Why Aren’t People Signing Up For Your Membership Site?

Posted on 23. Aug, 2010 by Steve in Tips & Tricks

When people talk about the different factors that create a membership site, they will often talk about variables such as quality of content and building a sense of community, however it doesn’t matter how great your content is if no one ever sees it. If you can’t get people to take the first step and sign up, then you will never create a successful membership site. Here is a look at some of the reasons that your visitors aren’t signing up.

1. No Call to Action

The sad truth is that if you don’t tell people to sign up, they won’t. Without a blatant call to action, visitors will not take the next step. You should never assume that they will do something if you don’t tell them what to do.

2. Too Many Words

Creating an effective ad copy is an exercise in restraint. It doesn’t matter if you have a long sales page or a short one, you need to say what you need to say as succinctly as possible.

3. Hard Sell

People don’t want to be forced into joining before they are ready. Let your content speak for itself and people will join. You don’t have to push them straight to registration page.

4. First Impression

There have been a number of studies over the years, and they all state that your visitors will decide whether or not they want to learn more about your membership site within the few 5 to 10 seconds. Essentially, this is the amount of time that it takes to scan your site and mentally process it. People judge books by their cover, and they will do the same to your site, whether it is a good idea or not. Make it look good, or they are going to move on.

5. Colors

Have you noticed that most of top membership sites and sales pages all use the same colors? It’s because they work. If your visitors are not attracted by the colors, or worse are turned off by them, then they are not going to sign up. The color of your website is the basis of its first impression.

6. Keep It Simple

One of the worst things that you can do is make your site too confusing. The more options that people have, the less likely they are to take action. Have you even walked into a state fair or a carnival? There are so many different games and rides, that most people spend more time walking around and trying to decide what to do than actually doing anything.

There are a lot of reasons that you may not be getting your visitors to actually sign up for a membership, but these 6 factors are easy to get right and even easier to get wrong.