Squeeze Page Formula Revealed (Part 01) – What is a Squeeze Page?
September 4, 2010 
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A squeeze page is typically a single web page that has one and only one goal – to get you (the potential customer) to provide your personal contact information in exchange for something. Now, that is pretty vague, but that is the general principal. The way it works is the page must build up intrigue and excitement about the product that lies “just on the other side” of that opt-in box and the only thing that stand between you and getting that information is simply putting your name and email address in the box and hitting submit. Well, that’s the theory, but in practice it’s a bit more complex than that.
But first, let’s take a look a back at some history. The term squeeze page comes from the very intent of the web page itself which is to “squeeze” information out of a potential client. Generally that information is contact information that the owner of the site is soliciting. Like any good salesman, the first step to closing a sale is knowing who you’re talking with.
Here’s a few examples of an offline version of the squeeze page. Let’s say you go down to your local car dealership and decide to do some window shopping for that new family sedan you’re considering buying. If you don’t buy today (which, in all reality is not very probably) he needs to be able to follow up with you. To be able to give you a call in a week and offer you a discount on a new financing program that just came out, for example. Any salesman worth his salt knows that by good follow up contact work he or she will close many more sales and so their first and foremost concern is getting that contact information from you. There are several ways that the salesman will “squeeze” contact information out of you – that’s his job.
For example, he may offer you a test drive of the vehicle you’re looking at, but require you to fill out their contact form in case there is an accident on the test drive. Or, perhaps he will exchange business cards with you – a very common way to get your contact info. As you look around the dealership you will likely see several examples of “squeeze pages”. Another common example is a “free drawing” where you just have to “drop in” your business card or fill out a simple registration form. All of these methods in the physical world have an equivalent in the virtual world online.
So, in summarizing, a squeeze page is simply a short form that requires you to enter your contact information before continuing on to the “real” information you want to see. Another name for a squeeze page is a “teaser” page. Again, the name is pretty self-explanatory. The purpose is to “tease” you with all of the great benefits you will get after you provide your contact information. Yet another name for the traditional squeeze page is an “opt-in” page.
This terminology comes from the fact that you must opt in to the list explicitly by entering your contact information. (NOTE: You should be careful when opting into a squeeze page and look for the fine print, because some vendors will sell your information to various other lists. You think you’ve only opted into one site, but your information may be distributed to a hundred others. This is less common today than it was in the past, because of numerous consumer advocate groups, however, you should still make sure to read the fine print.)
The teasers may come in various forms – from promises of free gifts or reports, to discounts, or any other promotional item that might entice you to register. For example, a “register now for your opportunity to win a free notebook” – these tactics are all very common and you have likely come across them many times over in your journey online. Many times they are simply a free report or perhaps a free “chapter” of the ebook you are considering purchasing.
Over time many different versions and styles of squeeze pages have evolved. The most common is the short form squeeze page. It is typically very short and has very little information with an accentuated call to action, like a great big orange “Click Here” button. Today the most common form of this squeeze page has a video that is set to autoplay so that as soon as you open the page the video starts “selling” you on why you should “opt in” or register. Though not always the case, the typical short form squeeze page will usually occupy only the “above the fold” area of the browser. This means that the entire page will usually be visible in the browser without having to scroll down. The “above the fold” nomenclature is kind of outdated, but is still used online even though it really was a term that referred to newspaper media. A story that was “above the fold” was one that was at the top of the page and didn’t require the reader to flip over the newspaper.
The other type of squeeze page can also be called a sales page. Now there is a gray area here of the difference between a long sales letter and a squeeze page – there are differing opinions. For purposes of this document, we will call it a squeeze page if it requires you to put in user information before proceeding. Now, some will disagree with that requirement. Some people consider “optional” user data to still constitute a squeeze page. But as the user has a different path and can still get what he wants without providing any personal information, this is not generally thought of as a true squeeze page in the purest sense.
So, a long form squeeze page is a combination of a sales letter with a required opt-in. A sales letter is generally 3 or more pages long – sometimes as long as 20 pages – and usually will have various pieces of convincing copy, testimonials and benefits of the product to entice you to purchase it. However, if you can abstract the concept of purchasing for a minute and just think of it as “taking an action” then you will understand the long form squeeze page. Think of it as a sales page where the “sale” is merely the action of opting into the list.
Long form squeeze pages are not generally as effective as the shorter variety and, as such, are not as widely used. There are, however, certain situations where a long form squeeze page is absolutely necessary. Generally this is when much more user information is required. For example, a full address, phone number and various bits of contact information necessary for an online quote, for example. In order to show the user the benefits of what he or she is going to get, you may not have very good results getting someone to provide all of that information. Therefore, you might have to go to a long form squeeze page in order show the value to the potential customer. In the end, it’s just a trade. You are trading “something” (a freebie, a promotion, information – something) for personal data. If you ask for a lot of personal data, you may have to give a lot more information first.
As you read further about squeeze pages, one theme will repeat itself over and over again – TEST, TEST and TEST again. Marketing is really all about emotions and numbers. Emotions motivate people to buy or “take action” (that action may not be to buy anything, the action may simply be to fill in the squeeze page and hit submit). Skilled marketers use emotions and advanced marketing techniques to improve the numbers. But in the end it all comes down to the numbers.
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