Everybody talks about Squeeze Pages, Lead Capture Pages, Landing Pages, Splash Pages, etc. and it is not easy to see all the tactics and benefits of how to use them properly.  

What are they?

Do I need them too?

How do I build them?

What are they for? 

Definition

A "Squeeze Page" - also called "Splash Page" or "Lead Capture Page" - is a sales letter that has only one purpose: to create a good reason for a visitor to give you their email address and permission to continue contacting them. These pages are usually just one page, but can also be a long sales letter. The length does not matter. The important thing is that it works.  

You can use Squeeze Pages as a preliminary page before someone reaches your sales letter, so you can continue to follow up with them. Or it is a signup for your Newsletter, Ezine, a Membership site, etc. 

Why use a Squeeze Page?

It is a known fact that most people visiting a site will not buy at this first time, no matter how good your sales letter is. What is the reason? Think a second how you react yourself! Do you buy from a stranger just because it is nice, interesting, maybe you like it?  

NO, YOU DON'T!  

Because you have no relationship, want to be comfortable and have trust. Gathering the information from your prospect allows you to follow up, create a relationship and build credibility. Almost for sure your first visitor will come back to your website or open your mail.  

Because they start to know you!  

It is really that powerful. You should never underestimate the magnetic power of a well crafted Splash Page and the effect it can have to your list building or sales. The time you invest here will be paid back manifold later. 

What is the structure of a "Lead Capture Page"?

- An attention grabbing headline with some eye catching sentences

- A good text to create curiosity

- A clear defined benefit for the subscriber or buyer

- A call to action (including a well formulated P.S.)

- Social proof as to the value of the offer (testimonials)

- Maybe some other tips, bonuses, free reports. Just be creative!

- The stronger the benefit, the faster your prospect will continue to read. 

Use short bullet points with a hook built in. That is the best way to get desire and attention. If you have a longer website, copy them from there, shorten and modify them to fit your squeeze page. 

How can you create Value or Curiosity?

This is the KEY ITEM that will decide how effective your Squeeze Page converts. You need to create a desire, better a strong desire within the prospect, that your offer or product is something they just MUST HAVE. For example offer them

 - An eCourse, a sample chapter of an eBook

- A free or limited version of a software product

- A free Silver Membership valued $ 97.

- A Personal Code to get a special rebate or price 

I offer exactly this to my subscribers. You can combine these offers with even more free eBooks, Reports or place a banner that upsells another product you own or are an affiliate of.

Be sure to offer only first quality and only products which are in relation to the purpose your customer signed up for. In that case the customer will be much more interested to buy the higher priced product. 

A strong Call to Action!

Make sure there is no doubt what the prospect has to do next. Tell them in detail; tell them to sign up now, that they must start right now to get what they so desperately want, etc. Maybe you can hook them with an instructional or informal video after the sign up (on your thank you page). Just be creative! 

Your Follow Up.

To handle the signups you need a good autoresponder. Do not safe here, get one of the best! I use Aweber but GetResponse is also top. You can check for more information going to my free report "Introduction to Autoresponders" (with MRR). 

After you have crafted the follow up messages and loaded them up to your autoresponder well in advance, you can relax. This allows your prospect to get an immediate response and this helps to build credibility and start the relationship properly. Make sure to keep uploading good content to your autoresponder on and on again. Again: promote only what you would buy for yourself and frequently offer a valuable free gift to your subscribers. They will like it and wait with eagerly for your next mail then. 

Test, Test, Test!

You need to know how your site works where the visitors click and how long they stay on your site. "Split Testing" is a constant and ongoing process. Having two almost identical sites and then testing each of them (split testing) will tell you which one works better.  

Go on tweaking the other one with some small changes, even only one other word, until you get good results. A good conversion (click thru rate till signup, etc.) is between 5-20 %. For the beginning around 2 % is also fine but it needs still some improvement. I recommend Pro Tracker Plus, which is excellent and offers a high quality already in the free option. PTP also has a short eCourse about tracking available.  

The main goal of a Squeeze Page is to capture the visitor and get them to sign up for your newsletter, an eCourse or lead them to a paid product, which you offer after the sign up on your thank you page. 

Examples

See this excellent "Splash Page" Reed and Guido have designed to promote their "Auto Profit Cash Streams".  

It has a clear call to action "sign up to download...", offers the benefit of "ongoing cash" if you tell others, and the best, the whole site is clickable (saved as picture and then hyper linked). If you click, you land at the "Team Build Page" with more information in bullet points and a well positioned sign up form. Well done.  

After you sign up, you get a "Confirmation Email" from Aweber, titled RESPONSE required, thanking you and kindly asking to click the confirmation link to confirm your opt-in. Then you are usually led to the "Thank You Page" or before that, to a special priced OTO (One Time Offer, never seen again...), some Bonuses and the "Download Link", maybe also to a further site with a so called "Back End Sale or Offer". 

Here is another example I have done myself or within a program I own. Please judge for yourself. The sites are not perfect but convert quite well, so I leave them unchanged. I have combined it directly with a "Thank You Page" offering an eCourse and also a free eBook. The visitor has two options:  

First sign up for the eCourse through the opt-in form or second, only download the free eBook and click away. The eBook contains my links and a Bonus, which means, I might still get a sale later on....

There is also a direct link to my "CBmall Storefront" with the intention to get the visitor to check out what about the eCourse might be. Finally I have my pic, the pronet-affiliate.com website link and two banners at the bottom of the page. Look out for the "Peel Away Ad" on top right which is another sales agent.... 

Or this one, leading to my eCourse about "Articles & Email Power". This site is created with TEtoolbox and you can get it free if you click the small link at the bottom of the splash page.

I think you got the picture and the ideas. If you want to play around, do not spend money or too much time! Download a free HTML editor (they offer usually good tutorials). Search for “free html editor” and you get plenty of suggestions. Personally, I use NVU which works very well.  

Then surf on a Traffic Exchange and look out for a Splash- or Squeeze Page you like, safe it to your Desktop or to My Websites. Open the HTML Editor, go to the file where you saved the website and open it. Just play around and change the text or wording within the website (not in the HTML, this will happen automatically).  

With TEtoolbox it's even easier. Get in, use the offered resources and graphics, safe, take the so created URL and advertise it. That’s all! TEtoolbox is easy to use and the free version is far enough to start fast. Advantage: You don't need to buy a domain, pay for hosting, and buy scripts to get these tools. Everything is hosted by them. 

Conclusion

This is in a nutshell what you need to get started. Now I let you try and play. Again, please do not pay for any program or resources since many of them offer a free option. Try them out and quit what you don't like. But if you feel comfortable with a program, stay with it and then, an upgrade usually opens many more features for a small amount of money.  

That is the moment when your business is well on path and should generate enough income to cover your cost and even something more on top. If you have questions or when you get stuck, do not hesitate to ask me. Just go to my website and click for support. I invite you to sign up for my Educational Newsletter too.

Best luck and success.