for your site and
each page.

If it's to build a list, then having a prominent opt-in form
'above the fold' is essential.

Ask yourself what purpose your slider achieves and whether
it's more or less important to you than building your list.

Personally, my main objective is to get people onto my list
so having prominent opt-in forms above the fold are non-
negotiable.

(Everything else plays second fiddle to that).

I took a quick look at your site and it looks good. I'd replace
the dynamic slides with a static opt-in form. It's not rocket
science to change it over.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

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popmarco 11 years ago

Thanks a lot for dropping by Shaun! Building a list is extremely important to me as well. I'll find a way to bring the opt-in form on top.

Thanks!
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isaacsmithjones

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly

It depends upon what the main objective is for your site and
each page.

If it's to build a list, then having a prominent opt-in form
'above the fold' is essential.

Ask yourself what purpose your slider achieves and whether
it's more or less important to you than building your list.

Personally, my main objective is to get people onto my list
so having prominent opt-in forms above the fold are non-
negotiable.

(Everything else plays second fiddle to that).

I took a quick look at your site and it looks good. I'd replace
the dynamic slides with a static opt-in form. It's not rocket
science to change it over.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

We're always told to test EVERYTHING.

And that's sound advice.

But Shaun has hit the nail on the head.

When I had the time, I did some experimenting with "above the fold" and "below the fold" opt in forms, and above ALWAYS won.

If your priority is to build you list, then maximise all of the obvious conversion factors, and this is a BIG one.

Thanks

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John Romaine 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly

Ask yourself what purpose your slider achieves and whether it's more or less important to you than building your list.

I only read this far.

Sliders are total wank factor and serve no purpose. Ditch it.

I think we both said the same thing, Shaun just put it more elegantly than me

Whatever you do, make sure you track it, split test and measure your results.
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drewfioravanti

11 years ago

Exactly. It depends on the focus of your site. If the focus is to show your most popular content via the slider, then that is what you should use. If you want to focus on building a list, you should consider moving the opt in form above the fold.

I prefer full width opt in forms...but my focus is to build lists.

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Sue McDonald

11 years ago

Just had a look at your site and in my opinion your graphics are very badly cropped. I could hardly make out what they were. You have a lot of white space at the bottom of the page so could you increase the size of the graphics.

I see that the opt-in looks like it is there purely to let people have a free product and in return you get their name and address. At the back of your free product have you also listed the products you have for sale along with a short description?

Thanks
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drewfioravanti

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Sue McDonald

Just had a look at your site and in my opinion your graphics are very badly cropped. I could hardly make out what they were. You have a lot of white space at the bottom of the page so could you increase the size of the graphics.

I didn't see that at all. It looks right in my browser.

Thanks

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Sushiman1111 11 years ago

Originally Posted by Sue McDonald

Just had a look at your site and in my opinion your graphics are very badly cropped.

This happened for me too. Using Safari 5.1.7 on a Mac.
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- popmarco 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Sushiman1111
  
  This happened for me too. Using Safari 5.1.7 on a Mac.
  
  Hi Sushiman111!
  
  I'm looking into it and I might be needing the help of my graphics artist. If you and Sue are seeing this, then there has to be corrected somewhere..
  
  Thanks!
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  Audarah 11 years ago
  
  Im going to ask a really dumb question here. What is "above the fold" and "below the fold"? Just confused here. My theme also uses sliders, but it was eating up alot of my space- and pushing my opt in clear down to the bottom. I just nixed the slider as the opt in was more important. So is "above the fold" what people can see without scrolling when they come to your site? Not being mean or rude or anything, I just dont understand.
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
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  Shaun OReilly 11 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by Audarah
  
  What is "above the fold" and "below the fold"?
  ...
  So is "above the fold" what people can see without scrolling when they come to your site?
  
  You got it right.
  
  "Above the fold" is a term from the newspaper industry...
  
  Most broadsheet newspapers are folded across the middle and
  the most important headlines and stories were placed in the
  top half of the page "above the fold."
  
  So, this term is now used online to refer to the content
  on a web page that you can see on your computer screen
  without scrolling.
  
  Dedicated to mutual success,
  
  Shaun
  
  Thanks
  
  1 reply
  
  Signature
  
  .
  
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  higherluv 11 years ago
  
  Yep - always have one above the fold if you're trying to build your list. You can also have one at the end of an article, but definitely do have that first one above the fold.
  
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popmarco 11 years ago

Hi Sue!

I think I got your point about the graphics. I'll check further how I can improve it. About the white space below, it might be lessened as I grow my products. I'll also check with the theme creator how to increase the size of the graphics. But I guess that's a lesser problem. I can actually take out the Tags and the white space will be gone.

Your suggestion on the description of product is noted..

Thanks again.
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writeaway

11 years ago

Income diary is a very popular blog and he has a massive optin page at the top. It can be done and you can get lots of leads doing it this way. I plan to use this type of design for my next ecommerce blog site

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thedanbrown

11 years ago

Ya I think that depends a lot on what you're doing with your website. Having an opt-in form above the fold is a rule of thumb but there are many successful ecommerce sites that don't abide by the general rule of thumb.

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popmarco

11 years ago

Originally Posted by thedanbrown

Ya I think that depends a lot on what you're doing with your website. Having an opt-in form above the fold is a rule of thumb but there are many successful ecommerce sites that don't abide by the general rule of thumb.

Thanks for this Dan... I'll try to make the best out of this site, including putting the opt-in above the fold.

Thanks

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thedanbrown

11 years ago

Once you can work it in the budget it will most likely be a good idea though because it should definintely increase your opt-ins and sales

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Jeffery

11 years ago

It would be easy to add a horizontal opt-in form anywhere in your theme. See how I did it at: Free Branded Ebooks - For Bloggers And Webmasters

I test the location of the optin form a lot on my ecommerce site. At the moment it is just below the slider. Sometimes I place it at the very top of the site above the header. Both locations get the same results. I will probably keep it below the slider because it coincides with the focus of the site.

Jeffery 100% :-)

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popmarco 11 years ago

Originally Posted by thedanbrown

I will probably keep it below the slider because it coincides with the focus of the site.

Jeffery 100% :-)

Hi Jeffery!

Thanks! I visited your site and the opt-in form is wisely located just below your featured slider.

Great point on the slider and the opt-in form having above the fold..

Thanks!
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WillR

11 years ago

The more visible an optin form, the more people will use it. Obviously an optin form above the fold is more visible than one below the fold. Therefor if you want more optins you put your optin form above the fold.

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popmarco

11 years ago

Originally Posted by WillR

The more visible an optin form, the more people will use it. Obviously an optin form above the fold is more visible than one below the fold. Therefor if you want more optins you put your optin form above the fold.

Thanks Will! Explicitly pointed out..

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NewRiseDigital

11 years ago

If you're website runs on Wordpress and you are you are looking to increase your opt in conversions, then WP Super Popup is a plugin I've seen send my signups through the roof. There's a free version that is adequate for most people's needs, although the pro version is very keenly priced.

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popmarco

11 years ago

Hi guys!

Thanks a lot for the replies.

So far, I think I got it right this time. The opt-in form is now above the fold resting at the right of the slider.

The images have been rectified as well (I hope you can verify Sue/Sushiman).

Thanks again!

Jojo

Thanks

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John Romaine

11 years ago

Make sure you measure the changes!

Thanks

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Mary Davis

11 years ago

I agree with Sue that the visual aesthetics of your site need some work -- particularly that the featured content gallery slider is pushing your opt-in out of the margins.

My nudge would be to use a lightbox pop-in that appears after about 10 seconds and fades everything else out. Use one pack of free PLR as the opt-in "incentive" -- and make that pack sing!

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popmarco

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Ebiz Mom

I agree with Sue that the visual aesthetics of your site need some work -- particularly that the featured content gallery slider is pushing your opt-in out of the margins.

My nudge would be to use a lightbox pop-in that appears after about 10 seconds and fades everything else out. Use one pack of free PLR as the opt-in "incentive" -- and make that pack sing!

Hi EbizMom!

Thanks for the comment and recommendation. I'll again experiment on it. I just thought it was already fixed. But I got it. I'll come up with a pack that sings when the opt-in form pops up.

Thanks!

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MartinPlatt

11 years ago

Originally Posted by popmarco

Hi!

I'm using a Wordpress e-commerce theme but it was designed to show a featured slider above the fold. Thus, the opt-in form as a widget is below the fold. If I have to bring it up, it might need some customization which I'm not ready yet as far as budget is concerned.

How important is the opt-in form in this case? Though I have an Optimize Press theme that can show an opt-in form above the page, I just don't want to use it as I'm also displaying my stuffs.

Should I spend for the customization or just leave it as is for now? As it is though, I have a few sign ups. The site is 10 days old.

Thanks!

You're unlikely to get as many sign-ups as you would if it were above the fold, but on the other hand if the slider shows products that are selling, and they actually sell from there, then that could be more profitable to have the slider there instead. If it's just something like pictures that don't have a strong call to action, then it's unlikely you're getting the best value from the real estate on your site.

If you have a few sign ups, and you can't afford to change it, then you've answered your own question

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popmarco

11 years ago

Originally Posted by MartinPlatt

You're unlikely to get as many sign-ups as you would if it were above the fold, but on the other hand if the slider shows products that are selling, and they actually sell from there, then that could be more profitable to have the slider there instead. If it's just something like pictures that don't have a strong call to action, then it's unlikely you're getting the best value from the real estate on your site.

If you have a few sign ups, and you can't afford to change it, then you've answered your own question

Hi Martin!

I'll definitely go for changes that'll bring better results. With your recommendations, I'll come up with a slider that'll eventually sell.

Thanks a lot!

Thanks

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john richards

11 years ago

Originally Posted by popmarco

Hi!

I'm using a Wordpress e-commerce theme but it was designed to show a featured slider above the fold. Thus, the opt-in form as a widget is below the fold. If I have to bring it up, it might need some customization which I'm not ready yet as far as budget is concerned.

How important is the opt-in form in this case? Though I have an Optimize Press theme that can show an opt-in form above the page, I just don't want to use it as I'm also displaying my stuffs.

Should I spend for the customization or just leave it as is for now? As it is though, I have a few sign ups. The site is 10 days old.

Thanks!

Hi
Its very important Marco how many times will people scroll to find the optin box never in most cased try a good headline sub headline optin straight after that.

Hope this helps.

Regards
John

Thanks

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JayPeete

11 years ago

It just depends on your objectives for your business. Building a list for a list builder is paramount, but for others it is a lower priority. So it might not make that big of a difference if you already have a squeeze page that you are driving traffic to but if you don't, building a list is an excellent way to have more chances at a sale on your site because you can contact them again. Just something to think about.

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sparkah

11 years ago

The MOST important part of any site is the OPT IN form.

Put it on the home page with nothing else if you can.

Here's the part that really REALLY surprised me. I get 570% more email addresses after putting an UGLY hand drawn arrow pointing to it.

I went to art school. So I hate my own arrow. But after trying pretty arrows, I'm back to my ugly one.

if you want to see it... it's at sparkah dot com /guerrilla-marketing-strategies/

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Steve L

11 years ago

It's worked better for me to focus on offering a low priced product on the front-end instead of a free offer/squeeze page. Not sure why it is, but it's worked better for me to start off this way.

Originally Posted by popmarco

Hi!

I'm using a Wordpress e-commerce theme but it was designed to show a featured slider above the fold. Thus, the opt-in form as a widget is below the fold. If I have to bring it up, it might need some customization which I'm not ready yet as far as budget is concerned.

How important is the opt-in form in this case? Though I have an Optimize Press theme that can show an opt-in form above the page, I just don't want to use it as I'm also displaying my stuffs.

Should I spend for the customization or just leave it as is for now? As it is though, I have a few sign ups. The site is 10 days old.

Thanks!

Thanks

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How Important Is An Opt-In Form Above The Fold?

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