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Lead generation includes a number of tools and techniques and a very popular method on the web is the popup.
Popups are a great marketing tool to capture leads and maximize conversions.
You get to display attractive offers, capture user attention, lure them into subscribing to your email newsletters, and more, all at the most opportune moment.
As lead generation methods go, popups can be very effective when done right!
However, popups can also be annoying.
Having poorly designed popups appearing at inappropriate times can put off your audience and negatively impact the user experience.
Not to mention, Google penalizes websites that obstruct content on mobile devices using intrusive popups. Now, you wouldn’t want to be punished by Google, would you?
There are several WordPress popup plugins that you can install to improve conversions. However, by installing the wrong one, you could slow your website down.
This article will cover the nine best WordPress popup plugins that you can easily include on your WordPress site.
Let’s get started!
Do You Need a WordPress Popup Plugin?
The simple answer is yes!
Especially if you’d like to capture more leads and build an email list of prospective customers!
Popups are just one method of lead generation, but they are the most accessible and most acceptable by the majority of users.
They are easier to implement than landing pages, take less time to do properly than content marketing, are easier to write than emails, and are much more acceptable than ads or retargeting.
Based on a report:
- Out of the top 10% of highest-performing popups, the conversion rate averaged about 43.25%.
- Across the board, the average conversion rate from popups is 11.09%.
Did you know what the average conversion rate for landing pages is? It is 2.35% across all industries. (Source: Campaign Monitor)
Popups do better than landing pages? That’s what the numbers tell us!
That’s why we’re concentrating on popups for lead generation in this post.
Whether it is to capture leads by offering a lead magnet, getting prospects to sign up for your email newsletters, or promoting those limited period offers, a well-designed popup does its job.
It’s a great marketing tool.
However, popups need to be used smartly. Randomly having them pop up from anywhere can negatively affect the user experience and your brand’s reputation.
The ideal WordPress popup plugin should be able to personalize the user experience and offer targeted solutions.
Many plugins end up increasing the server load and thereby slowing down your website. This, in turn, negatively impacts search engine rankings.
When narrowing down on your ideal WordPress popup plugin, you’ll need to select one that not only offers powerful conversion features but also doesn’t affect your website performance.
Pros and Cons of Using Popups for Lead Generation
We’ll now cover the good and the not-so-good aspects of using a popup to generate leads for your WordPress website.
Pros of Using a Popup
- Helps increase conversions
- Helps capture user attention
- Higher visibility and leads users to call to action (CTA)
- Popups are usually free to use so the ROI potential is higher
Cons of Using a Popup
- They can be annoying, especially those full-screen intrusions
- While they do force users to take action, the exaggerated intrusions and popups can block content
- Too many popups can increase the bounce rate. You, in turn, lose prospective leads
- Spammy popups aren’t great to boost consumer confidence
- Popups can mess up your website on mobile devices, and Google can penalize you accordingly
The 10 Best Popup Plugins for WordPress
There are several popup plugins in the market. We’ve narrowed them down to the top nine.
Before we jump into the list, here’s a checklist of what you should consider while evaluating your options:
- Does the popup plugin have a drag and drop editor?
- Are there pre-built templates that you can choose from?
- Are there several types of popups and opt-ins? (e.g., slide-in, modal, sticky-bar)
- Can you target opt-ins and popups based on user behavior?
- Can you personalize the offer based on the content the user is engaging with?
- What trigger options is the plugin offering? (e.g., scroll, timed, exit-intent)
- Last but not least, is it free?
Let’s look at the best WordPress popup plugins.
1. MailOptin
Plugin Description
MailOptin is an intuitive WordPress popup plugin for growing your email list and increasing revenue. It does this by displaying targeted email capture forms across your site with popups, slide-ins, notification bars, in-post subscription forms, sidebar widgets, and more.
You don’t have to be a designer or hire one to build high-converting optin forms. Our powerful builder allows you to create beautiful optin forms and call-to-actions that are optimized for the highest of conversions.
Features
- Easy-to-use form builders.
- A ton of professionally designed, mobile responsive themes to choose from
- Powerful analytics and essential metrics to improve your lead-generation strategy.
- A/B testing feature that enables you to make data-driven decisions to improve your conversions and revenue.
- Integrates seamlessly with popular email marketing software and CRMs.
- Event-triggered emails to keep your subscribers engaged such as new blog post notifications, welcoming messages, and email digests.
Pros
- Easy to set up and use.
- It has a generous free version.
- Several advanced targeting and rules eg exit-intent, scroll trigger, time on site, referral, and AdBlock detection.
- Grow your email lists by adding custom forms to your popups
- Seamlessly integrate with marketing and CRM tools, such as Sendinblue, Infusionsoft, Mailchimp, AWeber, and more.
Cons
- Special features like exit intent, analytics, advanced targeting, scheduling, and event-triggered emails are available with the premium version
Price
MailOptin plugin is available for free. The paid plans start from $89 per year for a single website license if you want the premium features.
2. Convert Pro
Plugin Description
Convert Pro is a hugely popular WordPress popup plugin developed by the team behind the popular Astra theme. It comes with several advanced triggers and is an all-in-one package of features required to build your email list and convert casual visitors into customers.
Convert Pro comes with a drag and drop editor to build beautiful modules in a matter of minutes. Using one of Convert Pro’s professionally designed and ready-to-use templates, all you need to do is pick a template, tweak it and you are good to go!
Features
- Easy-to-use drag and drop editor
- Impressive and fully responsive templates to choose from
- Built-in analytics
- A/B testing
- Seamless integrations with popular marketing services
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Create opt-in forms without writing a single line of code
- All templates are conversion-optimized
- Several advanced triggers to display timely messages
- Advanced filters to target audiences based on the user behavior, such as the device they are using, the page they are viewing, and more
Cons
- Convert Pro is not available for free. Considering the features it offers, it’s well worth the investment
Price
Convert Pro comes at an annual fee of $79 and can be used on unlimited websites.
3. CartFlows
Plugin Description
CartFlows is a sales funnel builder with lead generation tools built in. It’s a popular lead generation plugin for WordPress that delivers a range of tools for growing your business.
CartFlows enables you to build popups, leaf generation pages, sales funnels, order bumps and other useful tools. It includes a drag and drop funnel builder and is compatible with your favorite page builder too.
Features
- Drag and drop sales funnel and lead generation page builder
- Compatible Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, and Gutenberg
- Compatibility with leading email tools
- Selection of high-performance templates that are ready to use
- A/B testing tools for data-driven decision making
- Canvas Mode for visual funnel building
Pros
- Designed to be easy to use for any skill level
- Drag and drop funnel and page builder
- Customizable templates for everything
- Includes tools for popups, checkout forms, opt-in forms, and upsells
- A/B split testing tools for continuous improvement
- Analytics on popup or funnel performance
Cons
- There are a lot of tools to learn
- You need CartFlows Pro to really unleash its power
Price
There is a free version of CartFlows and the premium costs $239 per year for up to 30 websites.
4. OptinMonster
Plugin Description
OptinMonster is a very popular WordPress popup plugin used in over a million websites. It helps increase email subscriptions, sales, and conversions.
Using OptinMonster, you get to create different kinds of popup campaigns. From email subscription forms, sticky announcement bars, or even a gamified spin-a-wheel opt-in form, there are several options that you can incorporate on your website to engage visitors.
Features
- Drag and drop editor
- Several customization options
- Several professionally pre-built conversion-optimized templates
- Exit-intent popups and specific targeting
- Display personalized opt-ins based on visitor behavior
- Built-in analytics and A/B split testing
Pros
- Easy to use with a lot of great features to enhance conversions
- With exit-intent, you can display targeted campaigns and convert visitors leaving your site into leads
- Advanced targeting that allows page-level as well as advanced display rules
- Several popup templates to choose from
- Create different types of campaigns using lightbox popups, countdown timers, floating notification bars, fullscreen welcome mats, and more
Cons
- The free version comes with limited options, so you will have to consider going with a premium plan. Additionally, the starter plan limits the page views to only 2500 per month. Anything more and you’ll be pushed to the higher plans
Price
The basic plan of OptinMonster starts at $9 per month, billed annually. This has a limit of 2500 page views per month. The plans go all the way up to $49 per month (billed annually) and offer up to 100,000 page views per month.
5. Elementor Pro
Plugin Description
Elementor is a very powerful drag and drop page builder that has been installed on over 5 million websites. It allows you to design exceptional websites, landing pages, popups, and much more. To build popups, you’ll have to get the Elementor Pro version.
With Elementor Pro, you can create custom popups without writing a single line of code. Choose from a range of pre-built templates and customize them to suit your website requirements and branding. Display targeted popups using triggers and rules.
Features
- Use the drag and drop page builder to create amazing popups
- Range of stylish templates and widgets
- Completely customizable
- Different types of popups, such as full screen, modal, slide-in, and more
- Display popups anywhere on your website
Pros
- An all-in-one marketing platform
- Ideal if you are already using Elementor as a page builder
- Several advanced targeting and rules
- Collect leads and grow your email lists by adding custom forms to your popups
- Seamlessly integrate marketing and CRM tools, such as Mailchimp, HubSpot, and others
Cons
- Want only a popup plugin? Consider some of the other standalone options mentioned in this article. Elementor helps create popups and does much more
Price
Elementor Pro starts from $49 per year for a single site.
6. Sumo
Plugin Description
Sumo is a free, powerful WordPress popup plugin to help grow your email list and increase conversions. Engage better with your website visitors using timed popups and even schedule one-off email marketing campaigns.
If you are running an online store, win back customers who abandon your cart with some impressive eCommerce integrations and features.
Features
- Several high-converting pre-built templates to choose from
- Front-end drag-and-drop editor
- Easily integrate with major email marketing services
- Built-in analytics
- A/B split testing
- Add social share buttons effortlessly
- Seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce
Pros
- It is free
- Display popups based on traffic source
- Wide range of templates to choose from, specific to your goals
Cons
- For complete customization, you’ll have to edit CSS
- Limited features
Price
Sumo is available for free. For features such as advanced visitor targeting, A/B testing, removing Sumo branding, and more, the paid plan starts at $49 per month.
7. Popup Maker
Plugin Description
Looking for a free option that does all that a popup has to do? Popup Maker is the go-to plugin!
Popup Maker is a very popular free WordPress popup plugin that has been used on well over 700,000 websites.
Popup Maker is flexible and can be used to create any kind of conversion-optimized popups, such as modal, slide-ins, banners, and more.
Features
- Unlimited popups and themes to choose from
- 100% customizable popups
- Mobile responsive
- Visual theme builder
- Display targeted opt-ins
- Several popup trigger types
- Easily integrations with third-party plugins
- Analytics and reporting
Pros
- It is free and easy to set up
- Several features available in the free version
- Option to add click-based triggers to your menu, buttons, images, and more
- Easily integrate contact forms within your popups
- Setup conditional targeting
Cons
- Specific features such as exit intent, popup analytics, advanced targeting, scheduling, and forced interaction are available with the premium version
Price
Popup Maker plugin is available for free. The paid plans start from $87 per year for a single website license if you want the advanced features.
8. Bloom
Plugin Description
When it comes to integrating your opt-in forms with email marketing tools, Bloom is a plugin that you must consider. It allows you to grow your email list by adding opt-in forms which can be connected to your email marketing software.
Bloom allows you to target specific pages and posts with unique forms and offers based on visitor’s engagement. It also offers six different types of opt-in forms, such as automatic opt-in popup, automatic opt-in fly-ins, in-line opt-in forms, and many more.
Features
- 100+ pre-made templates to choose from
- Completely customizable
- Fully responsive
- Target specific pages and post categories
- A/B split testing
- Statistics dashboard that provides real-time performance and analytics
Pros
- Intuitive dashboard that provides detailed reports on conversion and performance
- Use the built-in templates instead of creating opt-ins from scratch
- Split test to see what’s working and what’s not
- Six different types of opt-in popups to choose from
Cons
- Bloom doesn’t come by itself. You’ll have to pick up the all-in-one Divi theme
Price
Bloom is part of the Elegant themes package, which will cost you $89 per year for unlimited websites.
9. Thrive Leads
Plugin Description
Thrive Leads is another popular WordPress popup plugin explicitly designed to build your list.
It lets you use a simple drag-and-drop editor to create and design all kinds of opt-in forms. From popup lightbox and sticky ribbon to in-line forms, 2-step opt-in forms, slide-in, and many more, there are all kinds of opt-ins that you can create.
Using Thrive Leads, you can increase conversions by showing your visitors relevant and highly targeted offers based on the page or post they are on.
Features
- A simple drag and drop editor
- Build hyper-targeted lists using advanced targeting
- Advanced A/B testing feature
- Measure form performance with built-in analytics
- Create different types of opt-ins and responsive popups
- Extensive library of professionally designed templates to choose from
- Seamless API integration with most popular email services
Pros
- Easily customizable using a drag and drop editor
- There is no limit on the number of leads you can collect
- Create an unlimited number of opt-ins
- Advanced analytics to see how your opt-ins are performing
Cons
- Thrive Leads is not a standalone product. You will have to subscribe to the entire Thrive Suite
- Paying for the entire suite just to use Thrive Leads may not be the best option
Price
Thrive Leads costs $19 per month if paid annually. The license allows you to use Thrive Suite on 25 websites, and you get unlimited updates and support.
10. HubSpot
Plugin Description
HubSpot is an all-in-one WordPress plugin that also allows you to create high-conversion popups for your WordPress website. Install the plugin, select the kind of popup you’d like to display, and you are ready to capture leads.
Using the HubSpot WordPress plugin, you can customize your popups and target them on all your pages and posts.
Want to display a popup on specific actions, such as page scroll, time-based, or user exit? No problem! Using the trigger rules, you can choose when to display the popups.
Features
- Use live chat, chatbots to engage users
- Convert leads using a range of forms and popups
- Several impressive and responsive email newsletters to choose from
- Comes with HubSpot’s free CRM
- Group contacts using the built-in list builder
- Built-in analytics to measure website performance
Pros
- Free and easy to set up
- Easily customizable
- Several pre-built templates
- Integrations with several third-party plugins
Cons
- If you are looking at only a popup plugin, this won’t serve the purpose
- A lot of the functionality and integrations are available in the pro plans
Price
You could start free. However, if you want to do away with HubSpot’s branding and have additional features, you’ll need to upgrade to the pro plans starting at $50 per month.
11. Woorise
Plugin Description
Woorise is an all-in-one lead generation and marketing platform that allows you to create a wide range of interactive campaigns such as landing pages, forms, surveys, quizzes, viral giveaways & contests, accept payments, and more to collect leads and engage your audience.
Woorise features include a modern landing page and form builder, 40+ field types and thousands of social actions, 100+ interactive templates, conditional logic, real-time email notifications, multi-language support, and built-in analytics.
Woorise integrates with popular marketing platforms such as Mailchimp, Hubspot, ActiveCampaign, Facebook, Google Analytics, Bitly, Zapier, PayPal, Stripe, and many more allowing you to automatically send your new leads to the tools you already use.
Features
- Beautiful and fast design with a powerful drag & drop landing page and form builder
- Create refer-a-friend campaigns
- Bio Link page to link to all your important content
- Send personalized Email Notifications
- Export your data in a CSV file
- Geo-Targeting to make your campaign available to specific countries
- Multi-Page Forms
- Instant redeem rewards
- Conditional Logic
- Personalized thank you pages
Pros
- Easily create surveys and quizzes
- Embed your campaigns on every website or platform
- Workspaces to manage all your brands or clients from a single account
- Create campaigns in any language
Cons
- The free version comes with limited options, so you will have to consider going with a premium plan.
Price
You could start free. The Basic plan starts at $29/month. Grow and Pro plans with more advanced features start at $49 and $99.
Conclusion
Popups are just one of many methods to generate leads from a website. They are also the most accessible and easiest to implement.
Bit, it’s always going to be a love-hate relationship with popups.
On one hand, data suggest that popups have a higher conversion rate than landing pages or other lead generation methods.
On the other, you wouldn’t want to negatively impact the user experience by having them pop up across your website.
But when all is said and done, including popups on your website can help increase conversions. You get to generate leads, promote offers, build an email list, and do so much more.
So, should you have them or shouldn’t you? Let us know what you think!