7 Steps to Building Sign Up Forms That Convert

Your sign up form is one of the most important things to consider when planning your email strategy. After all, it's one of the key steps to growing your email list and generating more leads. In this week's #EmailChat, we teamed up with our friends at Privy to discuss how marketers can give more attention to their forms and collect more subscribers and more sales. Here's what we found:

1. Understand why optimizing your sign up form is important

Before we jump into tactics, it's important to know why you should spend time optimizing your sign up form in the first place. The key to email marketing success is to grow a healthy, permission-based list. This means that your subscribers are opting in to your list because they want to hear from you. And when a subscriber opts in to your list, they're more likely to be engaged with your emails. https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837348707754442752 https://twitter.com/Jake__Wallace/status/837349089083809794 https://twitter.com/privy/status/837349104938270720 https://twitter.com/jabbawy/status/837349969476608002

2. Remember the key elements that every good sign up form has

Your form should include a clear benefit of signing up, including what subscribers should expect to receive from you and how often. This can help define expectations up front and reduce the risk of spam complaints or unsubscribes. Another way to attract subscribers is to offer a compelling incentive as a thank you for signing up. Think of it like a transaction—if a subscriber gives you their email address, they are expecting something in return. The best types of forms are short, clear and concise. https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837351107550654468 https://twitter.com/privy/status/837351631284908033 https://twitter.com/KristenWritesIt/status/837351888328744961 https://twitter.com/oliviadello/status/837351871962562560

3. Try one of these unique calls to action

A strong call to action (CTA) can help emphasize the importance of signing up for your email list. Placing some urgency in your CTA can encourage visitors to take action. (Think "Join now!" or "Yes, I want in!") Nobody wants to "sign up" for your email list; they want to opt in to receive valuable content that only you can give them. Add some excitement back into it. And remember, this is a key area of opportunity for testing! https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837352623154003968 https://twitter.com/privy/status/837352933578665984 https://twitter.com/oliviadello/status/837352959050645504 https://twitter.com/Jake__Wallace/status/837354460372430848

4. Design your form for maximum conversions

Design can have a major impact on how people perceive your form. That's because 90 percent of first impressions are based on visual or color cues alone. In order to maximize your sign up form's potential, here are a few things to consider:

Keep your fields to a minimum to decrease friction. (The more you ask of someone, the less likely they are to sign up for your emails.)
Experimentation is key. What works for one brand may not resonate with your audience.
Try using a bold color palette or font so that your form stands out from the rest of your content.

https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837353913976238082 https://twitter.com/jabbawy/status/837354324678279169 https://twitter.com/privy/status/837354537123999744 https://twitter.com/sjbadlater/status/837355391071707141

5. Know when to use different types of forms

Using different types of forms can help to improve each visitor's experience with your site. While some may immediately interact with a pop-up form, others might respond better to a form that's embedded on your site. By keeping your form contextual—relevant to the user's experience, without feeling intrusive—you'll be able to take advantage of the opportunities when people are most likely to convert. https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837355652251013120 https://twitter.com/tnrt/status/837356314254802945 https://twitter.com/lizwillits/status/837356681638076416 https://twitter.com/sjbadlater/status/837357373748621314

6. Find the best placement for your sign up forms

As we just discussed, different types of forms can yield different results so it's important to keep testing. What might be a high-converting placement for someone else might not work for you. A good rule of thumb is to find the most noticeable yet natural placement that doesn't interrupt the experience someone has with your site. Whether you go for a pop-up, slide-in, exit intent or a classic embedded form, always test to see what types of forms your audience responds well to. (This goes for different pages of your site, as well.) https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837357742134296576 https://twitter.com/oliviadello/status/837358072834174976 https://twitter.com/missmontesa/status/837358689656930305 https://twitter.com/Jake__Wallace/status/837358765791920132

7. Remember these sign up form best practices

Now that you've got a few ideas for optimizing your form, keep these best practices in mind:

Have a clear value proposition. Your sign up form should be easily understood and tell subscribers exactly what they're signing up for.
Keep it simple. Don't ask for too much information from your subscribers or risk losing their interest.
Optimize for mobile. Always make sure that your forms work for both the mobile and desktop experiences.

https://twitter.com/AWeber/status/837359374544875524 https://twitter.com/privy/status/837359501837762560 https://twitter.com/1fete/status/837360139434934274 https://twitter.com/oliviadello/status/837360281382707200

What's Next

Email is one of the best ways to connect with your customers and build stronger relationships. And it all starts with a strong sign up form. Try one (or all) of these tips to make your sign up form work harder for you. Have you tested any of these strategies? How are they working for you? Let us know in the comments!