How to Make a Squeeze Page Using the WordPress eStore Plugin

You can use the WordPress eStore plugin to make squeeze page type pages to collect emails and build a list for email marketing. According to Wikipedia – “Squeeze pages are landing pages created to solicit opt-in email addresses from prospective subscribers”.

Why Should You Use The Squeeze Page Form of eStore Plugin?

There are many reasons but the following is an example of the most obvious one. If the following sounds like you then this page has your solution:

I want to allow a customer or visitor to my website to get a free download of my digital content (e.g a pdf or mp3 file). Right now I use a widget from my Autoresponder (e.g MailChimp, AWeber) on my WordPress site and the website visitor gets directed to a download area that is not encrypted or secure and though the stuff is free, I do want to capture an optin to my mailing list in exchange for the free stuff. I don’t want the link to be passed around or be posted to a forum.

How it works?

You use a shortcode in a post or page to display a form that lets the user download a free product (eg. an ebook or a mp3 file) after they fill in their names and email addresses. Once the visitor fills in his/her details (name and email address) and hits the ‘Download’ button the plugin sends an email with the encrypted link that can be used to download the product. The plugin adds the name and the email address of the visitor in the customer database.

How to Add a Squeeze Page Type Form in a Post or Page

Add a new product to your products database using the ‘Add/Edit Products’ menu. (Don’t forget to fill the ‘Button Image URL’ field when you add the product. this image will be shown as the ‘download now/Get Now’ button. The plugin comes with a download button (download_icon.png) that is stored in the images directory of the plugin)

Squeeze form shortcode

Use the following shortcode where you want to insert a squeeze form on your site:

[wp_eStore_free_download_squeeze_form id=5]

5 is the product id of the product I configured. Below is the form that you get when you add the above shortcode in a post, page or sidebar of your site.

Video Tutorial

Can I Signup the Users to My Autoresponder List?

When someone submits the squeeze form, the name and email gets added to the the customer database of eStore plugin. You can optionally add the user to your Autoresponder (AWeber, MailChimp, GetResponse) list too.

If you want to signup the users to your Autoresponder list, you can do that by enabling the option in the plugin settings. It works like the following when you enable this option:

1. A user comes to your site and visits the page where you have a squeeze form
2. The user fills in the name and email address field of the squeeze form
3. The details is captured in the customer database record of the eStore plugin
4. The user also gets signed up to your autoresponder list

Creating a Stylish Squeeze Form Easily

You can use our stylish squeeze form addon plugin to create a nice looking opt-in form easily.

Redirect Users to a Thank You Page After Squeeze Form Submission

Edit the product in question and specify the “Thank You” page URL in the following area of this product:

Buy Now or Subscription Type Button Specific Settings -> Return URL

When a user fills in the squeeze form for this product, he will be redirected to the URL you specify in the above mentioned field.

How to Use the Squeeze Page Type Form from a PHP file

To use the squeeze page type form from a PHP file (eg. the sidebar.php) use the following PHP function:

eStore_free_download_form($product_id)

So the following line of code will add a squeeze type form for a product who’s product id is 5:

Using an Ajax/JQuery Powered Squeeze form

You can only put one Ajax powered squeeze type form in one page though. So if you want to put multiple forms (one in header, one in footer, one in sidebar etc) in one page then don’t use this option.

How to Add CSS style to the Squeeze Page Form

The squeeze form is written in a div class named “free_download_form”. Simply add the style definition to the ‘wp_eStore_style.css’ file to add styling to the form. For example, the following will add a background image to the form:

.free_download_form{
background: url(https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/ecommerce/images/some-background-image.jpg);
}

Pre-configured Stylish Squeeze Forms

See the stylish squeeze forms addon page for details.