15 tested and proven ways to help you build your subscriber list

Offer quality content. Nobody gives up their email address for free. If you want to build a valuable relationship and engage your audience, you need to provide content that is worthwhile and interesting.
Put sign-up forms on every web page. Your sign-up form should be everywhere your potential subscribers are. Make sure it’s visible and easy to fill out.
Use social media to collect email addresses. Integrate your sign-up forms with social media platforms. Driving traffic from multiple sources allows you to build a strong email marketing list much faster.
Design your sign-up form carefully. Ask only for information you plan to use. A good rule of thumb is that less is more — the shorter the sign-up form, the higher the conversion rate.
Show your privacy policy. Inform your readers that you will not share their personal information with third parties. A clear privacy policy helps you build trust and convince visitors that it’s safe to subscribe.
Show samples of your content. Let your subscribers know what they are signing up for. Use your older content samples to “sell” the email sign-up.
Include a call to action. Put a call to action in your submit button, e.g. Sign me up! This makes the sign-up process more engaging and improves the conversion ratio.
Give away freebies. Think of a relevant incentive for your audience (e-book, infographic, white paper) and provide it for free.
Ask subscribers to share. Take the time to prepare valuable, shareable content. Remember that putting the social share buttons is not enough; you still need to ask your subscribers to use them.
Build a content distribution strategy. Producing great content is only half the battle. Make sure it’s visible to the right audience. Define who your ideal audience is and find out where they like to congregate online. Then choose communication channels accordingly.
Publish landing pages. Create a squeeze page where visitors can download premium content in exchange for their email address. A dedicated web page helps users focus on the call to action and increases conversions.
Include testimonials on your landing page. Social proof helps build trust toward a brand and its products. Use testimonials from satisfied customers to help visitors make a decision.
Blog regularly. Great content brings more traffic. Develop a realistic content publishing schedule and stick to it.
Guest post on popular blogs. Publishing your content on other blogs is a great way to build relationships with other bloggers in your industry and introduce yourself to new people. Include a backlink to your blog, and your blog’s search rankings will go up.
Collect email addresses at offline events. Be ready to collect email addresses at trade shows and conferences. Ask for business cards or use the Forms on the Go app to instantly add people to your list.

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John Mulindi

John writes on a variety of topics. He blogs on topics ranging from social media marketing (SMM), search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, business, personal finance tech, entrepreneurship to personal development. In free time he likes watching football, reading, listening to music and taking nature walks.

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View Comments

kumamonjeng says:

March 7, 2019 at 3:04 pm

This is great tips for me as I have little subscriber and I need to look into these tips seriously and see how I can improve.
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 7, 2019 at 9:38 pm
  
  Thanks for your feedback!
veryerin says:

March 7, 2019 at 7:28 am

Great tips, these are so useful. Thank you for sharing all of the things you've learned through your experiences!
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 7, 2019 at 9:41 pm
  
  You are welcomed.
Jasmine M says:

March 7, 2019 at 5:43 am

These are some great tips for building a subscriber list. I'll have to try some of them out soon, especially giving away a freebie.
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 7, 2019 at 9:42 pm
  
  Thanks Jasmine. Glad you picked some tips from this post.
Mosaics Lab says:

March 7, 2019 at 1:54 am

These tips are amazing! I will definitely put some of your tips to test soon as i work on building my list. Thanks a lot.
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 7, 2019 at 9:45 pm
  
  Welcome.
Lisa says:

March 7, 2019 at 12:52 am

These are great and timely tips as I'm doing this at the moment. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated!
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 7, 2019 at 9:45 pm
  
  Welcome.
scrapbookadventures365 says:

March 6, 2019 at 11:52 pm

I will be using these tips for sure - I hope they work for me too! Thank you!
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 6, 2019 at 11:57 pm
  
  Welcome.
Ben Butler says:

March 6, 2019 at 10:32 pm

This is awesome info. Building a subscriber list is key in keeping your name out there and making sure you're the first one people contact when they need help.
- John Mulindi says:
  
  March 6, 2019 at 10:41 pm
  
  Hey Ben, as always, thanks for your insightful comments.
momvival says:

August 9, 2018 at 2:25 pm

Very informative post. I need to try the landing page tactic. My subscriptions definitely seem slow but I am fairly new and hoping after summer tho gs will pick up!
- John Mulindi says:
  
  August 9, 2018 at 9:57 pm
  
  Hi, am grateful for your visit. You are most welcomed.
gursimrat says:

June 29, 2018 at 4:29 pm

Hi John, very good post. To the point and great information. I found your blog through bloggers traffic community.
- John Mulindi says:
  
  June 29, 2018 at 4:48 pm
  
  Hi, thanks very much for the positive feedback. You are most welcomed.
Sweet says:

February 2, 2018 at 6:36 pm

Lots of great ideas
- John Mulindi says:
  
  February 3, 2018 at 1:06 am
  
  Hi, thanks for reading.