9 Tips On The Best Placement For An Email Subscribe Form

Posted on by Todd Terwillegar | Updated:
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You need a list.
Build your email list.
The money is in the list.
Get people to your email list.

We get it. Business owners need to focus on establishing, nurturing, growing, and engaging their email list and if you’re reading this, you probably have the same goal.

Now, you already know you need an email list and you probably already have an email provider selected. That’s the easy part. The hard part is figuring out where to put your email subscribe form on your website. In fact, one of the most common questions we hear is, “Where is the best place to put an email subscribe form?”

While there is no one right answer or one single position on your website that is guaranteed to produce the best results, there are nine common places that are considered the best spots on a website to put an opt-in form.

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The best spots for an email subscribe form on your website

The 5 Best Spots For An Email Signup On Your Website

1. At The End OF A Blog Post

One of the most popular places to display a call to action or email signup form is at the end of your blog posts. The premise with this approach is that if a visitor has made it to the end of your post, they liked your content and it simply makes sense to offer them an opportunity to engage further.

2. Within The Content

Context plays a huge role in the success of an email signup offer. The more relevant the offer is to the content on the page, the better it will perform. A content upgrade is an opt-in offer that is placed within the actual post content that is relevant to the content the visitor is already engaged with. Content upgrades are most effective when they invite the reader to learn more about the same topic and take the next step.

3. At The Top Of The Sidebar

If your WordPress site has a sidebar, consider placing an email signup form at the very top of the sidebar. This has been the go-to spot to put an opt-in form for years, so people already expect to find it there.

4. At The Bottom Of The Page

While the bottom of the page is traditionally reserved for the footer, it is also a prime location for a call to action and/or an email subscribe form because those who make it to the bottom of the page are those who are most interested in what you do.

5. In The Header

For years, marketers preached about placing critical calls to action “above the fold.” But the proliferation of smartphones and tablets made scrolling normal and expected, and eventually, the fold became a thing of the past. While “the fold” may have died, the effectiveness of an email signup form in the website header area didn’t. When placed at the top of the page—such as in the hero area or in a floating bar—visitors see the signup form right away.

Four more options for email subscribe forms on your website

Four More Options For Email Opt-Ins

Here’s the thing that is critical to understand: While you can put an email subscribe form in your sidebar, in the footer of your site, in the header, at the end of a post, and in the body of the content, you don’t want to do all of them. That would create too many competing calls to action on a page and cause frustration for visitors.

But what happens when you want to include multiple opt-in offers without overwhelming visitors? You don’t include them on the actual web page. Instead, you use technology like OptinMonster or other pop-up plugins to create options like lightbox pop-ups, exit-intent pop-ups, welcome gates, and scroll boxes.

Lightbox Popups

Lightbox popups are the most common style of popup. It pops-open an email subscribe form and visitors can either sign up or close it. The key to an effective lightbox popup is timing—setting it to display after a set amount of time, number of visits, or scroll position.

Exit-Intent Popups

Exit-intent popups are displayed when a visitor is about to leave your website. It’s a last-ditch effort to capture a visitor’s email address with one final special offer before they go.

Welcome Gates

Welcome gates take over the entire screen after a visitor reaches a web page. Visitors have a moment to see the content, and then it’s covered or pushed down by a full-screen call to action. They can then choose to click yes or no or scroll down to pass it by.

Scroll Boxes

Scroll boxes display email subscribe forms in a similar way popups do, but instead of taking over the screen, covering up the content, and interrupting the visitor, they simply appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the browser window as the visitor scrolls down the page.

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About the Author

Todd Terwillegar

Todd has been published with several global brands on the topics of marketing, SEO, and blogging, including Nexcess & Uberflip. You can follow Todd on LinkedIn.

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