FineView Marketing

Have you ever been enjoying some online shopping and decided to try a site you’ve never used before? You locate the site; it looks interesting. You click on an item and a page pops up offering you “15% off for first-time buyers” or a subscription to an email newsletter that will give you early notice of exclusive offers, new arrivals, and in-store events. This is a “capture page,” sometimes known as a “squeeze page.”

To further explain, a capture page is a single web page focused on getting an email address. Think about shopping on a site where you’ve never made a purchase. You’ve found an interesting looking chair that may or may not work for your needs. You click on it, and a page pops up offering you a 20% discount on your first order. All you have to do to get the offer is leave your email address. You have two choices. Leave your email and continue shopping or click the page away and continue shopping. If you are not seriously interested in making a purchase, you’ll probably leave the site; if you think you might buy the chair and want 20% off, you’ll leave your email. Even if you don’t buy the chair, you’ve provided a lead for the company. It’s that simple. A capture page is trying to capture an email from a website visitor for the purpose of getting a lead.

A Capture Page Can Be the Secret Weapon to Building your Email List

Here are a few tips to help you gain a better understanding of a capture page and how you can use it to generate leads.

What is the Difference Between a Capture Page and a Landing Page?

Landing pages are single web pages that typically have one goal: reserve a storage unit, download an eBook, register for a webinar, sign up for a free trial, etc. Capture pages area specific type of landing page with a different goal: to “capture” an email address. All capture pages are landing pages, but not all landing pages are capture pages.

Can I Use My Homepage as a Capture Page?

This is not a tactic we recommend for several reasons. Your homepage should offer rich, credible content that will attract organic traffic. If you use your homepage as a capture page, Google will see it as having little to no content and no internal links to other pages. Search engines will see your site as having low-quality content; your SEO rankings will tank.

How Do I Create a Capture Page that Generates Leads?

Your capture page needs to offer a high-value lead magnet in exchange for an email address. Think: “For one month free on any size unit, enter your email here!”

Let’s take it a step further. If you want to get a high opt-in rate on your capture page, Neil Patel offers some great suggestions.

(1) Offer less than you think you should. Your prospective customer is on information overload. He’s busy and probably a bit cynical and and has no interest in investing a lot of time in reading through or watching what he perceives is a bunch of boring content. Your prospect will only get value from your offer if he can absorb, retain, and apply the information. Find ways to emphasize that your information is easy to absorb and use. A moving box cheat sheet showing the cost and number of boxes needed for a specific moving event is something that is more likely to be valuable to a prospective customer than a 30-minute video on the same subject.

(2)  Reduce form fields. Many capture pages ask for name, phone number and/or physical address. What does any of this have to do with sending an email? Nothing!!! This only draws attention to the fact that you’re harvesting information, and your prospects know it. If this leads to a drop in conversion rate, is it really worth it?

(3) Turn your call-to-action into a give-me-the-payoff button.

Your call-to-action button should emphasize what you will do for your prospects, not what they will do to get it. Neil Patel states, “The most egregious example of terrible give-the-payoff copy is on buttons.” When you default to the word “submit,” think about the dictionary definition. You’re essentially telling your prospects to “yield to your superiority.” This is not a good look. The chart below gives some good examples of changing the “call-to-action” button to a “give-me-the-payoff” button.