Being able to develop beautiful, mobile responsive, high converting landing pages on the fly is a necessary part of online marketing.

There are a bunch of tools to help you do this; however, they tend to be overpriced, limited, overrated, and unnecessary.

In this step-by-step tutorial, I show you how to setup your own, self-hosted, landing page platform that you 100% own and control!

>> Click here to download this post in PDF format

BONUS!

I just turned this blog post into a free video course on YouTube and I also put together a part 2 that can be found here!

Comparison Chart

As previously stated, there are tons of landing page builders on the market and each one has its own list of benefits and features that make it “unique”; however, at the end of they day they all solve the same problem – help you easily create great looking pages.

Below you'll find a breakdown of the setup I'm about to show you compared to its closest competition.

* Probably Less – 9 times out of 10, you likely have a host already and won't require a new one; if so,  you can subtract $164.58 from the price mentioned above, bringing the new annual price to $117.

** ALSO! – The renewal fee for OptimizePress drops from $97/yr to $39/yr after the first year – so, you can likely run this for less than $100/year!

Step #1: Domain, Hosting, and SSL

Domain

You'll want your self-hosted landing page platform on its own domain because you're going to streamline it for one thing and one thing only – building landing pages.

This way you don't accidentally bloat it with a bunch of unnecessary files and plugins that will slow down your site.

You want this baby fast!

When it comes to choosing a domain, I recommend something generic – especially if you'll have landing pages for different businesses, niches, or industries.

For example, I wouldn't want NathansGardening.com and then to create a landing page for fitness because this will cause inconsistencies; people will get confused.

I also recommend avoiding the words  “marketing” or “sales” (or anything similar) in the domain as it may “scare” some people off.

My top trick for picking a generic domain is to pick a word or name and attach “media” at the end.

For example:

• crazyeyemedia.com
• williamsmedia.com
• framedmedia.com

Those could mean anything and aren't niche specific.

When it comes to registering your domain, I recommend NameCheap.

They offer a very clean domain registration process unlike GoDaddy that tries to up-sell you on a bunch of “protection” you don't need.

If you use NameCheap, I recommend checking out http://www.namecheapcoupons.com/ before you buy; they usually have a coupon that'll save ya a buck!

Anyway, the domain registration process is pretty straightforward and I think you can handle it without a bunch of pretty pictures. But, my one piece of advice is to NOT add anything to your domain (ie. protection, hosting, email, social boost, etc. [these are all crappy up-sells used to take advantage of people that don't know any better]). other than WhoisGuard.

I recommend WhoisGuard if you don't want people to know the physical address you used when you registered your domain. For example, your personal residence.

Hosting

You do not want to skimp on hosting. Having a slow website will hurt your conversions.

Being that the sole purpose of your landing page platform is to get conversions … we can't allow it to be slow!

If you're going to send between 0 and 2,500 people a day, the below setup will be great for you.

If you'll be sending more than that, you'll likely want to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated solution.

I recommend the Turbo package by a2Hosting.

Be sure to take note of the code at the bottom (ie. FLEET51). There's always a code for 51% off; however, it changes from time-to-time and they won't automatically apply it to your order … so, make sure you remember to add it!

When it asks you to “Choose a Domain…” select the option “I will use my existing domain and update my nameservers”

• Choose your Billing Cycle – I recommend at least 12 months.
• Tick the box for a Dedicated IP.
• Server Location – pick where most of your customers reside.
• Priority Support – No.
• Offsite Backups – No.
• Performance Plus – Yes.
• Barracuda Spam Firewall – No.
• SSL Certificate – None.
• Auto-Install Application – None.
• CloudFlare Plan Plus Monthly – No (unchecked).

Review your order – make sure the coupon's been applied!!! (again, they don't always add it automatically!!!)

Also, double check the Dedicated IP and Performance Plus.

Complete your order and be on the lookout for an email that looks like this:

The info you're looking for is the DNS Nameserver Information.

You're going to take this information and plug it into NameCheap (or whatever domain registrar you use).

Head back over to NameCheap with your nameserver information in hand, find the domain for your self-hosted landing page platform and select “Manage”.

Now, in the “NAMESERVERS” area, select Custom DNS and paste in the nameserver information from the email … and don't forget to hit the little check mark!

Now, you'll have to wait until you start seeing an error message when you go to your domain.

Something like this:

Sometimes this happens instantly, other times you have to wait a couple days.

But, once you see some form of error message as opposed to a “pretty” NameCheap page – you're ready to move on!

SSL

Once your hosting and domain are finally connected, it's time to secure your site.

Why do you want to secure your site with SSL?

A few reasons:

1. People look for it and it makes your site more trustworthy
2. Google likes it. Not that you're necessarily trying to get Google love for these pages, but if Google likes it, other places generally do too.
3. So you can accept payments via Stripe (if you intend to do that) .

You can buy your SSL Certificate from NameCheap. You can pick any; however, I use and recommend RapidSSL.

Go through the checkout process (it's self-explanatory) and click “Activate”.

Now it's time to generate your CSR (Certificate Signing Request).

Start by logging into your cPanel and navigating to SSL/TSL Manager.

(The cPanel is part of your hosting service and is generally found at http://your-landing-page-domain.com:2082. If you're having trouble finding it, check the email your host sent you when you registered with them.)

Click “Generate, view, or delete SSL certificate signing requests.”

Fill in the info it requests and click “Generate”.

Copy the “Encoded Certificate Signing Request”.

Go back to NameCheap and paste the code into the box that says “Enter CSR” and select your Server Type (probably Apache, Nginx, cPanel or other).

It'll ask you to verify the information, make sure it's correct and hit “Next”.

Now, we need to go back to cPanel and setup an email forwarder.

Make one forward from admin@your-landing-page-domain.com to youremail@yoursite.com.

Once the forwarder is setup, be sure to test it by sending an email to admin@your-landing-page-domain.com and ensure it's actually delivered. Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the forwarding to kick-in; you want to make sure it's working before moving to the next step.

Go back to NameCheap and select “Email” for DVC Method and admin@your-landing-page-domain.com for Approver Email.

It will request more information, fill it out. It's self-explanatory.

It will then ask you to confirm your information, click “Confirm”.

Wait for an email that looks like this and click the link the arrow is pointing to:

On the page it takes you to, click “I Approve”.

You will see a message about it being approved.

You will then receive another email that looks something like this:

NOTE: If you don't receive this email within an hour, contact support at https://www.rapidssl.com/. There's the option to “Chat” at the top – start a chat. There have been instances where they've needed to verify my ID on the phone before they could issue the certificate.  You may need to do that too, if you don't receive the email within the hour.

Assuming you receive the email, look for “—–BEGIN CERTIFICATE—-” and copy through it to the end “—–END CERTIFICATE—–”

Go back to your cPanel, back to “SSL, TSL Manager” and this time click on “Manage SSL sites.”

Browse for the Domain you're installing the SSL Cert on.

Paste in the code you just copied from your email.

A button that says “Autofill by Certificate” will magically appear. Click it and it will auto-populate everything else.

Tick “Enable SNI for Mail Services”

And finally, “Install Certificate”

You should see this …

YAY – your site is now secure!

>> Click here to download this post in PDF format

Step #2: WordPress and OptimizePress

Install WordPress

Go to your cPanel and locate the option for WordPress.

For Protocol, choose https://

Choose your Domain

In Directory, make it blank. (it's important that this be blank! You want your self-hosted landing page platform on the Root Domain.)

The rest of the info is pretty self explanatory; however, I recommend NOT activating any “special” plugins, themes, or options they offer as they tend to be sloppy and unnecessary. Go as bare bones as possible unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise.

After clicking “Install,” you'll have a beautiful, securely hosted, WordPress Website!

Get and Install OptimizePress

The first thing you need to do is purchase OptimizePress. It offers an outstanding page builder with a TON of features; it's the tool you'll be using.

Select your package. More than likely, you only need the Core Package.  You will only be running OptimizePress (OP) on this site that is dedicated to landing pages.

After purchase, you'll be able to enter the members' area where you can download the OptimizePress Theme. (Make sure you download the THEME, not just the plugin.)

Go back to your WordPress website and into the Admin Dashboard.

Navigate to Appearance, Themes, and Add New.

Click “Upload Theme”, browse to the OP Theme you just downloaded and select “Install Now”.

After install, click “Activate”.

You'll now have to input your API Key. Go back to the OP Members' Area and select “Licensing” in the navigation menu at the top.

Scroll down until you see “Registered API Keys” and copy one of them to your clipboard.

Go back to your site, paste your API key in the box, and click “Save settings”.

 

You'll land on something that looks like this:

Click “Blog Setup”.

This part doesn't matter too much because you won't be using this site as a blog. Remember, this is your landing page platform … it isn't your “site”.

So, you can select whatever makes you the happiest! (I typically select “Theme 1” and then just click “Continue to Step X” without changing any options … but, feel free to customize it the way you want.)

>> Click here to download this post in PDF format

Step #3: Speed Boost!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, speed is important!

Don't think speed is that important? Check out this infographic by Kissmetrics to see what only a 1 second delay does to your conversion rates!

Install Autoptimize

Autoptimize is a WordPress plugin that “squishes” your site, making it smaller, and thus – faster.

Login to your WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins, Add New, and search for “autoptimize”.

It should be the first result, if not scroll until you find it and click “Install Now”.

Make sure you click “Activate Plugin” after it's been installed.

Now, open up the Autoptimize Settings and turn on:

• Optimize HTML Code
• Optimize JavaScript Code
• Optimize CSS Code

Then, click Save Changes and Empty Cache.

Check out the before and after!

The Load Time difference is negligible at .08s – I don't think the human eye could actually detect that; however, checkout “Page Size” and “Requests” – those numbers have nearly halved!

These size and request differences will make a massive impact on load time once you have a fair amount of traffic hitting the server.

So, while there's no real difference in speed right now, if a few hundred people are on the site at once … the Autoptimized site will outperform every time!

Install WP Smush – Image Optimization

Your source code, CSS, and JS have been “squished” … it's now time to “smush” your images!

Enter into your WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins, Add New, search for “wp smush”.  Then, Install and Activate it.

The nice part about this plugin … it basically comes out of the box ready to run!

More than likely you will want to “smush” the images you currently have.

Unless you upgraded to the paid version, you'll only be allowed to “smush” 50 images at a time.  If you're working with a new website, you won't likely have that many images to worry about; it should be a relatively painless process!

Woo! Saved 6.4%!

SUPER Boost With A CDN

Ok, this part is optional.  It will likely result in a few additional bucks per month; however, if you feel the need for speed, it's worth doing!

CDN stands for Content Delivery Network which is essentially a network of computers that delivers static files (images, scripts, css, etc.) very, very fast.

They're very fast because they perform based on geographic location and don't have to process (think) anything like your website server does … all they have to do is deliver what's already there. Hopefully that makes sense.

Anyway, we'll use Amazon's CloudFront CDN because it's fast and cheap.

The first thing you need to do is sign up for or into the Amazon Web Services Management Console.

Once you're in, you will come to a crazy screen like this:

Find CloudFront and select it.

Click “Create Distribution” and it will ask “Web” or “RTMP” – you want “Web”.

In the “Origin Domain Name” text box, enter your full URL (ie. https://your-landing-page-domain.com).

Press “tab”.

Everything will auto-populate.

The only change you need to make is with “Origin Protocol Policy” – change it to “Match Viewer”.

Scroll all the way to the bottom and click “Create Distribution”.

You'll see a little spinny thing and it will take roughly 30 minutes to finish what it's doing.

Take a break. Go grab yourself some coffee or beer; come back in a little while!

After the spinning stops, grab your CDN's link – ie. d3cc2joulgwu4z.cloudfront.net and head back over to your WordPress admin panel, go to Settings, Autoptimize, and find the CDN Base URL.

Enter your CDN's link, don't forget to add https:// and click Save Changes and Empty Cache.

Now select “Plugins”, “Add New”, and search for “wp super cache” … then install and activate it.

Ok, I'll be honest here – there are a lot of settings inside WP Super Cache that I don't quite understand … but, that's alright – because I know what works!

Find your way to the WP Super Cache Setting section and turn it on!

Under the Advanced Tab, leave everything they way it is with the exception of ticking the “Don't cache pages for known users. (Recommended)” box. Be sure to click “Update Status”.

Navigate to the CDN tab.

Enable CDN Support and paste in the URL of your CDN. Make sure you add the https:// to the beginning! (ie. https://d3cc2joulgwu4z.cloudfront.net).

Click “Save Changes”.

You're done!

If you feel brave, you can tick other boxes inside WP Super Cache; however, every time I do, things start to break.

Check out the load speeds now 😛

>> Click here to download this post in PDF format

Membership, Digital Asset Delivery, and Taking Payments

This section is also optional; it only applies if you're wanting to take payments, run a membership portal, and/or deliver digital products.

NOTE: OptimizeMember is essentially the same thing as s2Member which means it's a really good membership plugin; however, it lacks one key feature when it comes to building funnels – the 1-click up-sell.

There are ways around this. For example, if you use ClickBank for your payment processor, you can do 1-click up-sells and it also offers built-in affiliate support – so, that's certainly an option.

You can also integrate with other platforms like SamCart, which add the 1-click up-sell functionality.

Finally, you may not even care about 1-click up-sells. You will still be able to offer One-Time-Offers (OTOs) and other up-sells … they just won't be 1-click!

I'm not going to show you how to build a membership site in this post as it's a separate topic … but, I'll get you pointed in the right direction.

Head over to your OptimizePress Members' Area, navigate to your downloads, and this time download OptimizeMember:

Go back to your WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins, click Upload Plugin, and upload, install, and activate the OptimizeMember plugin you just downloaded.

After it's activated, you will see a warning message …

BUT before we do what it says, go to Pages, Add New, call it “Join”, and click Publish.

Now follow the directions presented in the warning message. Select the “Join” page you just created from the drop down menu.

Okie dokie!

That's all for right now!

Summary

At this time, you should have an insanely badass, self-hosted landing page platform!

One that goes above and beyond the competition.

One that is 100% under your control!

One that can integrate seamlessly with a bunch of autoresponder tools to include my favorite, ActiveCampaign.

Not to mention, it comes with a top-notch membership portal that can accept payments, deliver assets, and make you money all in one place!

You can't beat it!

>> Click here to download this post in PDF format

Moving Forward

Ok. I showed you how to setup your own landing page platform in the most efficient way I know.

Now, you need to learn how to actually use it!

The good news is it's an easy tool to learn and far easier than LeadPages (I don't understand why so many people recommend that tool, but I digress).

Of course, the folks at OptimizePress want you to be successful with their tool, so they have a bunch of tutorials.

I've also created an OptimizePess mini-course that will show you how to build an opt-in funnel with two different squeeze pages, a split test, and a Facebook pixel.

• How To Connect OptimizePress to ActiveCampaign
• How To Build A Page Using A Pre-Built Template In OptimizePress
• How To Build A Page From Scratch With OptimizePress
• How To Make A Thank You Page In OptimizePress
• How To Make A Split Test With Google Analytics And OptimizePress
• How To Add A Facebook Pixel To OptimizePress

Don't Forget Strategy!

Finally, having a badass platform and knowing how to “technically” do everything can't fix a poor strategy.

For this reason, I highly recommend you take my free sales funnel training series!

We recently took on a client that wanted to transition their robust eBay store over to their own website.

While this is not the first eCommerce store we’ve ever built – it is the first one that we transitioned from eBay, so we learned a few things that we’d like to share with you (and for us to refer back to should we receive another job like this!)

Before and After

I’ll start off describing the before and after, and then we’ll get into the details on how we made it happen!

The eBay Store

Below you’ll see a picture of the eBay store our client wanted transferred to her own website – and the eBay store still exist if you want to check it out

This is the first Website Evaluation post for Crazy Eye Marketing!

We take a look at Stauer.com – which is an eCommerce website that sells jewelry.

The point of this evaluation is to give tell the company exactly what I would do if I was “king for the day” and to provide them with several actionable steps in order to optimize their website for many different metrics (conversions, click throughs, time on page, number of pages viewed, etc.)

You’re Bleeding

Intense, I know.

Your mobile website, which, should be responsive and not its own separate entity (but, that’s a whole other issue), has a HUGE flaw … the opt-in form does not work.

The subscribe button isn't a button! It doesn't do anything when clicked!

You are literally taking away people’s ability to give you their precious contact information. And contact information is money.

You’re also aggravating these potential customers by your site not functioning properly. They want their coupon, yet, they cannot get it.

I’d address this issue immediately.

Besides, how are you going to measure anything when there is nothing to measure because your site doesn't work?

Your Homepage

Visually, it’s OK (it looks a little dated). Of course, I’d test different colors, pictures, link text, etc. However, without seeing any data, it’s hard to tell how well it’s performing – which pictures/links are drawing the most clicks.

The Main Issue With The Homepage

The main issue that I can almost guarantee is hindering your conversion rates is the location of the opt-in form – which is located all the way in the footer.

Do you not want people to see this and give you their contact information? Because that’s the way it appears.

An opt-in form should be front and center, not shoved in the bottom corner.

Your Opt-In Form

Well, I reckon I’ll address the opt-in form now.

I don’t like it one bit.

The Offer Is Not Good

First off, the offer only appeals to people who are about to make a purchase. What about the people that are just browsing? They’re not going to give you their contact information for a coupon they may never use.

Secondly, you’re offering a $20 coupon; however, most items “come with” a massive coupon …

$20 is chump change compared to the $200 I’ll save instantly, without giving away my contact information.

You need to offer something so delicious that everyone from a random window shopper to a jewelry connoisseur is dying to give you their contact information in exchange for a taste.

That $20 coupon will not cut it.

Worst Call-To-Action (CTA) To Ever Exist

The current CTA is the worst CTA to ever exist, ever.

If you’re not sure what I’m referring to – it’s that lovely button that says “Subscribe”. Don’t ya just want to put your email in there and press the button?!

I’m guessing not.

It needs to be “fun” to click, and it needs to be in line with the offer (Give Me My Coupon Now!).

Your Success Page

Now I see that the coupon is good on orders of $100 or more and cannot be combined with other codes or promotions – thus, rendering this coupon as useless.

Besides fixing the mobile opt-in form – please, please, please change your offer. All you’re doing with this is aggravating potential customers.

Tracking

It appears that you’re using Adobe Marketing Cloud (at least parts of it), and I can’t quite tell if you’re using it to run Google Analytics, Facebook Conversion Tracking, Facebook Exchange, etc. – as shown within builtwith, but it appears you’re tracking things.

At least I hope you’re tracking things.

Things like opt-ins, click-through-rates (CTR), conversion rates, open rates, social engagements, etc.

Hopefully you’re forming hypotheses and testing them, because Adobe Marketing Cloud can do a lot of stuff – and it’s expensive, so it should be used to constantly run tests – which is what I would be doing tons of.

Emails

I am about to give you some props!

The second I submitted my contact information, you delivered my coupon – as promised!

Regardless of whether the coupon is actually worth anything or not, it was instantly delivered which, a potential customer, would be very appreciative of.

Note: Normally, I would wait until I received several more emails from you before submitting this report in order to better analyze how you build a relationship and close a sale; however, since I'm only “king for the day” – I will go with what I currently have.

As king, I would keep a close eye on how well your emails perform. I would examine things like open rates, CTRs, and engagements. I would split test subject lines, content, images, etc. just like the rest of the web site.

I would also setup different email series for different customers based on what they’ve purchased and/or looked at and/or their buying habits. For example, if someone buys a certain watch, I would have an email automatically go to that person recommending a matching set of earrings. Thus, increasing sales.

Intermission

I am going to hit on a few more topics very briefly because I’m not sure if you’re enjoying this style of post or not, because if not, I don’t want to waste any more of your time.

However, if you would like to discuss more – let me know in the comments below!

Social Media

First off, where is your Twitter account? That is THE most important social media account for businesses. Twitter is one giant conversation that allows you to reach down to your customers and potential customers, and gives them the opportunity to reach you.

Facebook, you have a lot of likes 16,404; however, very little engagement. Some posts have one like. Why is that? My guess is because you’re using Facebook as a giant ad board, and people don’t want to look at ads; so, I would test the heck out of your Facebook posts and the content you’re sharing. Maybe a contest to re-invigorate interest?

Your Pinterest is not very active – the most recent pin I could find was over a year old – why is that? Are you not adding new products? Could you not promote your products in another light? You have great pictures and they need to be seen!

Your YouTube channel – I’m going to keep this short – it needs to be resuscitated.

Instagram – why aren’t you on here? Imagine getting some celebrities to take photos with your jewelry and sharing it with their followers – cha-ching!

There are so many variables you can test on social media, but it looks like you’re letting things fall apart.

Advertising

While I was browsing CNN, I was retargeted – nice!

It was good to see your ad follow me around.

As king, I would test hundreds of ads, traffic sources, landing pages, etc.

eCommerce

Of course, there is the whole eCommerce portion – in which I would examine cart abandonment, up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, etc.

I would test images, button locations, titles, links, etc.

Everything can be tested.

The End.

While I made a few assumptions in this report – If I were “king for a day” – I would take a very objective approach to improving your website – numbers don’t lie.

What did you think of this style of post? Was it helpful to you? Were you able to glean any insights? Leave a comment below!

 

Every so often we take a few minutes to check out a business that is actually using an automated sales system.

We enter the sales funnel just like any other person who comes across their site; however, we examine everything and share our thoughts on how to make it even better!

This examination features D1 Sports Training of Huntsville, AL.

If you have no idea what an automated sales system is – click here.

First and Foremost

I must commend D1 Sports Training for actually having an automated sales system.

I examined 17 other gyms, fitness centers, and sports training centers in the Huntsville, AL area and D1 was in the minority. Only about 25% of these businesses had implemented some kind of automated sales system.

In all of my examination and research thus far, the gym industry does a much better job at implementing automated sales system than any other industry. For example; in the car dealership industry – out of 19 dealerships I looked at, only 1 had an automated sales system.

• Read: Automated Sales System in Real Life: Bill Penney Toyota

Their Site

While I’m more concerned about the actual automated sales system, I must address the website because it’s part of the whole experience.

When I first came upon their website – I was impressed.

It is a nice, professional, website; albeit, it is not mobile responsive, which is something I highly recommend changing.

It looks tough and rugged too, just like they train you to be.

While the D1 brand has multiple locations (27) across the country, and therefore, I’d imagine, a pretty decent revenue in order to invest a lot of money into a beautiful website – it really doesn’t have to cost too much.

We at Crazy Eye Marketing will get you up and running with a beautiful website at a price that you choose.

So, if your business website is old, outdated, not mobile friendly, sloppy, and/or ugly – contact us!

… sorry, we’re a business, I had to throw in a pitch somewhere 😉

Back to the examination!

The best part about their site is they have “Free Trial – Sign Up Now” button, and the entry point to a sales funnel, smack dab in the middle of their homepage!

This is outstanding!

The only thing I might change (or at least test) in regards to that button; are the colors of it. It almost blends in too well with the rest of their site. Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly visually appealing – but, does it draw my attention?

I would test a bright green or a baby blue button in there to see what happens. Sure, it might not look as “cool”; however, the thing that matters is its ability to capture leads.

After clicking that button, we’re presented with the …

The Opt-in

A nice little popup appears asking us for our “Athlete Profile”.

Problems with Popups

There are a few problems with this popup method.

It does require JavaScript – so, if a visitor does not have Javascript enabled – the box will not appear. Fortunately, this is not too big of a deal these days as the web runs on JavaScript and the likelihood that someone has it turned off is slim to none.

The other issue that may arise in regards to having a popup box is how it displays on a mobile device. This one happens to display fine on my Samsung Galaxy S5; however, there may be phones out there where this opt-in doesn't display properly. This is something to be aware of and to keep an eye on.

Instead of having the popup, they could have another page dedicated to collecting the contact information.

Too Much Information

With an opt-in form, you want to request the least amount of acceptable information as possible.

The more information that is requested, the more of a “hassle” it is to fill out the form and it creates a barrier to entry.

For example; if I’m on my phone, typing in all of that requested information will take me a minute or two. I might not feel like spending my time on that.

Instead, request what’s needed in order to start the conversation.

In this instance, I believe D1 should ask for the first name, email, possibly the phone number, and possibly the age (this will allow them to send tailored content specific to that individual – but, only collect this if it’s being used to send tailored content. NEVER ask for extra information just to have extra information. Only ask for what you absolutely need in order to start the conversation.)

I doubt D1 needs to know the athlete’s last name, parent’s name, and zip code in order to get them in the door.

To summarize – I would scrap at least half of those data fields and only go with what is absolutely necessary to start the conversation. The rest of the information can be gathered when the athlete walks through the door.

Submit Button

Ewww.

Never, ever, have a submit button that says, “Submit”. That’s one of the biggest no-no’s in the industry!

The submit button should reaffirm exactly what the person is signing up for.

For example, “Get Free Trial!” or “Send Me My Trial!”

I would change this ASAP.

Lead Magnet

Let’s take a minute to dissect their Lead Magnet – “Sign Up For Your Free Trial”.

I love it.

I don’t believe there can be a better lead magnet than a free trial membership to a gym.

By my own personal experience, I've done a number of free trials to gyms, and they've converted me into a paying customer on multiple occasions.

In fact, I've only ever signed up for a gym if they've had a free trial. So, in my opinion, all gyms need to offer a free trial.

Nothing to change in regards to the lead magnet.

Upon Submission

After inputting all of my information and hitting the horrible “Submit” button – I was greeted with the “Thank You” page:

It’s not bad, but it should reiterate the reason I bothered to enter my contact information in the first place – the free trial.

At the very minimum, I would change the last sentence to say: “A D1 team member will be contacting you shortly in regards to your Free Trial!”

Also, on the thank you page, I would add some links to more information or the social media pages. Say something along the lines of “While you wait for your free trial to arrive in your inbox, why don’t you check out these articles or like us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.”

I’m Concerned

The message has not been consistent across the entire opt-in process.

By keeping the message of the “free trial” consistent, you build trust; however, with the exception of the initial free trail button on the homepage, I haven’t seen anything else talking about my free trial – whether on the opt-in form, nor the thank you page, and I’m becoming a little concerned that I'll actually be getting a free trial.

You need to keep the message consistent, because, right now, I can’t really remember what I signed up for.

Rapport Building

3 hours and 41 minutes after submitting my information in order to get a free trial, I received an email.

Yes, after submitting my very personal information like my full name, age, my parent’s name, my email, my phone number, and my zip code – information I hold dear – I heard nothing for 3 hours and 41 minutes.

This is unsatisfactory on multiple levels.

At the very least, I need an instant email confirmation saying that you received my personal information and that you’ll be in touch shortly.

I need to know that all of my contact information is both valued and being handled properly.

3 hours and 41 minutes of silence does not convey that you really care about my information.

Issue number 2, after 3 hours and 41 minutes, I may have even forgotten about you guys. More than likely I’m searching for several gyms that offer free trial memberships, and if you don’t respond, I’ll just go on to the next one, and you will miss out on me becoming a paying member.

3 hours and 41 minutes later …

 

All in all, I think it’s a pretty good first email.

First, it’s attractive and looks professional.

Second, it tells me what’s about to happen – that someone will contact me in regards to my free trial.

Third, it tells me what to do in the meantime – watch this awesome video.

Fourth, it tells me what to do if I have any questions – hit reply or call.

All in all, pretty good.

The biggest issue I have is that I had to wait 3 hours and 41 minutes to see it. Why wasn't it sent instantly?

I would also add a signature block to the email. You say to call, but who am I to ask for?

2 hours and 34 minutes later …

 

Nice!

A follow up email!

Short, sweet, to the point!

I like it, I love it, I want some more of it!

17 days later

 

I don’t understand why this email followed 17 days later.

By this time, if I've not already signed up for your gym – I've forgotten you exist and am already happy elsewhere.

When in the rapport building phase of the sales funnel, time is of the essence. You need to be proactive and responsive, working to build that relationship as quickly as possible in order to get that individual through the door and converted into a paying customer.

However, with the exception of the 17 day delay, it’s a great second (or third, depending how you look at it) email. It shares a story of someone who’s had success within your gym – and people love success stories.

I can’t tell from this exact email, but hopefully you’re using the age information I inserted in order to share a story with someone in my age group.

For example; if I selected that I was in middle school, I should receive a story about a middle schooler who found success with your gym.

When I registered, I selected that I was an adult – and this story is about an adult, but, I don’t know if this is just a coincidence or if I was specifically targeted.

Remember, if you’re not using the information you requested upon initial sign-up – don’t collect it.

Also, I would be sure to add a signature block to the email so the individual receiving the email knows exactly who to ask for when they call.

Summary of What They Need To Do:

• Their site is “pretty” – however, it is not mobile responsive. It still looks fine and functions on mobile devices; however, it’s not “meant” for mobile devices. I would change this.
• They should test their “Free Trial” button that is on the homepage. Try different colors that standout more and see how well they convert.
• They need to re-evaluate exactly what fields they’re using in their opt-in. If they are not using the information they’re asking for, or if that information can be gathered later – don’t’ ask for it right up front. It needs to be as simple as possible to fill out.
• The popup opt-in is “cool” however, some mobile devices may not support it. I’d recommend setting up a separate page specifically to collect leads.
• They need to change their “Submit” button ASAP – to anything other than “Submit”.
• They need to re-iterate on their thank you page that the individual will be receiving a free trial membership shortly. The message needs to be kept the same across all steps of the opt-in process.
• They need to send a confirmation email IMMEDIATELY after someone sends in their personal contact information. No one likes the thought of their information floating around out there in cyberspace.
• They’re emails were actually good for the most part. The biggest issue was their timing. The first one should be instant, the second one was appropriate, and the third one was 17 days later – which is way too long.
• They should also add a signature block to their emails.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, D1 Sports Training is doing a pretty decent job.

The biggest issue they need to fix is the timing of their email delivery – which can be accomplished with a few clicks.

The rest of the issues are fairly small and easy as well; however, when compounded will have a huge impact on conversion rates.

What Do You Think?

I need to know if you've found this post helpful in any way.

Even if you don't own a gym or a fitness center, does it help you understand how to approach an automated sales system?

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