Single vs. Double Opt-In

Objectives: To learn what single and double opt-ins are, and the advantages and disadvantages of each. What You’ll Accomplish: By the en...

Objectives: To learn what single and double opt-ins are, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
What You’ll Accomplish: By the end of this lesson, you’ll be in a position to decide whether your list should use single or double opt-in.
Estimated Time of Completion: 5 minutes
Before You Begin: Get a pen and paper or open a Word/text file to take notes.
Single vs. double opt-in is an ongoing debate in the internet marketing community. Both offer advantages and both have their downsides. So I’ll explain what each is, and explain why each has its supporters.
I’ll explain double opt-in first, since it’s more complicated that single opt-in.

Double Opt-In

A double opt-in is where the customer signs up, but then has to CONFIRM their subscription. They must CLICK A LINK in a confirmation email that’s sent to them right after they sign up. If they don’t click that link… they are not added to your list!

Here is an example of what happens with a double-opt-in:

• The visitor enters their email and hits the signup button.
• An email is sent to them with a confirmation link. This is called a confirmation email. It usually looks something like this:
•  We just received your subscription request.
• We just received your subscription request. Please confirm by clicking the link below.
  Please confirm by clicking the link below.
  CONFIRM BY VISITING THE LINK BELOW:
  Click the link above to give us permission to send youinformation. It’s fast and easy! If you cannot click the link above, please copy and paste it into your web browser.
  
• Your new subscriber MUST click the link in that email. It’s the ONLY way to get added to your list.
• If the subscriber does NOT click that link, they won’t be added and won’t your newsletter.

Advantages

• The biggest advantage of double opt-in is that you will tend to only get high-quality subscribers. After all, to join your list they had to look for the confirmation email, open it, and click on a link to confirm. You may end up with fewer people on your list, but they are more attentive subscribers.
• In addition, you won’t have to deal with a list filled with fake email addresses. Yes, some people do just put in fake emails. Occasionally malicious spammers/hackers will send out programs that enter fake emails, too. The good news is, those fakes can be cleaned from your email list fairly easily.

Disadvantages

• The extra confirmation step pushes a lot of people out. Even though it’s as simple as clicking on a confirmation, some never do it.
• Sometimes spam filters will block the confirmation email. Which means some people who really WANT your newsletter can’t get on your list.
• You end up with fewer subscribers on your list, missing out on people you could communicate with and promote to.

Overall, double-opt in gives you a higher quality subscriber, but a smaller list.

Now for single-opt in.

Single Opt-In

A single opt-in is where the customer enters their email in the opt-in form and is automatically added to your list. There’s nothing else they have to do to get your newsletter.

Advantages

The advantages of using a single opt-in are:

• It is simple and straightforward for the subscriber. Because people only have to type in their email information once, click, and there’s your newsletter, it’s instant gratification.
• Which means you’ll get more sign-ups and build a larger list faster.

Disadvantages

There are some downsides, though:

• Even though it’s easier to capture emails, the quality of subscriber may not be as good. When someone has to take action to confirm they want to be on your list, they tend to be more eager to hear what you have to say.
• You could end up with more fake email addresses on your list.

Overall, single-optin gives you a lower quality subscriber, but a larger list.

Which Should You Choose?

I’m not particularly attached to either single or double opt-in. The advantages and disadvantages tend to cancel each other out, so it’s really your preference.
Here is one factor that may help you decide: how email savvy is your audience?
In the last few years I’ve started leaning toward single opt-in, since it simplifies things for people who are really eager to get on your list.
Your audience may not be particularly savvy about checking their spam folder or the “Promotions” tab in Gmail, which is where a lot of confirmation emails get routed:

So from the subscriber’s standpoint, single opt-in is a bit easier and more straightforward.
The good news is, you don’t need to decide at this minute. But you need to be aware of this and keep it in the back of your mind, because it goes hand in hand with the next short section of this course.

Recap

• Double Opt-Ins require people to sign up on your opt-in page AND click a link in a confirmation email
• Single Opt-Ins only require people to enter their email
• Single Opt-Ins are simpler, but you may not get the same quality of subscriber
• Double Opt-Ins have an extra step, so while the quality of subscriber is better, your list will be smaller

THE WISE MARKETER KNOWS… Both single and double opt-ins have their advantages and disadvantages The decision really comes down to how easy it is for your subscribers, and whether you’re willing to sacrifice a little quality for quantity of subscriptions.

NEXT: Now that you know the characteristics of a good opt-in page, the next two lessons will teach you how to persuade your visitors to take the crucial step of actually opting in.