Do you want to add a notification bar on your website? A floating bar or “hello bar” can be an effective and non-intrusive way to alert users about a sale or coupon.
However, it could also get annoying if it’s not setup properly. For instance, a notification bar that takes half the screen on mobile is not a good user experience.
In this article, we’ll help you pick the best WordPress notification bar plugins to boost traffic, get more subscribers, and increase sales.
What to look for in a WordPress Notification Bar Plugin?
There are plenty of WordPress notification bar plugins available in the market, but not all of them have the right set features you may need for getting the maximum results.
For example, some notification bar plugins are too simple and does not come with proper settings for allowing users to hide the notification. Others may not have the ability to add dynamic elements such as call to action buttons or countdown timers to boost urgency.
Basically, you need to choose a floating bar plugin that aligns with your goal: increase traffic, show announcement alert, grow your email list, increase sales conversion, etc.
Here are some of the most important factors you need to look for when choosing a notification bar plugin:
- Targeting and Cookie Settings – Your notification plugin should have targeting option that allows you to customize the message for different sections, and also remember what user has seen in the past to improve user experience.
- Dynamic Elements – A good alert notification plugin allows you to add dynamic elements such as countdown timers, multiple call-to-action buttons, animation effects, etc.
- Newsletter Integrations – If your goal is to grow your email newsletter, then you need to make sure that the sticky bar plugin integrates with popular email marketing services.
- Support options – Lastly, you need to make sure that there are support options available. Good support can save you a lot of money in the long run.
With that said, let’s take a look at our comparison of the best WordPress notification bar plugins.
1. OptinMonster
OptinMonster is the best conversation optimization software that comes with several marketing tools to help you turn website visitors into subscribers and customers.
It also includes a notification bar feature with dozens of beautiful templates. Their drag and drop builder allows you to customize the design or even create completely custom templates to match your brand. You can include things like a countdown timer, too.
OptinMonster is great for notification bars that encourage action. It has advanced targeting features that allow you to personalize the message based on your goals and users’ past behavior.
You can also use OptinMonster’s notification bars to show an alert or message. If you’ve had to suddenly change your business hours, for instance, you can alert your website visitors to this.
Other use-cases include: creating a free shipping bar notice for WooCommerce, add a newsletter opt-in form, create a discount alert bar, redirect traffic to a landing page, and more.
Below are some real example screenshots from their floating bar gallery:
Aside from just notification bars, you can use OptinMonster to create all sorts of different popups and alerts including spin to win gamified opt-in forms, exit-intent popups, fullscreen welcome mats, and more:
Not to mention, there is no other solution that offers more personalization and targeting features than OptinMonster. Take a look at some of their targeting rules:
2. SeedProd’s Notification Bar Pro
SeedProd is best known for its ‘Coming Soon’ page plugin. However, they also have a floating bar plugin, called Notification Bar Pro.
You can buy Notification Bar Pro as part of the SeedProd bundle.
With SeedProd’s Notification Bar Pro, you can design your notification bar however you want. It shows a live preview of your notification bar as you design it. This makes it easy to tweak it to look however you want.
You don’t have to show your notification bar on every page of your site. Instead, you might choose to show it on just the home page. You could also allow or exclude specific pages.
It’s very quick to build and tweak your notification bar with SeedProd. If you want to go further than the wide range of built-in options, then you can also add custom CSS to style the floating bar.
There’s a limited free version available, too, called WordPress Notification Bar. This doesn’t offer all the features of the full version, but you might like to try it out if you’re just getting started.
3. TrustPulse
TrustPulse is a little different from the plugins we’ve looked at so far. It offers a real-time social proof notifications, letting your users know what’s happening right now on your site.
This can be a great way to take advantage of the FOMO effect while building trust around your brand.
When someone visits your site, TrustPulse will show a small notification bar that lets them know who’s buying your product right now, or who’s bought it recently. This is a powerful form of social proof that is proven to increase conversions.
It works with all top eCommerce platforms including WooCommerce. You can also set up TrustPulse to track other types of interactions. For instance, you could use it to show a notification when someone joins your email list.
TrustPulse is incredibly easy to use out of the box. However, there are plenty of features you can customize if you want to. You can easily change the message, colors, and images used in your notifications, for instance.
It also gives you lots of useful analytics, showing you which pages are delivering the highest conversion rate.
There’s even a free version, which lets you show notifications for up to 500 sessions (visits from users).
4. WP Notification Bar Pro
WP Notification Bar Pro offers multiple different notification types. You can use it to build your email list, grow your social media following, advertise sales, and more.
This is a great option if you want to show something a bit unusual in your notification bar. For instance, you can use WP Notification Bar Pro to show your latest posts or even posts that are related to the one the user is on.
You can even display a search form or social media buttons in your notification bar.
WP Notification Bar Pro lets you create multiple notification bars. You can set their priority so the most important one always displays on a given page.
You can also split test your bars to see which performs best. You can track your views and clicks, too.
5. Hello Bar
Hello Bar is a well known and popular notification bar plugin for WordPress. It’s easy and straightforward to use. If you’re a complete beginner, it could be a good option.
Like with OptinMonster, you can use Hello Bar to add users to your email lists, as it integrates with popular email marketing services.
As well as notification bars, Hello Bar lets you create other types of popups such as sliders and even popups that take over the whole screen.
There’s a limited free version of Hello Bar available. You’ll need to create an account with Hello Bar in order to use it.
The free version doesn’t give you as much control over your notification bars as the full version. You’ll still be able to make some basic design changes using it, though.
Note: You won’t be able to remove the Hello Bar branding unless you pay for a premium plan at which point OptinMonster is a much better option at the price.
6. Easy Notification Bar
Easy Notification Bar is a simple, free option. You can just install it on your site and get started straight away.
It doesn’t have all the options you’ll get from other plugins, but you can still do basic things like type in your text, choose a font size, add a link, and customize the colors.
Unlike many of the other plugins here, Easy Notification Bar only offers a floating bar. It doesn’t let you create other types of popup too.
If you just want to put an alert on your website, it could be a great option. For instance, if you run a restaurant and want to alert customers to a temporary closure or change in business hours, this plugin might be all you need.
It’s completely free, and there’s no premium version. If you’re on a tight budget after the other costs of building a WordPress site, then this could be a good plugin to start with.
7. WPFront Notification Bar
WPFront Notification bar is another simple plugin that lets you create notification bars in WordPress. You can place the bar at the top or bottom of the page.
You can set the bar to automatically close and/or have a close button for your visitors. You can also configure when the bar appears, for example you might set a start and end date for it.
WPFront Notification Bar is completely free and regularly updated. As with Easy Notification Bar, there’s no premium version. One key drawback with this plugin is that you can only create a single notification bar at a time.
8. Divi Notification Bar
Divi by Elegant Themes is one of the most popular drag & drop page builder for WordPress.
Aside from letting you create custom landing pages, Divi also allows you to easily create and add notification alerts in your pages with their easy drag & drop interface.
Although it doesn’t come with the powerful personalization and targeting features like OptinMonster, it is still a suitable solution for basic needs.
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