If you want to build an opt in list you need to create a squeeze page to collect leads but there are certain things that you can do to improve your conversion rates and increase the number of visitors who subscribe to your list.

A standard squeeze page is a small one page website that consists of a headline, bullet points, and a subscription form for your auto responder. The conversion rates will depend on how good the sales copy is and what type of information you are offering (such as a free report or email course).

The headline is the most important part of a squeeze page and its the first thing visitors will see when they arrive at the website so it must clearly explain the benefits of what you are offering. Common phrases used in headlines are "who else wants to learn how to" or "amazing free report reveals how to" and similar variations.

To make the headline stand out from the rest of the text you can use a different colour (such as red), a larger font size, and bold. You can also make certain words more visible by underlining and highlighting parts of the text as well as using italic and capitals.

If there is a huge demand for what you are offering you will only need a few bullet points as long as you have a good headline (you can also use a sub headline to explain further what you are offering). The bullet points are used to explain in more detail what visitors will learn from the information you are providing.

In the subscription form you can also use call of action phrases such as "send my free report now" or "give me free instant access" for the text in the submit button. This has proven to work far more effectively than just using standard words such as join or subscribe.

Its important that you only ask for the name and email address in your subscription form because this is what people are familiar with. There is no need to ask for anything else (such as a phone number or home address). To alleviate any fears visitors may have you should also include a short privacy policy under your subscription form to make sure they know you will not sell their information to anyone else.

After you have collected a few subscribers you should email them and ask what they thought of the information. If they found it useful you can ask them for a testimonial which you can use on your squeeze page to improve your credibility and increase your conversion rates.

One of the best ways to convey what you are offering to people who visit your squeeze page is to use pre recorded audio or video messages which allow you to communicate with visitors on a more personal level. Its far easier for people to watch and listen to a message than read text which is why videos have proven to be the most effective for increasing conversion rates.

If you want to collect as many subscribers as possible you should not include any external links on your squeeze page so that visitors only have two choices, either subscribe or leave. Once people have subscribed to your list you can promote the other pages on your website using your auto responder.

Its essential to make your squeeze page as effective as possible because it will determine how fast you build your list and how many subscribers will join. To ensure that you achieve the best possible results you should always make improvements and test new things until you have the perfect squeeze page.

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This article was written by Simon Akers who is the editor of the Marketing Oasis newsletter, a free internet marketing ezine packed with tips to help you succeed and increase your profits: http://www.MarketingOasis.com