So far this year we’ve rolled out a couple of big changes to help you organically build your email lists. Following the introduction of our subscribe form app for the iPad, the subscribe button and the subscribe page, we’ve turned our attention back to the original website subscription form builder.

After we spruced up the “Grow your audience” pages in “Lists & Subscribers,” it became quite evident that the trusty option to generate your own subscription form code within “Copy/paste a form to your site” was well due for an update. While the old website subscription form builder did the job, it was well, looking a bit tired and not at all consistent with the rest of the eConnect Email platform.

After a large amount of work, we’re happy to announce that we’ve overhauled the “Add a subscribe form to our site” section of your account, to make it easier to create a form, get the code and preview the results. It’s also a lot more intuitive and user-friendly.

Flexible forms with and real-time previews

While many of our clients have no trouble customizing our website subscription form code to their heart’s delight, we’ve gone the next step with our form builder. For one, it’s now easy to re-order the display of form fields – for example, if you want the “Email address” field to display before “Name”, you can now drag-and-drop it into place. As you make changes to the forms, the preview alongside it will update automatically.

An improved workflow

Once you’ve tailored your website subscription form to taste, you can simply copy the code, or move on to other popular tasks, like customizing your subscribe confirmation page, confirmation email or setting up an auto-responder. All it takes is a few minutes to build a form, and then customize what your subscribers see, before and after signing up for your lists.

While these changes are all fairly subtle, we hope that they make the process of creating subscription forms for your website a touch easier. Of course, if there’s anything we can improve to make it even easier to build your website subscription forms, please sound off by posting a comment below.

A couple of hours ago we launched Subscribe Me, an app that turns your iPad into a beautiful subscription form. It’s perfect for the counter at your store, an event you might be hosting, or anywhere else where people might like to join your list when they’re not in front of their computer. It’s totally free and available now.

Customize everything

When we built Subscribe Me, the most important thing was that it could be completely customized to match your own look and feel. When it’s sitting at the counter in your store, it should look like it was built just for you.

We’ve included 10 great looking themes to make it easy to get started, but you can throw in your own logo and background image, change the copy to suit, the button label, the fonts, text sizes and plenty more. To make this easy, we’ve gone for a live preview approach so you can see exactly how your form will look as you make changes.

Once you’ve designed your form, you can easily secure it by setting a passcode, ready for people to start subscribing. This means anyone can join your list, but they can’t make any changes to the form or your settings. If you want to make any tweaks, just enter your passcode and you’re good to go.

Works offline

Let’s say you sell handmade goods each weekend at the local fair. Now you can take your Wifi only iPad with Subscribe Me installed, set it up on the tabletop and hundreds of people can sign up to your weekly newsletter, all without an Internet connection.

After a successful day of selling, Subscribe Me will automatically sync all your new subscribers straight into your eConnect Email account the moment it’s connected to the web. This all happens seamlessly behind the scenes without you lifting a finger.

Beautiful, flexible forms

As well as looking great, we made sure Subscribe Me was as easy to use as possible for your subscribers. We designed stunning custom form controls that looks awesome on a retina display. We also give you control over which fields to show, and what order they should be displayed.

You can also set certain fields as required, and we’ll handle error checking for your subscribers to let them know if they missed something.

Available now, for free

Subscribe Me launched in the App Store a few hours ago. It’s free to download, all you need is a eConnect Email account. When you first run the app you can choose which list you’d like to connect it to, but you can easily change this to any other list at a later date.

We’re really excited about getting our first dedicated app out there. We’ve got plans for more improvements down the line, so please give it a try and let us know what you think.

The number one tool you have at your disposal when it comes to building your email list is your subscription form. It needs to be where people will see it and can respond without having to hunt around your site. And if you really want to capture the most possible leads, you’ll need to think outside the box, placing multiple forms in key positions throughout your site where you can nab those potential subscribers when they’re most engaged with your content and ready to hear more.

Front and Center

If you want to grow your mailing list, you have to ask your website visitors to subscribe. Feature your subscription form above the fold and near your headline with a bold call to action. Include two or three bullet points to let visitors know how they’ll benefit from joining your email list. This location confronts readers with a subscription request at the moment their curiosity has already been aroused and they’re interested in what you have to say.

Subscription Landing Page

If you haven’t convinced the reader by now, he may need a little more persuasion than you can provide in a couple of bullet points. The subscription landing page is dedicated to detailing benefits and explaining what the subscriber will receive when he hands over his email address. You may also offer an incentive or freebie in exchange for signing up.

Top of the Sidebar

This is a classic location that you see just about everywhere. That’s because it works. People have become conditioned to look in this location for a subscription form, so use that to your advantage and give them what they expect. Don’t try to be different just for the sake of being different.

Resource Pages

Any resource page (About Me, Start Here, Category pages) a reader clicks to from your home page is a great location for a subscription form. Why? By clicking, the user has already expressed an interest in finding out more about you. You can take that interest a step further by asking for a subscription.

Subscription forms play an integral role in your email list-building strategy, so don’t just slap one up on your website and expect it to work for everyone. Cater to the differences in your audience by placing forms at the top of your homepage, on a targeted subscription landing page, at the top of the sidebar, on resource pages, and anywhere else visitors are already more engaged with your content.