Landing page for a blogger: what to include for sign-ups

Quick answer

A blogger’s landing page gets sign-ups when it does one job: a clear headline saying what readers get, a specific reason to subscribe, a short form asking only for an email address, a few lines of proof, an honest note on how often you will email, and nothing competing for the click. Keep it fast on a phone.

Most blogs ask for email addresses with a small box in the sidebar saying “Subscribe to my newsletter”. Hardly anyone does. Then the blogger builds a dedicated landing page, fills it with an about-me story, five social icons, a list of recent posts and a form at the bottom, and wonders why that does not work either. A landing page converts because of what it leaves out. Use the checklist below to build one, or to audit the one you have.

The landing page checklist

The headline and the reason

• Write the headline as an outcome. A baking blog might say “One reliable weekend bake, every Friday”. A personal finance blog: “The money tip I would tell a friend, once a week”.
• Give a specific reason to act now. A free download that solves one problem (a printable meal planner, a starter checklist, a mini course in five emails) converts better than a promise of general updates.
• Match the freebie to the blog’s best posts. Look at which posts get the most readers and offer the next step from those.
• Keep the subheading to one sentence that says who it is for: “For busy parents who want to cook from scratch without the faff.”

The form and the button

• Ask for less. An email address is enough. A first name helps you personalise; anything more costs sign-ups.
• Put the form near the top and repeat it at the bottom for people who read everything first.
• Make the button specific. “Get the planner” or “Send me Friday’s bake” beats “Subscribe”.
• Use a double opt-in if your email tool offers it, so typos and fake addresses do not clog your list.
• Test the form yourself on a phone and a laptop, and check the welcome email arrives, not in spam.

Proof and expectations

• Add one or two short quotes from real readers, with their permission.
• Show a sample: a screenshot of a recent issue or a link to the archive, so people know what they are signing up for.
• Say how often you email (“every Friday”, “twice a month”) and keep to it.
• If you have a real number of readers you are comfortable sharing, it can help; never inflate it.

The legal basics in the UK

• Consent must be clear. The ICO’s guidance on electronic mail marketing explains when you need consent to email people. A sign-up form for a newsletter is fine, as long as it is clear what people are agreeing to.
• No pre-ticked boxes. The ICO’s guidance on consent is clear that it must be an active choice.
• Do not bundle. If the freebie requires joining the newsletter, say so plainly on the page.
• Link a privacy notice explaining what you do with the address and which email tool stores it.
• Every email needs an easy unsubscribe link, which any reputable email tool adds automatically.

Speed and design

• One column, large readable text and plenty of white space.
• One image at most, compressed, ideally of you or the freebie itself.
• Brand colours and fonts that match the blog, so readers know they are in the right place.
• A load time of a couple of seconds on mobile data; test it on your own phone away from Wi-Fi.

Sending people to the page

• Link it at the end of every blog post, with a line tied to that post’s topic.
• Put it in your social profiles’ link field instead of your homepage.
• Mention it in podcast or video appearances with a short, memorable address.
• Keep the content worth subscribing to; Google’s guidance on creating helpful content is a good check for the posts that feed the page.

Check it after a month

• Compare visits to the page with sign-ups. If plenty of people arrive but few join, rework the headline and the reason first.
• If few people arrive at all, the problem is traffic, not the page: add links from your most-read posts.
• Read the replies to your welcome email; readers often tell you exactly what they hoped to get.
• Change one thing at a time, so you know what made the difference.

Getting it built

Most blogging platforms and email tools let you build a basic landing page yourself, and for many bloggers that is enough to start. When you want one designed to match your brand and tested for sign-ups, our landing page design is £199, and our guide to landing page costs compares the options. To set up the welcome sequence behind it, our email marketing and automation set-up is £149, and our guide to email marketing for small businesses covers what to send. If you need a whole small site rather than one page, see our one-page website at £299. Every Luxbranding price is on our pricing page.