How to create and use Aweber forms

What is Aweber anyway?

Aweber is an amazing tool. Probably the no.1 e.mail marketing service out there. It allows you to capture names, e.mail addresses and other information from your website visitors.

Then when that list is building nicely, e.mails can be sent to the list (or part of it) anytime you want to. Broadcast fashion. E.mails can be all written ready and then at the click of your mouse, sent out at chosen time intervals or as an RSS feed of your blog.

Making a form

Here we are going to see exactly how to create a form on Aweber and incorporate it into a website/blogsite. This is done after logging into Aweber and going to the dashboard.

Have you created an account yet? It is $1 for the first month. Sign up here.

Now you need to click on the “Web Forms” tab. See below.

webforms

It may look like there is a lot to do, but actually it is quite straightforward. Now you can decide to use Aweber designed forms at this point but designing your own forms is fun and you can get creative and make them just right.

Web Form Design

Once you see the screen above, you can click on a template. There are many great ones to choose from. You are then free to play around with it to create just the look you want. This is mainly done by deleting sections of the form that you do not want.

Hover over the form and move your cursor up and down and you will see a red cross “delete” button. Click this for every part of the form you want to disappear. Remember to hover over the space that is the footer of the form. This can be deleted too if desired.

The next thing to do is navigate to the settings tab within the webforms screen. It looks like this…

Settings

Name Your Form

When you have a lot of different forms, you will discover that this is important. You need to know which one is which quickly and keeping it descriptive but simple is the key.

Thank You Page

After people have submitted their details on your form, they should be directed to a thank you page. They will be directed to a basic version by default, one which Aweber has already created.

This is actually quite good and probably suitable for a lot of people in a lot of situations. It clearly tells the visitor what to do and doesn’t have any distractions. Here is an example:

Thank You

Many would say that a simple thank you page is the best. However, if you want, you can create video, audio and change the page to your heart’s content.

An already subscribed page will also pop up if somebody is trying to join your list twice. Again, there is a good default version but you are free to change it.

Next, save your form

Then…

Publish Your Form

Publish

Going to the “publish” tab brings up the above. I wouldn’t worry too much about the bottom two options unless you really want somebody else to make changes on your website or have Aweber host your form. In my opinion, this is unnecessary and you can install your own form easily if you know how to copy and paste and have admin rights on your site.

So if you select “I will install my form”, you are presented with a Javascript Snippit option and a Raw HTML option. Personally I go with the Raw HTML option. All you need to do now is grab that HTML and paste it into your site where it is needed.

If you are using WordPress, this is very simple. Go to Appearance, then Widgets, then Form Code and paste the code in there. You can then drag the Form Code box to the area you want. For example, the Sidebar.

I hope this is helpful for now. I will be posting more on Aweber as it really is such an essential tool for marketing by e.mail. So watch this space and happy list building!