Getting more subscribers¶
Not with tricks, but by eliminating the three places where subscriptions get lost: the form is not there, it asks too much, or the confirmation mail does not arrive.
1. Put the form where people read¶
A subscription page nobody links to achieves nothing. Up to 1.1.4 that was the only way; since 2.0 there are four.
Under every post¶
The single most effective step, and it is one step:
Newsletter → Configuration → Settings → Form configuration → tab Short form → Show the form automatically → Under every post
That applies retroactively — including to the three hundred posts already published. What is appended is the short version: address and button.
Somebody who has just read something of yours is the most likely subscriber there is.
In a particular place¶
With the shortcode, everywhere you can write:
[wpng_form compact="1"]
In the middle of a long post, for instance, after the section that fits the topic.
With a group of its own¶
[wpng_form groups="Events"]
On the page about your events, a form that leads into the matching group. Somebody signing up there wants something different from somebody arriving through the blog — and you can send them something different.
Where else to look¶
| The „Thank you for your order" page | In the shop, after the purchase |
| The footer of your website | Through a template part in the site editor |
| The „About us" page | Whoever reads it is interested in you |
| The archive | Somebody who sees what they will get signs up more readily — put a link to it next to the form |
2. Ask for less¶
Every field costs subscriptions.
Newsletter → Configuration → Settings → Form configuration
| Field | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Required, no way around it | |
| Salutation | Ask for or Do not ask for |
| First name | Ask for, if you use it in the salutation |
| Last name | Ask for |
| Street, post code, city | Do not ask for. A newsletter needs no postal address |
Data protection law comes to the same conclusion: what you do not need for the purpose, you should not collect.
Required fields apply in the short form too
The short form shows the address and everything set to required. If you really want only one field there, make nothing else required.
Asking for the e-mail twice is a trade-off: it catches typos and costs an entry. In a short form under a post we would leave it out.
3. Make sure the confirmation mail arrives¶
This is the quietest source of loss. If the mail does not arrive, the subscription is gone and nobody notices — the entry then sits under waiting for confirmation.
The test¶
Newsletter → Subscribers, status filter. How many are on waiting for confirmation?
| Share | What it means |
|---|---|
| under 10 % | normal. Not everybody clicks |
| 20 to 40 % | check delivery |
| over 50 % | the mail is not getting through |
Then work through The newsletter does not arrive, level 4.
What else you can do¶
- Say what happens next on the page after submitting. „We have sent you a mail. Please click the link in it — and check your spam folder if necessary." That is on your subscription page, and you write it yourself.
- The subject of the confirmation mail should be recognisably from you. Sender and subject, Registration mail.
- Follow up. Through the bulk action Send opt-in mail again for everyone who has been waiting for weeks.
Do not switch double opt-in off
It is tempting: without a confirmation mail no subscriptions get lost. But then you can no longer prove consent — and anyone can enter anyone else's address.
See Consent.
4. Say what it is worth¶
Next to the form belongs a sentence answering: what do I get, and how often?
Once a month: what is coming up at the manufactory, new varieties and the dates of the guided tours. Unsubscribe at any time.
Three pieces of information, no more — content, frequency, unsubscribability. The last one is in the data protection sentence under the button anyway.
A link to the archive does the rest: somebody who sees what they will get decides more easily.
5. Check that nobody gets stuck¶
Walk the path yourself once, with an address that is not yet on the list:
- Fill in the form, submit.
- Do you land on a page that says what happens next?
- Does the mail arrive? How quickly?
- Is the confirmation link recognisable?
- Do you then land on a page that confirms it?
- Is the subscriber in the right group?
Point 6 is the one most people forget. Check the subscriber list under Unassigned.
What you should not do¶
| Why | |
|---|---|
| Buy addresses | No consent, and your domain's deliverability is ruined afterwards |
| A pop-up after three seconds | Produces numbers in the short term and, in the long term, people who do not remember signing up — and they report you as spam |
| A pre-ticked box in another form | Not consent |
| Entering addresses from business cards | Without explicit consent there is no basis. Enter them with the status Waiting for confirmation and let the opt-in mail go out |