*Jozzua Notes from a Business and Marketing Strategist/Tactician

How To Bug Your Visitors To Subscribe Without Overdoing It

Tired of seeing those glaring 'SUBSCRIBE HERE' forms all over websites? Tough luck, you'll continue to see them because according to marketing experts, getting subscribers is one of the key elements in getting an online audience. Web marketers know this and do whatever they can to get people to sign up.

If you're a WordPress blogger, you can give your visitors some breathing room by putting a non-intrusive, permission based plug-in called "What Would Seth Godin Do."

This oddly named WP plugin would use cookies to remember visitors. So, first time site visitors would be shown a note like:

Looks like it's your first time on this website, please subscribe...

After 2 to 3 visits, the message would disappear.

New visitors will appreciate some context and background information about your site. This is your chance to offer them a special welcome and invite them to become permanent subscribers!

The plug-in was inspired by Seth Godin's comments on Cookies. Seth Godin is a famous internet marketing who wrote The Purple Cow and Permission Marketing.

One opportunity that’s underused is the idea of using cookies to treat returning visitors differently than newbies. It’s more work at first, but it can offer two experiences to two different sorts of people. (Source: In the Middle, Starting)

So that's how you bug visitors to subscribe. You ask nicely and not simply splatter your subscribe here forms all over your website.