Email marketing vastly depends on the opt-in rate. The more user opt-ins, the more the marketing campaigns can grow. So tracking and neutralizing issues that are harming your opt-in rate is a must.

The email opt-in rate refers to the percentage of visitors who subscribed to your email list. For example, if your website received 1,000 visitors and 100 people joined your list, it means you have an opt-in rate of 10%. The higher your opt-in rate, the more subscribers you get. And the more subscribers you get, the more money you make.

In this article, you’ll learn nine on-site factors that may be killing your email opt-in rate. You must fix them if you want to build a massive email list.

1. Improve site speed

In 2010, Google started using site speed as a ranking factor in its search engine. Google realized that web users love websites that load fast. If your site speed is slow, prospects will leave before they can even see your opt-in form. Your email opt-in rate would be lower as a result.

How do you know if you have a low site speed?

Use PageSpeed Insights. It collects speed data from the Google Chrome web browser. (Note: PageSpeed Insights and Google Chrome are both owned by Google). According to PageSpeed Insights, Google.com is one of the fastest websites on the web. It has a score of 97 out of 100. Speed scores between 0 – 49 are slow, scores from 50 – 89 are average, and scores between 90 – 100 are fast.

PageSpeed Insights is better than other speed testing tools like Pingdom and WebPageTest because it takes metrics from Chrome browser users who visit your website. How can you make your site load fast?

Hire a web development expert. An experienced web developer knows what to do to improve your site speed. When your site is fast, prospects see your email opt-in form quicker than when it’s slow. This could improve your email opt-in rate.

2. Make a good first impression

It takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for prospects to form an opinion about your website. Just imagine that! Prospects determine if they’ll stay or leave within 0.05 seconds – that’s quick! You need to do everything you can to ensure that visitors stay on your site. And how do you do that?

You make a great first impression on your visitors.

The first impression of your site depends on many factors like color, structure, spacing, fonts, amount of text, images, and more. These are the things visitors see upon landing on your website. Invest in amazing website design to make a great first impression. A great design will help visitors stay longer on your site. When visitors stay longer, they’re more likely to give you their emails. The longer they stay, the higher the chance that the email opt-in rate will go up.

For example, Airbnb’s website has a great design. The company recently crossed its 500 millionth guest. There’s no doubt that a home page like this helps it collect information and converts visitors into guests. Airbnb’s logo is simple. The page is beautiful. The opt-in form makes it easy to search for places and see prices.

3. Look good on mobile – it’s a must

A website can have a great first impression on desktops but still have a bad mobile design. Mobile web traffic overtook desktop in 2015 and has never looked back. Google revealed that more searches happen on mobile than on desktop. Over half of your visitors will come from mobile devices. If your site isn’t designed for mobile, most of these visitors won’t be able to subscribe to your email list.

Some years ago, website developers designed for desktops before mobile. It’s different today. Web developers now design for various mobile screens first before desktop. According to a study, 57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile. So, if you want prospects to fill your opt-in forms and recommend you to their family and friends, you need a mobile-friendly design.

4. Use stunning images and photos

Images are powerful. They can increase your email opt-in rate when they are beautiful and relevant. Zillow is a platform where people buy, sell, and rent homes. Look at the picture of this beautiful home on the site, and you’ll want to use the site.

You’ve probably heard that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. If you want prospects to give you their emails faster, you need to use relevant, attractive images. Don’t use stock photos. It could send the wrong message to prospects. What if they’d come across the same photo several times online? They may think that you took it from another website or brand. As a result, they may start questioning your trustworthiness. Web users don’t give their email addresses to sites they can’t trust.

Poor images can mean many things. It may mean that the image doesn’t match your brand. Could be, that the image doesn’t load quickly. It may also tell that the image has a low resolution. So, don’t just put any image on your pages and expect visitors to subscribe. Ensure that every image you use is right for that page and would help you collect more email addresses.

5. Focus on great copywriting

If the copy on your landing page is terrible, no one will give you their email address. A copy that is riddled with grammar and spelling mistakes is a bad copy. A copy that has inappropriate length is a bad copy. Your copy shouldn’t be too long or too short. Here’s what great copywriters do:

If the product or service is expensive and sophisticated, write a long-form copy, but if the product or service is inexpensive and easy to understand, write a short copy. You should also use simple and short words. Long and complex words make it difficult for people to understand business. If prospects can’t understand your copy, why should they give you their emails?

Your sentences should be short. Long sentences are hard to read. Your paragraphs should also be short. Long paragraphs put people to sleep. Long words, sentences, and paragraphs are unnecessary barriers that stop prospects from giving you their email addresses. Have a look at this eCommerce learning platform: