Just by placing email signup forms on websites, you cannot expect to increase subscriptions. There are a number of factors that go into enticing users to subscribe to your newsletter or email offer.
To get the best conversion rates, you need to think both ‘where’ and ‘when’ with respect to placement of your email signup form or widget.
In this article, we will discuss both of these aspects and show you the best practices as well as places you must avoid with your email forms.
Where and when to place email signup forms for increased subscriptions
Pop up with timer
Having your email offer popup while a user is on your website is a good way to grab their attention.
However, think about this. Why would any user who has just entered your site subscribe to your mailing list? Have you built any kind of trust or have you wowed them with your content yet?
If you are an ecommerce site and have a deal too good to resist, then it may be a good idea to have a popup right away. For anyone else, like a blog or company website, the timing of your popup matters more than your offer.
There are two ways of doing this.
First, you set a timer. Say a user has stayed on your website for 15 seconds, then the email signup form should popup and display on their screen. This assumes that the timer set is enough for them to have some kind of trust established and not too late that they leave before viewing the subscription form.
Second, you set the popup in a way that triggers when the user has read some of your content. Here, as they scroll and read your article or post, they should have the popup displayed say after 50% or 75% of the content is read. Here, you are first establishing yourself as an expert in your field with your article and then asking for the user to subscribe.
Usually, the popup with a timer or one that gets triggered based on content read, works well to increase conversions.
Just don’t have the popup in the first three seconds of the user entering the site. They are probably going to just close the window or leave your site.
Note: The popup I am talking about is via a plugin or widget. These are not those advertising popups that get blocked by ad blockers.
Integrating within articles
You could place your email signup form at any of three areas in your article.
The start of the article, in the middle or in the end.
However, I would suggest to avoid placing the email signup form in the beginning before the start of your article content.
The reason is again the same as with popups. The user has not got a chance to read your content yet. They do not trust you or do not see you as an authority in the subject.
It is only after reading some or all of your content on the page that they will feel a comfort level to provide their email address.
Hence the best place to add your email subscription form is either the middle or end of your article.
Sidebar location
Research and surveys have shown that if placing email signup forms on your website sidebar, then the first position is the best location.
Email signup forms placed in the middle of sidebar widgets can get lost. They do not get the same attention as the first position in the sidebar.
Sidebar sticky
If you do want to place your email signup form in your sidebar but have other content that you feel you need to put on top, then I highly recommend putting the form at the end and making it a sticky.
What this means, is that as the user scrolls through your website content, the sidebar sticks to his screen. This way, what is last on the sidebar will remain on the user’s display as they scroll.
This definitely grabs attention and if the user is happy with your content, they can subscribe to your email right away as the signup form is easily accessible on the sticky sidebar.
Event triggers
You can add widgets on your website that gets triggered based on an event.
The event can be someone clicking on a link or reaching a part of the page that triggers an action.
Events can be any type of interaction on your website.
You can set the email signup form to show up as soon as your desired event takes place. Many ecommerce sites use event triggers successfully to increase subscriptions to their email lists.
Footer placements
You can place your email signup form anywhere in your website footer. For desktop users, the position can be anywhere.
Most footers will grab the attention of the user equally. However, note that footer conversions are usually the lowest and hence this should not be the only position where you place your email subscription box.
Try couple of the positions mentioned in this article and as a supportive element, place your signup form in the footer as well.
In-between content
We have spoken about placing email signup forms within articles. However, if your page has a lot of content, then it would be a good idea to place the forms in-between the content.
As the user scrolls down on the page, they should be able to see the form when going from one content to other.
You could have an opening header, some text, about us content, social media widgets, blog posts etc. on your page. Place your email signup form in-between the content. Preferably twice if you are not placing them on your sidebar as well.
Exit offer
An exit offer is a event that is triggered when the user tries to leave the site.
So if they are exiting your website by using a link or they have typed another URL on their browser, then a last effort popup gets displayed.
You could ask the user to signup for your email list in exchange of coupon codes, discount offers, upcoming sale notifications etc.
Final thoughts
The email signup form placement is as important as your offer to increase subscriptions.
You want to grab attention but not annoy the user.
You need to build trust and establish yourself as an authority but don’t keep it too late that the user leaves without even seeing your subscription form.
Hence when placing email signup forms, both where and when matter.
Try to place the form at two or three different locations but do not make the mistake of overcrowding the page with your subscription forms.
Finally, don’t forget to experiment with your placements to check which location has the best conversion rate. Stick to those locations once you have hit your sweet spot.
