How do I set up an email subscriber form on my Website?

I’m so glad you asked! As I explained in my previous post () it is SO important to the long term success of your online art business to build your email subscriber list. Read about the reasons in this post here.

Today is not about the “why” but more about the “how” of setting up a basic widget in your website so you can start building that super valuable email subscriber list.

Now in all transparency, I use Aweber for my email automation. By email automation, I mean that Aweber is a paid platform that generates a form for me to put on my website to use to collect subscriber email information into one database. It does more than that but I’m not going to talk about that right now. FYI, note that my Aweber links are affiliate links where I get a small commission BUT that is not why I use them. I don’t get them for free and I do pay a monthly subscription fee just as you would. I use them because they are an awesome product and serve what I need right now.

That being said, you can use MailChimp for free. It’s a great place to start when you’re first building your business or building your list. As it grows, you’ll want to look into other options that can serve a larger subscriber list.

Please note that I use WordPress to build all my websites and although this can be easily integrated with most platforms and HTML web pages, all of my tutorials will be based upon the WordPress platform.

Now we’re going to talk about the “where” to put it on your website.
The five best places to put your email subscriber form on your website.

1 – The right sidebar above the fold.

Let me briefly explain the term above the fold. When a person opens up your website on their computer, and they had their browser (like Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer) fully open or maximized, it’s all the area you can see before you have to scroll.

A great example is to imagine a newspaper. Look at the image to the right to see where I’m referencing.

When you first pick it the paper, the prime real estate is everything you see above the fold. You’re not going to see the bottom half until you take action and unfold the paper.

It’s the same for a website. You’re not going to see what’s below “the fold” until you start to scroll down the page. So everything above the fold is prime real estate and that’s where you want your email subscription form.

The right sidebar is generally THE most popular and one of the most effective places to put this form.

2 – In your About Page.

I can’t say enough about this page and it will deserve a whole separate post all about it. Your About Page will be one of the top hit pages on your website, so be sure to put one there.

A good place is on the bottom section of the page. So if a fan makes it down to the bottom of your About Page, you know they’re really interested in you and what you have to say.

3 – In your Blog Posts.

A lot of people miss this one. At the bottom of each of your posts, insert your form. There is a very good reason for this.

If someone is in Google and your article pops up in the search results and the person clicks the link to go to your article, they may never make it to your home page. The design of your page might not have a sidebar so you don’t want to miss that opportunity to have them sign up for your subscriber list.

4 – The footer of your website.

This is another great place to put your form. It’s on every page of your website and you can make it so it’s not loud or annoying.

People generally also look for important information about your site in the footer so this allows you another opportunity to offer your newsletter to your fans.

5 – In the top header of your site.

There are a couple different ways to do this. You can put it in as a top thin horizontal form at the very top of your website or you can have a section in the top right for a larger stacked form. Also instead of the stacked form you can simply as for an email address.

I always like to ask for at least a first name so I can make the emails I send to them more personal. It doesn’t have to have a last name, it can be just a first name as you’ll see in mine that I use on this site.

So now you have a better understanding of “where” to put your email subscriber form and once you watch my online video tutorials, you’ll know “how” to set up your form.

Below is a video tutorial of how to set up an email subscriber form using Mail Chimp.

Email Subscriber Form tutorial using Mailchimp from Samantha Meeker on Vimeo.

Below is a video tutorial of how to set up an email subscriber form using Aweber.

FIND OF THE WEEK: Canva

I hope that this information has proven valuable to you and please feel free to reach out to me through my contact form or social media with any questions and/or feedback.

Cheers!

Samantha