Other methods of List Building

Well judged.

In internet marketing, being "popular" usually means that so many people do it because they see so many other people doing it and they imagine that it "must" therefore be the best way.

Many people assume that "the biggest list" and "the highest-earning list" are going to be the same thing. They're usually not (and there are very good reasons for that), but it's still what most people assume, whether consciously or without thinking about it at all.

You're asking about the actual mechanics of collecting the email address, I think? There are four main options, regarding the mechanics of "opting people in", really ...

(i) A self-hosted squeeze-page (very popular as you rightly mentioned, builds bigger lists, but still not always the best option: Website or squeeze page )

(ii) An opt-in on the home page/any page/every page of a content-rich blog/site (less popular, builds smaller lists, typically more work, can be best - "the biggest list" and "the list that produces most income" are usually two different things, and there are reasons for that) - this is what I use, myself

(iii) A squeeze-page hosted for you by your autoresponder company - 'GetResponse' has some good ones (possible, maybe not optimal, never my choice)

(iv) A third-party service which gives you a free squeeze-page set-up hosted on a subdomain of their site, linkable to your autoresponder company (this usually comes with strings and catches, some obvious and others not at all, looks far less professional, never my choice)

In my opinion, the sensible choice is between options (i) and (ii) above (I think (i) is generally easier and (ii) is often better).

"But wait - there's more!": there's actually a fifth option, too ...

(v) Some autoresponder companies facilitate list-building without having a web page opt-in per se at all: intending subscribers can simply send an email to a specific opt-in address which automatically adds them on the list and usually sends a confirmation-request by reply (but I don't think I know anyone who routinely uses this option).

Rather than the traditional squeeze page + bribe, I'm more and more using a modified landing page.

It looks a lot like the home page of a blog, with a few differences.

> Front and center in the content column is an opt-in form with the benefits of doing so. The bullets and form are above the fold, so it's the first thing one sees.

> I do use an opt-in incentive related to the way the visitor comes to the page, usually a short report or resource list. Most people land on these pages via a link in a piece of content somewhere, so the lander is an effort to keep the experience going. The opt-in is designed to be of great interest to the people who arrive this way and minimal or no interest to someone not interested in the topic.

> Below the form are "blog post" snippets, actually carefully chosen content meant to expand on and explain the benefits in the bullets. It's kind of a twist on Jeff Walker's horizontal sales letter concept. If someone clicks the link for the snippet, they get an expanded version with valuable information, again designed to continue a positive experience.

I've seen confirmed opt-in rates exceeding 50% with this method.

As always, your mileage may vary...

Edit:

Alexa and I were posting at the same time, so I didn't see this:

I have used this option with varying degrees of success, depending on where the offer is made.

Thank you very much for your bright ideas!
Honestly, this is what I want too.
Given that you can use SEO + Email marketing at the same time.

Great! I want to follow this one. Thanks!