Adwords + YourSqueezePage = 35% opt-in rate?
September 18th, 2007 | by Matthew Glanfield |I want to clarify a myth about squeeze page opt-in rates.
A lot of people out there are making claims that you can get incredibly high opt-in rates using their special squeeze page techniques. I even saw one marketer show “proof” that they could get an 80% opt-in rate with their perfect squeeze page.
The problem is not that these claims are false, but that they are deceitful. There is one element that always seems to be left out:
The traffic source!
If I told you that I created a squeeze page in under 30 seconds that converted at 66.22% opt-in rate, would you believe me? Well, it’s true!
However, that was from traffic from my own list, and in the email I sold them on an idea and then told them to go and fill out their name and email address at the squeeze page to get more information. (You can read more about this here if you like)
I could have had a blank page with only the opt-in box and got similar results!
This is something called pre-selling, and it largely effects the opt-in rate of your squeeze page. In reality, your opt-in rate is effected by two main factors:
1. The “on-page” factors of the squeeze page.
This includes a well-written headline, audio, video, your offer, your bullet points, and the general appearance of your squeeze page.
This is where most marketers focus, mainly because it is where they have the most control.
2. The “off-page” factors of the squeeze page.
This includes (but is not limited to):
-the source of the traffic
-how qualified the traffic is
-how targeted the traffic is
-how pre-sold the traffic is
-what the visitor is expecting
-the market the traffic is in
If you write a great email, your squeeze page opt-in rates will increase. If you write a bad email, they will decrease.
So how do you know your squeeze page’s “true” opt-in rate?
Well, to be honest, there is no such thing. Sure, you could average all of your traffic sources and see what opt-in rate you get, but that won’t be accurate.
Instead, you should consider the average opt-in rate for certain traffic sources. Here are some general guidelines that I have learned from experience:
| Source | Average Opt-In % |
| Affiliates | 10-80% |
| Traffic Exchanges | 0-1% |
| Google Adwords | 5-15% |
| Search Engines | 10-20% |
| Article Marketing | 10-20% |
Obviously there are other sources of traffic, but these are the main ones that I see used. (By the way, I don’t use traffic exchanges. Those numbers are from my affiliates who do.)
Affiliate traffic will range the most as there are tons of affiliates with varying levels of pre-selling abilities.
The one method that has always been a challenge with squeeze pages is Google Adwords. That is why I was so surprised when I saw one of my coaching client’s results.
Brian Lee is a beginner at Internet Marketing. He chose to go into the home schooling market and created a squeeze page using Your Squeeze Page. He added several headlines so that he could start split testing which one would be best, and then he set up his Google Adwords campaign.
What’s amazing is his results. Take a look at this screen shot:
He got an opt-in rate of over 35% using a simple squeeze page and a beginner-level Adwords campaign! As you can see that adds up to only $1.11 cost per conversion.
(The second number, 21.74%, is from the content network which always performs worse. Even so, 21% is extremely good for an Adwords campaign)
Here is what Brian said:
Hey Matthew,
Never having created a squeeze page before, I was a little skeptical when I joined Your Squeeze Page (YSP) earlier this year. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make a professional-looking page since I have very little technical knowledge. To my surprise, it was very easy to work with.
When I joined the BBO Traffic Formula and chose my market, I got to put YSP to the test. I followed the step-by-step instructions, creating different variations by using the split testing features, and let it run.
I made a few adjustments based on the stats I got from YSP (another nice feature), and eventually started a Google Adwords campaign for my squeeze page. The campaign’s been running about a month now.
I just checked my Adwords stats, and it’s converting at a 36.59% rate so far on my current ad group.
I’m told that’s an excellent rate, well above average. I’m happy about that, too, but I’m continuing to test and tweak and see if I can get it even higher!Best regards,
Brian
Think you could do the same? I know you can, and you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it!
Matthew Glanfield
P.S. Leave your comments on what you think about these results.
20 Responses to “Adwords + YourSqueezePage = 35% opt-in rate?”
By Micheal Savoie on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
Matthew,
I know that my squeeze pages are converting at roughly the same percentage, too. Now I just need to take the next step and implement an adwords campaign for it. Interestingly enough, my Product In A Weekend squeeze page is getting incredible results without any promotions outside of the Traffic Formula method. It is still exciting to see the notices in my email each day when some new people have signed up. Heck a lot of people not only sign up, but they also make purchases! Internet Marketing is the coolest thing!
Thanks for creating an awesome product like your Squeeze Page, and version 3 is looking mighty amazing already and I haven’t created any new squeeze pages yet…
Have an amazing day!
Micheal Savoie
productinaweekend.com
By Mike Chamberlin on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
That’s pretty cool Brian!
Now you’ll want to get the CPC price down as low as possible and get the average ad positioning on to the first page, preferably positions 3-6 (that’s my personal opinion, I usually don’t like paying the premium prices that the #1 and #2 positions require).
Also, at 40 cents per click and a 2% conversion to sales rate (not conversion to sign up rate), you’ll need to make about $56 per sale just to break even.
Granted, you could have higher than a 2% conversion rate using a mailing list, but you’ll want to start working on optimizing keywords that are targeted on your squeeze page to bring down the average CPC.
Good work Brian and keep going!
By Steve Nam on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
Hey Matthew,
“However, that was from traffic from my own list… in the email I sold them on an idea… I could have had a blank page with only the opt-in box and got similar results!”
That’s totally true about how important the pre-sell is! You can almost totally have or lose the reader even before they click on the squeeze page link.
I’ve heard, “getting the click is the only point of writing an Adwords ad. The squeeze/landing page does the rest of the selling.”
However, what people are pre-sold on before they click has a whole lot to do with whether they opt in or not!
This means from the keyword you’re bidding on to the ad you write, your prospect is well into the selling process already, so don’t get lazy.
Steve Nam
http://www.SteveNam.com
By Wilfrid Cormier on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
BIGGINERS LUCK! I should be so lucky!!!
Keep up the good work Brian, may your
good luck follow you all the way to
heaven.
By steven fischer on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
I use a squeeze page w/Google Adwords, how to you get the conversion rate to show up on google/ Do they actually calculate your opt ins?
By Sylvia Dickens on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
Success is based on many things, not just the opt-in page. It depends on the product and how many people need or want it. It depends on how well the ad was written, how good the opt-in page is (ie: how valuable is the item the person gets for signing up), how well the page is written. How relevant it is to the ad, how relevant Google considers the ad to be…
While impressive figures like these are constantly being displayed, I have yet to duplicate even a semblance of their success using their exact methods as advised.
Clearly, I must be missing something in the equation: product choice, keyword choice, landing page benefits choice, wording of the ad and the landing page.
If someone gives me the magic key that I seem to keep missing, perhaps then I’d believe such impressive figures.
Sylvia
By Emanuela on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
The image on this page look like a fake. If you see whit attention numbers on right side presents shadow like when you copy and then paste.
By Keith Anderson on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
Well Matthew it would be great if this worked and did not cost big bucks that is the biggest problem with getting traffic you have to be able to pay for it and when you do not make money (you know just constantly pumping money in the funnel-big end and only a trickle comes out the little end) as many of us know it is tough going getting started on the net.
By mohammed on Sep 18, 2007 | Reply
Squeeze pahges combined with adwords technicques works great
By Brian Lee on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
This is Brian. I can assure Emanuela that the image is not a fake. It’s an actual screen shot from my Adwords campaign for the period that you see listed. Some of the fields were blocked out by Matthew to protect my data privacy.
The rate has gone down somewhat since that period, but is still well above average. It might seem like a fluke, but I don’t see why similar results couldn’t be achieved in other niche markets.
Sylvia makes a good point when she says that there are several factors that determine how well a campaign will perform, such as the wording of the Adwords ad, the keywords, and so forth.
However, most of these can be split-tested, which is what I’ve been doing. Google allows you to test the elements in your campaign. Take advantage of it (there’s no extra charge).
For example, I’m currently running six different ad variations, and have two different ad groups I’m testing.
Plus I’m split-testing six different headlines on my squeeze page at YSP, as well as a header graphic.
So the take-home message here is to test as many elements of the conversion process as possible, because what you THINK will work may not be what actually does work. Even a one-word change in your Adwords ad can have a significant effect on your click-through and conversion rates (I’m seeing this in my split-testing, by the way).
But you have to monitor what’s happening so you can adjust your campaign for maximum conversion rate and to minimize your cost/click. You can’t just let Adwords run on auto pilot and forget it. You have to take advantage of the information you’re getting as your campaign progresses.
Here’s a plug for YSP 3: You can split-test almost every element on your squeeze page with the software Matthew’s team has developed. In fact, it even selects the best-performing elements for you over time, so it doesn’t require as careful of monitoring as Adwords.
You may not start out with a high conversion rate, but you’ll see it improve with the split-testing. Keith mentioned the Catch-22 of paid traffic, so it’s best to wait until you’re getting a decent conversion rate before you jump into Adwords or other paid traffic.
Best regards,
Brian
By Matthew Glanfield on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
Hey Emanuela,
I used Windows Paint to turn the image into a JPG, so the quality took a bit of a dive because of that.
I can assure you that the image is not fake, as Brian has pointed out. These are real results obtained by a real marketer who doesn’t have years of experience with squeeze pages and Adwords.
My main goal in showing you this was to allow you to realize the potential that your campaigns have.
Matthew
By johnrules on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
Wow,it`s really a useful stuff to know it.. thanks for your beautiful advice.Keep the good work
By Isaac on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
If i cant get personal whit your product then i want go
By jz on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
Go get IrfranView Free - http://www.irfanview.com/ instead of using Windows Paint.
For those of you who believe that Matthew would jeopardize his business by publishing fake anything you need to stop following his advice and follow your own.
If you were my client and you inidcated that you thought I would give you bad advice or publish something fake I would tell you to take your business somewhere else in a real hurry
JZ
By Bud Roberts on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
Hello Matthew
I learned a while back that anybody can do anything with a computer and a printer. Most of times, what you see is not what you get. I do not consider these screen shots in my decissions. I rather base my decission on the integrity of the person who is providing the information. I have faith enough in you that I myself believe that what you are putting in print is not false. Unlike a lot of the big names out there whom I have listened to and have done business with, not one is in your league at this stage of the game. Please do not let this go to your head, because I will talk you down as fast as I will talk you up. Your Integrity means a lot to me as well as a lot of other people out there. Please stand your ground Matthew. “Integrity means everthing”
Bud Roberts
By Stefano on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
You asked me if the image is a fake. Well! Did you never try to change words or numbers from a page and copy and paste them on the same page? It will appear a shadow that if you are a good publisher you should clear. Also for me that image is a fake. Look well! The shadow is only on the important part of the page. Wired.!
By Richard Wagoner on Sep 19, 2007 | Reply
Do you offer an afilliate program?
By Thomas Ukm on Sep 21, 2007 | Reply
That’s really great results! but what about sales conversion? Is Brian promoting an affiliate product?
By Bob Middleton on Sep 25, 2007 | Reply
Excellent program just started today. I put together my first squeeze page to help promote my Viral Spiral program. It took me about 1 hour to put it together. I will be using Adword to promote the site. I’ve had my best results with this method to get my Viral programs rolling. I expect the same thing to happen with my promotion as with my other viral promotions, but only better now that I have control over the Squeeze page. Great program Mathew very helpful.
Bob Middleton
By jjpmarketing on Oct 14, 2007 | Reply
This an excellent addition to Aweber’s Autoresponder. Their web form creator for the opt in pages isn’t really that good. This opt in page creator is the solution to that problem.
Johnny Jack Patterson
http://www.jjpmarketing.com