No one ever said running a website would be easy. If only I could grab a quick template, throw up a few images, type some words, and become a millionaire. Sadly, it isn’t the early 2000s anymore and running a successful website takes time, patience, and the right tools.
For instance, since we all know that “the money is in the list”, it becomes crucial to engage with your audience and convert them from one-time stumblers to regular website visitors – using smart subscription forms, surveys, promotional pop-ups and other interactive elements. Not only do they help you build a list of subscribers, but also allow you to get to know your audience better.
Engaging with your readers on a WordPress website has never been easier though. There are many tools and plugins out there to help you take control of your blog.
I recently stumbled upon one of them, called GetSiteControl, which has a free version, and from a quick glance, seems reliable.
One of the areas I struggle with the most is managing my widgets. It’s not that they are hard to manage, but there are so many plugins out there offering minor widgets – like email subscription boxes, survey forms, notification bars, social media buttons. Manually installing and managing each of them from a separate plugin can be annoying.
GetSiteControl seems to be a great solution to this problem as it provides 7 most popular user engagement widgets in one plugin. These widgets include:
Subscribe widget. This is an email opt-in form to get more newsletter subscribers and generate leads. To use it successfully, you should focus on the targeting settings and your calls to actions (CTAs) that are likely to convert. The best practice is showing a subscription form to those who have spend some time on a webpage or scrolled a certain amount of the page content.
Contact widget. An essential form for most websites, it helps provide better customer service and simply create a chance for the visitors to share their feedback.
Promo widget. These are pop-ups, sidebars, and buttons to promote your products or blog posts with an attention-grabbing message leading to higher conversions. Say, if you’re launching a sale, you may want your customers to know about it so they can take advantage of the opportunity.
Survey widget. One of the best ways to learn more about your customers is asking them questions. With a survey you can gather actionable data to provide a better customer experience and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
Follow widget. This widget will help you grow the number of followers on social media.
Sharing widget. Want more traffic? This widget encourages your readers to share your content and help you spread the word. Consider it free advertising.
Live Chat. Communicate with your customers using the chat widget. You can connect it to Slack and answer their questions in real-time from any device.
There are many reasons why you should consider using GetSiteControl. But for me, the main one was my desire to have a plugin capable of hosting the interaction forms under one roof. The fact that everything is managed in a single dashboard, makes the widgets work as an entity too, and saves my time.
It might not be the perfect solution, but for beginner and novice website owners, it really can make the difference and help you create user engagement and build a solid email list. You can further connect it to any email marketing app, Google Analytics or other software you use for business.
So far, I’ve managed to put GetSiteControl to use to help me chat with my website visitors in real time. I sell a niche product, so my customers usually have specific questions about it. I’ve also started collecting more email addresses for my marketing purposes and have gathered a lot of valuable user feedback about my products.
All of this information alone may not seem that valuable, but when you are able to gather multiple forms of data, it helps you see the bigger picture and make meaningful decisions that benefit your business.
Your mileage may vary, but GetSiteControl worked for me and it will help you put your website to work for you.