A squeeze page is a web page — which has the sole purpose of capturing a new lead and filling your pipeline — that offers something for free (or discounted) in exchange for information from your new lead.  The general approach includes a collection of at least a first name and email address, but some squeeze pages gather much more details that someone would ask in a first sales conversation.  Squeeze pages are employed by businesses that exist online and off (but have a site) to not only build a list, but also to pre-qualify a visitor to the website and determine whether or not that person should be placed at a higher priority in the leads queue.

Squeeze pages work very well.  Studies show that web sites without squeeze pages perform sluggishly when compared against competitive web sites that do feature squeeze pages.  The following is an example of a typical result you’d see from a squeeze page.  Some people will receive much more of a return at the final step of money exchanging hands, and some people will receive less.

• You drive 100 people to your squeeze page
• 16 people will fill out your form
• All 16 are added to your database and are followed up with
• 8 will consider doing business with you
• 4 will meet with you (assuming that’s part of your model)
• 2 will hire you

What Makes a Squeeze Page More Effective at Lead Capture:

There are many factors that will weigh into how effective your squeeze page will be at capturing more leads for you.  How much marketing have you done to promote it?  How clear was your messaging?  How far did your message reach?  Did you employ advertising?  Who were you targeting?  Was it targeted effectively?  Was the freebie compelling enough?  Were your questions too pushy?  Did you have too many links visible?  Was your selling image attractive and simple?  Did you follow up with the person?  Did they opt-into your marketing?  Etcetera.

You have to pay attention to the entire squeeze page process to really make sure it will really perform for you.  You can’t just whip together a shoddy one pager and expect people to line up for it.  You also can’t just mention it once and expect it to be enough.  You need to include squeeze pages in the entire marketing process from start to finish, as a way to bring new people into your pipeline, and to drive them to your other points of contact (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp, Email, etc) for those that aren’t ready to buy just yet (mostly the case).

The Squeeze Page Process or Procedure:

Yes, I drew that.  Just for you.  🙂  I’ve always been a visual explainer.  For those that prefer to read or would like an accompanying explanation…

1. Traffic is driven to site from Facebook, Google Advertising, Email, or whatever other promotion you employ — that promises a free X, Y or Z.
2. Visitors land on your squeeze page and are presented with a very basic page featuring:
   1. Simple and distraction-free, clean design.
   2. The headline clearly describing what’s being offered.
   3. Imagery, and captions further describing what’s being offered.
   4. The text is clearly WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) centered.
   5. A clear call to action (CTA) prompting the visitor to take action (ex: Get Your Free Download!).
   6. The form has exploratory questions that clue the site owner about who the visitor is.
3. The visitor then hopefully fills in their info and answers whatever your questions are.  If they don’t, they simply stop there or visit another part of your site.
4. Hits submit (or whatever call to action you label it as).
5. The visitor is then directed to the free X, Y or Z without hassle or further delay.  Simultaneously, their information is sent to you to follow up on, and is automatically added to your email marketing database.
6. The visitor then receives an automatic thank you email, following up with them.   This is your chance to call or email that person personally and make that contact point more relevant.

Some Tips for Success With Squeeze Pages

1. First of all, the success of the squeeze page is dependent on the traffic sources.  Like every other form of marketing, squeeze pages are NOT a silver bullet by themselves.  You need to drive people to your squeeze page.  In general, they work best when the traffic comes from searches.  People are shopping for an idea or product and may not be ready to buy right now — but it doesn’t mean they won’t at some point.
2. A good squeeze page will be brief, will get to the point quickly and won’t burden the reader down with unnecessary fluff or extra words.  It will tell people what’s in it for them, and what to do to get it.  Nothing more.
3. Specifically targeting your audience will work wonders for you.  The more clear you are about who you want to attract, the easier it will be.
4. Your squeeze page should have a clear objective before it’s created.  Who do you want to attract?  What do you want them to do?  What is your action plan for follow up?
5. Be confident in your message. For example, a good title for a squeeze page (about squeeze pages) would be: The Only Guide You Need for Awesome Squeeze Pages.
6. Your call to action should be clear, specific, convey value and create a sense of urgency.  If you can’t accomplish this, you will miss out on valuable leads.
7. Your squeeze page should have minimal obstacles for the visitor to navigate through to get the free X, Y or Z.  The easier it is for people to do, the more likely it is that they will happily engage.
8. Don’t forget to follow up!  This is one of the most important elements of this program.  Without the follow-up – the whole thing goes to waste.  Remember to be HELPFUL versus sales-y and you’ll capture their hearts in addition to just their info.  Solve a problem for them – ask how you can help – be a resource.  Think of what they need first and what you need second.  By not selling, often times its the easiest way TO sell.