What is an opt-in rate?

An opt-in rate is the percentage of visitors to your website who signed up to receive emails, SMS, or push notifications from you. Opt-in rate indicates the effectiveness of your sign-up forms and overall subscriber acquisition strategy.

To calculate your opt-in rate:

Divide the number of subscribers by the total number of visitors to your website within a given amount of time
Multiply that number by 100 to get a percentage

There are no universal benchmarks that define the ideal opt-in rate because it can vary so much across industries and audiences. The best way to evaluate yours is by tracking it over time and comparing past and present performance.

4 tips to increase your opt-in rate

You’d be surprised how much simple changes to your website matter for increasing opt-in rate. Here are some ways to increase sign-ups from website visitors:

1. Make it easy to opt in

Making your sign-up process quick and easy can encourage more people to subscribe to receive messages from your brand. Here’s how you can simplify the sign-up process:

Keep it short: The fewer fields in your sign-up form, the better. Limit your sign-up form to just one or two fields—one where you ask for someone’s email address and an optional first name. This makes it quicker and easier for visitors to sign up.
Pick the right spot: Where you place your sign-up form matters. Consider adding it to your footer, sidebar, or checkout page to capture sign-ups when customers are already engaged.
Use triggers: Triggers are actions or conditions that make your sign-up form pop up at the right moment. You can show different forms based on what visitors are doing on your site—like after they’ve scrolled halfway down the page, spent some time browsing, or are about to leave without taking action. This way, you capture their attention when they’re most likely to engage.

For apps, simplify opting in by redirecting users to the settings page, where they can enable push notifications.

2. Be transparent about the terms of their opt-in

Your audience is more likely to opt in if they understand what comes with a sign-up.

Be transparent about what people can expect from you in terms of:

Frequency: Let them know how often they’ll receive messages from you.
Type of communication: Explain what kind of messages they’ll receive, like promotions, updates, or newsletters.
Customization: Offer your subscribers the option to pick their preferences so they get only the messages they’re interested in.

3. Offer an incentive to sign up

The best way to get a sign-up is to offer something in return. That may include:

Members-only deals and perks
A one-time promo code for a discount
Early access to new features or products
Educational content that’s in high demand

4. Run A/B tests

Before you launch a final version of your sign-up form, you’ll want to test it for a period of time to make sure it’s optimized for the highest opt-in rate possible. You can test:

Headline
Images
CTA copy and color
Your entire offer

To conduct an A/B test, choose one variable to test at a time and monitor the results over a few weeks. Then, make adjustments based on which version performs the best.

Turn to Klaviyo to create impactful sign-up forms and marketing messages. With 50 ready-made form templates and a simple form editor, Klaviyo makes it easy to obtain consent and grow your list.