10 Common Squeeze Page Bloopers (that are easy to fix)

So I've been reviewing a lot of squeeze pages lately. And I've noticed some common problems. Little roadbumps (or sometimes big roadblocks). That hinder opt-in rates.

While this may be nothing new for a lot of you. Surely it will help some of you.

So in case you don't consider yourself a copy pro and are putting together a squeeze page.

Here's a quick cheat sheet to help you destroy common roadblocks.

1 - Keep it above the fold - This is a super common mistake that many marketers make. Keep the bullets above the fold - keep the opt-in form above the fold - keep the image of the free report above the fold. They should have to do minimum scrolling (ideally none) to absorb the whole page.

2 - Eliminate distractions - This means make your layout clean, and simple. There should be no navigation bar. They should not be able to bounce from your squeeze page to your blog. You should not be making any distracting offers. The page is to get their email in exchange for your giveaway. Nothing more - nothing less.

3 - Don't use selfish language - This means avoid the words "my newsletter" "my free report". Your prospects don't care about joining your newsletter, they don't care that it's your free report.
They want specific results or solutions to their problems, so talk about that. Not about the report you wrote, or the newsletter you have. Make sure the old adage WIIFM (What's in it for me) is hammered into every sentence of your copy.

So don't say the following...
"Inside the free report I wrote", "Inside the free report", "inside my free report."
Say instead
"Inside NAMEOFFREEREPORT", "Inside this free report", "Inside your free copy of NAMEOFFREEREPORT"

4 - Names matter - The name of your free report matters. So make it relevant. If your giveaway is about youtube traffic - make sure the title says so. In fact go further than that. Make the title of your free report a "mini-headline". Something that hits the reader right in the face with benefits. So don't simply name your giveaway "Youtube Traffic Secrets Revealed". Unleash the power of copy principles and name it "How to easily get 1000 real youtube views in 3 days." (or something similar)

Additionally - Your url matters as well. If your giveaway is about youtube traffic make sure the url helps sell it. So you'd want to avoid having your url be like the following. www.websitenamewhocares.com/freereportblahblahzz
Instead shoot something like...
www.youtubetraffic123.com
See how the 2nd url helps tell the story, and helps sell the report. Your url matters, so capitalize.

5- Your graphics are there to do a job, not look pretty - Make sure your graphics are there to help the sell. For example arrows help guide the eye, and make the required steps easier to understand. The same is true for buttons - Make sure your button is relevant. And that it doesn't say something generic like "sign me up" "submit". Have it say "Send me my free copy now!" or "Send me the free report".

6 - Tell them EXACTLY what to do -Tell them exactly what to enter, exactly where to enter it, and then exactly what to do next. You would think this would be easy, but people botch this all the time. Tell them to enter their name and email in the box below (or wherever), and click the big red button (or whatever). Don't assume they'll figure it out, make it easy!

7 - Tell them exactly what's going to happen - People get nervous when they're entering their email - if you don't tell them exactly what's going to happen after they do it. You let their bad scary imagination creep in, and lead them astray. Now this is less true for the IM space, where we generally understand how these things work. But if you're targeting stay at home moms. They're going to be far less certain. So set the proper expectation, let them know that nothing bad is going to happen. Lay out in simple steps what's going to happen.
For example: "Put your name and email in the box below, and hit the "Send me the free report" button. And you will instantly receive your free copy of FREEREPORTNAME in your inbox."

8 - Tell them bad things aren't going to happen - You do this by telling them that there information is 100% safe. That you hate spam just as much as they do. And you won't rent, sell, or share their information with anybody. Again, simple and straight forward but I see a lot of people forget to do it.

9- Your headline matters, a lot -The headline on your squeeze page is incredibly important. Just like with sales letters it can be the deciding factor between success and failure. Learn how to make good headlines (or pay somebody else to do it). Don't take this lightly, if you aren't a copywriter, or haven't done any work or research you should really consider getting copy-help.
(If you want to go it alone here's some headline help:Gary Halbert on Headlines)

10 - Strong bullets go a long way - Bullets are an extremely potent weapon if you are selling information. And will carry a lot of weight for getting the opt-in. I'm not going to go into detail about how to write strong bullets. But here are some quick how-to's:
Gary Halbert on Bullets #1
Gary Halbert on Bullets #2
NOTE: if you actually do the homework in the 2nd link - you will see a big difference in your copy.

Happy Conversions
-Andy Wilson