The page must look professional - while fancy graphics or astounding video aren't necessary, it IS necessary that the page be clean, business-like and present the information in a clear and concise manner. There needs to be a logical flow, through both the visual presentation and the flow of the copy, that leads the prospect to the form and a call to action to get them to sign up now.

Use that frame of reference for every opt-in page you build - but that's just the first step in learning how to create a great opt-in page. Next you have to find the perfect presentation for both the style of gift and e-zine you're offering and the niche they're in - in other words, what exactly would your targeted prospects need to see to add themselves to your email list through your opt-in page?

For example, in some niches a video-based opt-in page works best, in some a great opt-in page has numerous photos and/or graphics, while other niches respond best to clean copy simply bearing a headline, a few bullet points and the signup form. So how to create a great opt-in page varies then, and only testing and tweaking will show you the right path for you in that particular niche with that particular opt-in offer.

Start with one page in each of those three styles, and rotate your traffic between them. Once enough targeted traffic has hit each page to make comparisons reliable, see which of the 3 formats has performed best for you. Now make three versions of just that one format with changes to the headline, body copy or graphics, and the placement of the form. Again, after enough traffic has been through to give statistically-viable results, see which headline, body copy and form placement combination is working best for you.

The winner a that point is probably the best one for you to use, although you can do further tweaks and testing if you like. Now use that format for your other squeeze pages in that same niche and you should continue to see high conversion rates from the traffic you're generating as long as it's targeted traffic in the first place.

Once your testing and tweaking is done and you've figured out how to create a great opt-in page for that niche, building your subscriber bases faster and faster is just a matter of driving more and more targeted traffic to it - a skill you should focus on improving anyway.