What should a newsletter subscribe page look like?
Short answer
Boring, on purpose. Brand name, the word free, a one-line description, an email field and a Subscribe button. No navigation header, no newsletter picker, no 'let me read it first' link. When I removed that one escape link from my Beehiiv page, my cost per subscriber dropped in half.
Beehiiv's standard subscribe page used to carry a small link underneath the form: "let me read it first." It sent people to the articles. When we finally removed it, which was trickier than it should have been, our cost per subscriber dropped in half.
"If you give people an opportunity to read something without giving their email, a lot of people are just going to do that."
What belongs on the page?
- The brand name
- The word free, prominently
- A short description of what they'll get
- One email field
- A button that says Subscribe
That's it. The only choice on the page should be to subscribe.
Why no website header or navigation?
Because people click it. A traditional site header with a row of buttons lets people land, wander around the menu, and forget to subscribe, whether they like your brand or not. I learned this because I did it wrong first.
"There's no choice other than to subscribe. I found this because I did it wrong."
Should people pick which newsletters they want?
Not on the ad landing page. Even with one box already checked, a picker is a decision, and when people face options, doing nothing is the easiest thing. Give them one action: put your email in.
If you have a second newsletter, offer it after they subscribe, as a one-click question in the survey. I cover that in how to add subscribers to a second newsletter.
Why "Subscribe" instead of "Sign up"?
"Sign up" makes me think of signing up for Netflix: an account, a payment. "Subscribe" reads as free more easily. Pair it with the word free in the ad and on the page. When I reviewed one news publisher's ad and page, I flagged that the word free didn't appear anywhere.
Should the form ask for more than an email?
No. Step one is just the email. A lot of creator signup pages I've tested ask for eight pieces of information before you can hit submit, all required. People click off.
Get the email first, then push them into a survey for everything else. Maybe 30% to 40% won't finish the survey, but you'll get far more emails, and on aggregate you end up with more data, because the first step is so low friction.
What else do weak signup pages get wrong?
- No clear link to the newsletter anywhere on the creator's site
- A pop-up instead of a real page
- A single confirmation email with no next step
The page itself should be plain. Save the personality for what happens after they subscribe.
Answered by TJ Larkin. From client and partner calls in 2025 and 2026. Last updated .