So, what are these forms you speak of?

Opt-in forms give visitors to your site a chance to interact with your content beyond what’s on your website. It’s an exchange — by providing you with their contact information (primarily their email address), they get a goodie (newsletter, checklist, etc.) It’s called a Content Upgrade, and it’s a way for them to tell you, “Yes, please send me more content and information like this!” They like you! They really like you!

These bad boys come in several different styles, like popups, landing pages, and widgets. I know we have all come across annoying popups that make you close the window instantly — although there’s a reason they’re so popular: they work! They also don’t don’t have to be intrusive and annoying to your viewers. We’ll show you how!

Get visitors’ attention & increase your email list

They’re actually great ways to get your site visitors’ attention and fill up your email list with people who want to be there and who are interested in what you have to say. And they’re not hard to get! There are lots of companies out there offering form-building products that you can add to your website without the need for any coding or technical expertise. Here are a few of our faves.

Sumo

The services that Sumo provides are nicely summed up right on the homepage: “Free tools to automate your site growth” — which, by the way, is a flawlessly brief, simple, keyword-rich marketing nugget right there. The List Builder tool is going to be your go-to for loyalty-building opt-in forms. You can customize popups for your site that look and work the way you want them to, whether you prefer to rock a scroll box or a smart bar. You can even get use A/B tests to help you test different variations of your popups to find out which words, images, and offers convert the best.

Sumo is a “fremium” service, which means that the basic version is free, but you can also choose to pay for a premium subscription that comes with extra tools and services. Premium Sumo Pro subscriptions run anywhere from $29 per month to “Contact Us”. So there’s a pretty wide range available depending on your specific needs.

OptinMonster

This guy has lots of sweet form options beyond the pop-up. In-line and after-post forms can be set directly into posts to break up content and pull in visitors without interrupting their reading. OptinMonster also has a pretty substantial set of analytics built into their tools, so you can not only A/B test them, but you can see how they’re actually performing in real time. You can then run targeted campaigns based on your visitors’ interaction with your content and segment your email list based on your subscribers’ specific interests.

Oh, and their homepage offers another awesome marketing nugget: “Convert visitors into subscribers.” Tagline: “Create and A/B test beautiful lead capture forms without a developer.”While not as brief as Sumo’s, it’s a nice example of a two-part CTA (Call To Action) that tells you exactly what to do with their product, rather than just describing it. Powerful stuff!

So as you can see, OptinMonster has a lot to offer, but none of it is free. At the most basic level, you’ll pay $9 a month, but you can choose from three subscription packages based on how many of their cool products you want access to.

Leadpages

If you’re looking to make a kick-ass landing page, Leadpages has you covered. They have lots of templates you can choose from and customize to fit your needs. They also have some nifty tools that work to generate leads for you outside of your website, via email, text, and social media. They even have a new checkout tool that makes sales and takes payments from any landing page or popup, so your visitors don’t have to go hunting for a products or services page. Leadpages integrates with a lot of other sales and marketing apps, social media platforms, and website builders, so it’s easy to incorporate it into what you’re already doing.

Leadpages offers standard, pro, or advanced subscription packages on a sliding scale of prices, based on whether you commit monthly, annually, or every two years.

Thrive Leads

If your website is hosted on WordPress, Thrive Leads is a super awesome plugin that makes form-building easy and intuitive. They offer every kind of opt-in form you could possibly want. The home page even explains each type super clearly, along with helpful animated graphics. There’s also a demo video about halfway down the page that walks you through the features, so you can see examples of what you’d be getting with Thrive Leads. If nothing else, it’s a great resource for learning about all the form options that are out there! But it’s really a great plugin in its own right with quality, easily-implemented form-building tools.

Generally, you’ll only need to make a one-time license payment for this plugin with prices that vary depending on how many websites you want it for. But each license includes all of the features and free updates, which is pretty sweet.

So, which one is the best?

We can’t answer this for you. Generally, these companies all offer many of the same features, and they’re all high quality. It just comes down to preference and budget. Just be careful not to go overboard with the popups, though! What’s really important is making sure your visitors have the best experience possible on your site so that they will want to continue engaging with you off of your site. What these four companies have to offer is a really good start among the sea of apps, plugins, and other products saturating the market. So browse their various styles and features a bit and see what turns you on! It’s kinda fun, actually.

Not your idea of a good time? We’re always happy to come alongside you and help out! Just call my naaaame, and I’ll be theeeere…