You can get more people to subscribe to your list if your Submit button for your web form stands out. It should:
- Be visually striking
- Have a custom message
Here’s an example of a boring Submit button. In fact, it’s hard to even see it!
You probably get your for your sign-up form code from your email provider. In that code, near the end, is the section that contains the button.
This is going to get a little technical
But not difficult.
By default, most Submit buttons are plain text. The text for the button is in the part of the code that says “input” and might look something like this:
<input name=”submit” value=”Submit ” type=”submit”>
A simple webform might look like this.
The text after “value” is what you see. So the button reads “Submit.” But that’s pretty boring and isn’t much of an encouragement to your visitors to click that button, is it?
So you might change the text to read something more enticing.
In this case, the code could read:
<input type=”submit” name=”submit” value=”Sign Up to Succeed!” />
And the button would look like this.
Isn’t that much better?
Go 1 step further with an image button
You can make your button stand out even more by using an image in place of the text. There are some plug-ins that do this for you, as I explain below, but you can substitute an image on your own.
First, you need an image. That’s easy to create in PowerPoint. Just insert a rectangle or rounded rectangle, add text, format the colors, and then right-click and choose Save as Picture.
Tip: You can even create multiple objects. Just select them all, right-click and choose Save as Picture. Here you see an example of an arrow and a rounded rectangle.
Then, you need to upload the image to your web server. That’s easy too. In your Dashboard, click Media, Add New and browse to the file you saved. Then click the Edit link and you’ll see the URL. You’ll need the URL in your webform code.
Getting the size of the image right can be a hassle. If the image is too big, go back to the file on your computer and resize it using any image-editing software. Then upload it again.
For example, my form (at the upper-right) has code similar to this at the end:
<input class=”button” type=”image” name=”commit” src=”http://changetheworldmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/online-busines-create-submit-button-41.png” />
You can see that the code is a little more complicated that the one for plain text. But you can copy and paste this text in place of the input section in your code and substitute the URL for your own image between the quotation marks after “src=”
Here’s what this form would look like:
Big difference, right? More people will subscribe, right?
Warning: If you have existing code that works, don’t overwrite it. Instead, add a new Text widget and place the new code there. When you know that the new code works, delete the old Text widget. To test the new code, actually fill out the form with an email address that isn’t on your list and make sure you get added.
In the widget, click Save and then view your website. (If you already have it open in another tab, refresh the page.) You should now see your image button!
Use a 3rd-party plug-in
There are a number of 3rd-party WordPress plug-ins that you can use to create highly attractive buttons and forms. These can make the process less technical, although they have lots of options. In the end, I’m not sure that the process is actually easier, but you’ll probably be able to get more striking forms. One that I use is Hybrid Connect — check it out here. (This is an affiliate link.) I use it for a pop-up form that you may have seen and I use it for my squeeze page — that’s a sign-up page that has no other content on it — check it out here. What do you think of it?
What does your sign-up form look like? Do you get good results? Do you customize it? Leave a comment to share your experience or ask a question!