How to Make Your Lead Magnet Freebie More Visible on Squarespace to Convert Better
Do you have a lead magnet (or freebie, or lead generator) on your Squarespace website, and you want to make sure it gets as many eyes on it as possible? I hear you! Obviously we want our featured resource to be downloaded by as many as people as possible to grow your email newsletter list.
But here’s the thing: it’s actually pretty danged hard to get people to sign up for something that doesn’t entice them.
There’s no amount of pop-ups, moving the lead magnet to a more visible space, or glamorizing it that will make people want to download your lead magnet more.
Here’s my tips for getting more eyes on your freebie so that it stands its best chance!
Tip 01: Start with making your lead magnet content better
Please don’t roll your eyes, I’m already rolling mine. I know, this is an article about the tips for Squarespace, so how could I possible start with the lead magnet itself? Well, I have to! Your lead magnet has to be incredible content before someone is going to fork over their email for it. And, what works for a lead magnet changes pretty frequently. 5 years ago, PDF downloads were all the rage. I think I probably gave my email for about 100 of them during the pandemic, and I was printing and engaging with them like crazy.
The issue is, PDFs have now somewhat died down. We have enough of them! We have enough workbooks, checklists, and documents. People might download a PDF and look at it for all of two seconds, but that doesn’t help you with long term visibility.
So now what’s working these days in the world of lead magnets?
Here’s a few things that are proving to work really well as lead magnets:
A free educational email series. Let people “subscribe” to an email series so they can learn more about you slowly. You could do 5 days of design tips, or 3 days of meditation practices for a stress-free work week.
A quiz! You don’t have to use an app, you can use a webpage or even make a PDF. I myself use an app called Tally, and they made it very simple!
A free mini course or interactive resource. We’re crazy about education and if you can teach someone, they’ll remember you forever
A webinar that covers a hot topic
Tip 02: Design a beautiful visual mockup for your lead magnet so that it’s visually enticing
For people to be excited about your lead magnet, you want to make sure they can actually see what it is. This means showing a visual of a screen if it’s a webinar, the PDF pages if it’s a downloadable, or even a sampling of the quiz.
I’ve got this free mockup template for you here for your freebies! You want to make sure your mockup looks visually beautiful for folks to be excited about it.
For example, which one of these are you more interested in downloading:
Option 01
Option 02
Yeah, you’re way more interested in the second one. It actually has a headline that converts, visual design that’s exciting for the user, and gives you a sneak peek into what’s there.
Tip 03: Placement does matter, but in a thoughtful way.
You don’t want to shove your lead magnet in your users’ faces! Yes, we want your lead magnet to be visible, but putting it everywhere is only going to be annoying to your potential client.
Ultimately, someone is on your website to learn about you, get familiar with your services, or be interested in a product. If you’re trying to distract them from that content too much, they’ll be turned off. Your lead magnet should complement the content already on the page and not be a deterrent from your users’ interest in your services.
Thoughtful lead magnet placements on your website:
Make sure your lead magnet is paired thoughtfully with content if it’s on the page. For example, I wouldn’t place a website guide on my brand design page. If you’re a therapist, you wouldn’t put couples’ therapy tips on the individual therapy page.
Utilize your footer! Place your lead magnet in your footer or at least have a link to your newsletter. Anyone who actively wants to sign up with you is going to seek that area to engage with you past the content on your website.
Put your lead magnet high on the page, but not too high so that it feels like you’re
Should I add a pop-up for my lead magnet?
This is a challenging question and one I’ve grappled with. Obviously if you’re here, you’ve seen that I do have a pop up on my website because it has worked for me in the past. In general, I believe pop-ups need to be specifically valuable to your niche for them to work. If they’re gimmicky, overly-promotional, or don’t offer a lot of value, they can actually hurt your credibility and cause people to exit your website rather than stay to get the value.
