Developing an email list full of engaged subscribers it’s one of the most effective ways of generating a profit online and for that reason, it becomes a fundamental component of any website’s marketing strategy.

It’s a profoundly personal way to build a relationship with the audience. As the trust keeps growing, that audience is more likely to buy your product or keep reading your posts.

The remaining question now is of course, what do I do to get more subscribers? In my opinion, without a doubt, the most effective way to get attention for your opt-in form is through popups.

Some of you may argue that pop-ups are intrusive and hurt the user experience. In my opinion, this is only true when they’re overused. Some websites spam visitors with popups on every page, thereby giving them a bad name.

Therefore is important to know how exactly to use these pop-ups in order to generate more website subscribers and not drive them away.

1. OptinMonster – starting from $19/month

The main features of OptinMonster are:

  • OptinMonster Builder – drag & drop builder allows you to create beautiful optin forms that are optimized for the highest conversion rates.
  • Multiple Form Types – offers multiple types of optin forms such as lightbox popups, floating bars, slide-ins, sidebar forms, and more.
  • Exit Intent® Technology – it detects user behavior and prompts them with a targeted campaign at the precise moment they are about to leave.
  • Page Level Targeting – shows targeted messages on specific pages or categories to build a hyper-targeted and segmented email list.
  • Built-in Analytics – gets the stats that matter and take action. See which optin forms are performing the best and improve accordingly.

2. Sumo Me List Builder(which I’m using at the moment) – Free

  • You can set a specific time for your popup to show to your most engaged visitors. Or, you can use List Builder 3’s Smart Mode technology to show a popup the precise moment before a visitor leaves.
  • List Builder 3 gives you total control of the background/button color, text color, text font, and more so you can completely match your popup to the design of your site.
  • Is one of the only popup plugins that is mobile optimized. Hit “Publish” with confidence knowing your popup will look just as good on mobile as it does on your computer.
  • Simply you have the power to select one of four goals for your popup and get dozens of pre-designed, professional templates tailored to fit your specific goal

3. Ninja Popups – regular license: 25$, extended license: 125$

  • Easy to Configuration
  • Great Popups Design
  • Highly Customizable
  • Translation Ready
  • Full API integration with mailing services
  • Free Upgrades
  • You can create Unlimited Popups
  • Samples Presets Included (in XML file)
  • Display Popup on load page
  • Display Popup on close/leave page
  • Page level Targeting (different popups for each post/page, turn popup on/off for all page or for few pages/posts)
  • Close button (show button: yes/no, custom close button text, auto close popup)
  • Social Network Locker (you can lock page)
  • Newsletter Locker (you can lock page)
  • Statistics
  • Time Display Settings (start date, end date)
  • Open Delay (open popup delay in seconds)

4. PopupAlly – Free

  • Mobile Friendly Popups and Opt-in Forms – PopupAlly and PopupAlly Pro are both mobile responsive, which means that you don’t have to worry about bad user experience for those on tablets or mobile phones. With PopupAlly, each template comes in 3 sizes that are easily tweaked to look good on smaller screens.
  • Time Delay and Exit-Intent Popups –  you can choose when a popup appears… whether it’s after a certain amount of time of your site, or right before someone is about to leave. The exit intentionality feature is extremely effective because it doesn’t interrupt your readers and visitors but it helps you capture their attention and their email address before it’s too late.

By upgrading, you can obtain these features:

  • Intuitive Design Editor For Fully Customized Optin Forms
  • Create Popups Of Any Shape (Circles, Transparent, You Name It!)
  • Scroll Activated Box and Popups That Appear in Any Corner
  • Click To Open Popups for a 2-step opt-in (shown to increase conversions!)
  • Floating and Embedded Horizontal Optin Bars (Top or Bottom for a HelloBar Alternative)
  • Smart-Subscriber Recognition For More Polite Popups
  • Show Different Opt-Ins On Specific Pages And Blog Categories
  • Reader Decision Points & “Yes Or No” Mini-Survey Popups
  • Statistics Tracking and Split Testing
  • Add Videos, Social Media Sharing Code, or Anything Else to Your Popups
  • Customizable Popup “Contact Forms” With Any Number of Fields That Sends an Email
  • Support for Multiple Languages
  • Bonus Marketing and List Building Training

5. Bloom – personal: 69$/year, developer: 89$/year, lifetime access: 249$/one time

  • Comes with 115 pre-made templates that let you get started with beautifully designed opt-in forms in seconds. These can then be fully customized to look exactly the way you envisioned.
  • Depending on your opt-in’s location and type, you may want to place your form below or on the side of your opt-in. Bloom gives you 3 orientations to choose from: bottom, left, or right.
  • Select from Bloom’s different border styles and choose which edges to apply them too. You can also define an edge style that separates your opt-in’s content from its form fields.
  • You can add any image to your opt-in while also having the options to display it to the left, the right, above or below your opt-in’s text content.
  • If you are creating a pop-up or fly-in you need to have full control over what triggers this automation. Bloom lets you trigger your opt-ins based on a time delay, at the bottom of a post or page, after scrolling, after commenting, after purchasing, and/or after the user is inactive on your page for a defined amount of time.
  • For an extra level of display targeting, you can even specify specific pages and post to either display or not display an opt-in on.
  • You can add an unlimited number of email marketing accounts and Bloom will organize your accounts by provider and also aggregate the lists and subscriber counts that are associated with those accounts.