Visitor conversion is a challenge faced by every marketer.

If you're spending money to generate traffic, you want to do everything possible to ensure that traffic isn't wasted. This means getting more bang for your buck by convincing more visitors to subscribe to your list.

In other words, conversion improves your return on investment and limits temptation of spending more money on more traffic.

If your opt-in list isn't converting as well you expected, there are several target elements you can experiment with to improve your opt-in rates:

1. Web Copy

Is copy on your site effective? Poorly written copy is one of first culprits to investigate. Start by evaluating your headline. Is it enticing? Does it pull reader in? A boring headline can cause people to click away without even reading rest of page. Check your main copy as well.

Do you explain benefits of list membership? People always want to know what's in it for them. Make sure you offer them plenty of reasons to sign up.

2. Incentives

Incentives provide additional benefits and additional reasons to join your list. If you aren't doing so already, offer a unique course, e-book or piece of software for free as a bonus to subscribers. Many times this will convert hesitant visitors into subscribers.

People love freebies and they also can't resist satisfying their curiosity.

3. Make it easy to join

Have you ever heard email described as, "the killer Internet Application?" Do you understand why email is killer app for your business on Internet, or how to make it that way if it isn't now?

In my spare time, I teach WingTsun(TM) Kung Fu. I learned Internet marketing by marketing my martial arts schools and classes online. Much of what I've learned about Internet marketing - and Life - has been strongly influenced by Kung Fu.

Good Kung Fu is concept-driven. Good Internet marketing should be, too. Have you ever heard concept, "The best defense is a good offense?"

My students and I are nice people. But if you've ever had to defend yourself or your family, you know you can't be too nice. Your survival, or survival of your loved ones, depends on you winning. You cannot stop, you must win.

So let me ask you: If you were in a situation where you had to defend yourself and your family - life or death! - would you only hit once? Of course not. You'd keep hitting until you and your family were safe, wouldn't you?

But is that how you market your business on Internet? Are you relentless? Do you win? Or do you just get one hit per visitor? Do you really think people are going to wait around to see what happens? Or come back later for another hit?

It sounds funny, but this is what vast majority of businesses do on Internet! I've done it too, and I KNOW better! Any marketer will tell you it's a known fact that it normally takes multiple exposures to your marketing before someone actually makes a purchase. It's so easy to focus on getting a hit on your web site. But what's chance you're going to win with just one hit?

Do you know what it costs you to get a visitor to your web site? Maybe you can measure it because you're doing pay-per-click, popup, or banner advertising. Or maybe you just know you spent umpteen hours hunched over your keyboard sweating blood trying to optimize your pages for search engines. Any way you count it, I'm betting it's costing you a lot of time or money for each visitor. Do you really want them to just surf in and surf out, never to be seen again, and never to generate any revenue?

Are you going to crawl back in every Monday morning to a job you hate? Your family would be a lot safer if they didn't have to depend on good will of an anonymous corporation, wouldn't they?

Are you going to win?

Are you an Internet Warrior?

Then you have to get their email address, and permission to email them. Then we start our Kung Fu.