TL;DR:

1. Mobile Popup Design is live. You can now independently style your popups for desktop, tablet, and mobile inside a single campaign. No custom CSS or duplicate campaigns needed.

2. Show or hide blocks per device. A single toggle lets you show a block on desktop and hide it on mobile (or vice versa). No workarounds needed.

3. Available for all OptinMonster customers. Unlike Mobile Templates or Device Targeting, Mobile Popup Design is available to all OptinMonster customers.

4. Smarter defaults, even if you change nothing. We fixed the layout issues that caused broken form fields, off-screen close buttons, and oversized popups on mobile. New campaigns look better out of the box.

We’ve heard this one a lot.

You build a popup in OptinMonster, it looks great in the builder, you hit publish. Then you pull it up on your phone. The close button is off the screen. The two-column layout didn’t stack the way you expected. The form fields are so oversized and take up the whole screen.

You didn’t design it that way. We just didn’t give you enough control to do it exactly the way you wanted.

That changes today.

We’re launching Mobile Popup Design: full, independent control over how every OptinMonster popup looks on desktop, tablet, and mobile. It’s live in your account right now, and it works for all OptinMonster customers.

What is Mobile Popup Design?

Mobile Popup Design adds a dedicated layer of style controls to every popup view (desktop, tablet, and mobile) inside the same campaign you’re already building.

In the upper right-hand corner of the builder, you’ll find three device toggles: Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile. Switch between them at any point to see and edit exactly how each view looks before publishing and make changes as needed.

Here’s everything it lets you control:

Independent Styling per Device

Font sizes, padding, spacing, colors: you can adjust any of these independently for each device view. Your desktop layout and your mobile layout live in the same campaign, but can look completely different.

By default, styles cascade downwards from Desktop to Tablet + Mobile. All three devices are linked until you choose to customize one of the smaller devices (Tablet or Mobile). 

When you change a style setting or hide a Block on a smaller device (like a tablet or mobile), you “break the link” for that specific Device. It becomes independent and will no longer inherit changes from the Desktop.

Here’s how that plays out in practice:

• Edit on Desktop only – Tablet and Mobile inherit the change
• Edit on Tablet – only Tablet updates; Desktop and Mobile stay as they were
• Edit on Mobile – only Mobile updates; Desktop and Tablet are unaffected

Worth knowing: once you unlink a device view’s style for a specific element, it can’t be automatically relinked. Use the Undo button if you need to reverse a change during your current editing session.

Show or Hide Blocks per Device

Want to show a video on desktop but skip it on mobile? Hide a decorative image on tablet? It’s one click. No duplicate campaign or CSS required.

There are two ways to manage block visibility:

Quick-hide: Hover over any block element in the builder, then click the eye icon in the element’s toolbar. That block is immediately hidden for whichever device view you’re currently in.

Manage Block Visibility: Look at the top of the left-hand sidebar for the Block Visibility section. This gives you a list of all blocks and lets you toggle each one on or off for the Device you’re viewing, including any you’ve already hidden.

Smarter Defaults out of the Box

Even if you never touch a Mobile Popup Design setting, your new popups will look better on mobile than before.

We fixed the opinionated defaults that caused the most common mobile layout problems: broken form fields, off-screen close buttons, and popups that scaled past the edges of small screens. Every new campaign starts from a better baseline.

5 Ways to Use Mobile Popup Design Right Now

1. Fix That Campaign You’ve Been Avoiding

You know the one. The campaign with the mobile layout you’ve been meaning to fix but kept putting off because it would mean rebuilding a whole separate mobile version.

Open it in the builder. Switch to the mobile view. Adjust the styling. Done. No new campaign needed.

2. Show Videos on Desktop, Skip Them on Mobile

Video blocks add weight to popups. On desktop, that’s fine. On mobile, it can slow down load time and crowd the layout.

Use Block Visibility to show your video block on desktop and hide it on mobile. Your mobile version gets leaner and faster without any extra work.

3. Simplify Multi-Column Layouts for Mobile

A three-column layout looks sharp on desktop. On a phone screen, not so much.

Previously, multi-column designs collapsed to a single column by default. Now, you can leave the desktop layout untouched and redesign the mobile view with one, two or three columns as you’d like.

4. Adjust Font Sizes and Spacing for Small Screens

What reads well at desktop size can feel cramped or overwhelming on mobile, even with our common-sense responsive defaults. You can now dial in font sizes, padding, and margins independently per device, just the way you want.

5. Build Your Best Mobile Layout From the Start

For any new campaign, start in desktop view, build your layout, then switch to mobile view and optimize from there. The real-time preview means you’re never guessing. What you see is what your visitors will see.

Available To All Subscribers

Mobile Popup Design is available to all OptinMonster customers.

Every user now has full per-device styling controls on every campaign, at no extra cost.

Mobile Popup Design vs. Device Targeting: What’s the Difference?

These are two separate things that work well together.

Mobile Popup Design controls how your popup looks on each device. Same campaign, different visual treatments per screen.

Device Targeting controls who sees your campaign based on their device. Use it when you want to show one campaign only to desktop visitors and a completely separate campaign to mobile or tablet visitors. Device Targeting is available on Plus, Pro, and Growth subscriptions. 

Mobile Popup Design gives you a lot of control over how your popups look on different device types. If you want to go further with audience targeting by device, that’s where Device Targeting comes in.

How to Get Started

1. Log in to your OptinMonster dashboard and open any campaign in the builder
2. In the upper right-hand corner, use the device toggles to switch to Tablet or Mobile view
3. Edit styles, toggle Block Visibility, or adjust layout for that device. Changes apply only to that view
4. Use the eye icon on any block to quickly hide it for the current device, or use the Block Visibility panel in the left sidebar to manage all blocks at once
5. Preview each device view, then save and publish

For a full walkthrough, visit the Device-Specific Design documentation.

Mobile Popup Design is live right now. Open your next campaign and build it the way it should look on every screen.

Related resources:

• How to show campaigns on desktop and mobile devices
• How to create a mobile-only campaign

Until next time,

Angie and the OptinMonster Team

P.S. – Still not convinced OptinMonster is the best choice for you? Check out our 80+ OptinMonster case studies, complete with winning stats, detailed strategies, plus the exact templates and copy you can steal from learn from to win, and win more often!

Not your design. Not your offer. Not your copy. The subject line is the first thing your subscriber sees, and if it doesn’t earn the open, nothing else gets a chance.

At OptinMonster, I’ve tested subject lines across our own campaigns and studied what drives opens at scale. The finding is consistent: the best subject lines either spark curiosity or create urgency. Everything else is a variation on those two levers.

This guide gives you 150+ proven examples organized by type: sales, professional, FOMO, follow-up, re-engagement, and more. Each section includes the formula that makes those subject lines work.

What Makes a Great Email Subject Line?

Here’s what the research actually shows.

Length matters, and word count beats character count. Subject lines with six to ten words generate the highest open rates, according to research from Retention Science. That’s roughly 40 to 60 characters. On mobile, front-load the important words so nothing gets cut off.

Personalization helps, but relevance helps more. Adding a subscriber’s first name to a subject line improves open rates by roughly two percentage points on its own. What actually moves the needle is behavioral personalization. Referencing a recent purchase or a resource they downloaded can double those results.

Mobile is where your email lives or dies. More than half of all emails are now opened on mobile devices. That means your subject line is competing for attention on a screen smaller than your hand. Keep it tight. Keep it specific. Earn the open in the first four words.

Your open rates may surprise you. According to Mailchimp’s 2023 benchmark data, the average email open rate across all industries is 35.63%, with ecommerce at 29.81%. Those numbers are inflated by Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, which pre-loads tracking pixels. Without that effect, a realistic benchmark is closer to 20 to 30% for most industries.

Six Subject Line Formulas That Drive Opens

Most high-performing subject lines follow one of six patterns. Once you recognize the formula, you can apply it to any campaign.

The Curiosity Gap. Hint at something interesting without giving it away. Example: “We found something surprising in your data”

The Number Formula. Lead with a specific number. Specificity signals credibility. Example: “7 subject lines that doubled our open rate”

The Direct Benefit. State the exact outcome the reader gets by opening. Example: “How to double your email list in 30 days”

The Question Hook. Ask the question your subscriber is already thinking. Example: “Are you making this email marketing mistake?”

The Personalization Play. Reference something specific about the subscriber’s situation. Example: “[First name], your guide is ready”

The Urgency Signal. Use a real deadline to push action now, not later. Example: “Last day: 40% off ends at midnight”

Every example in this guide maps to one of these six formulas. Use them as a starting point, then adapt to your brand voice.

FOMO Email Subject Lines

Fear of missing out is one of the strongest open-rate drivers in email marketing. These work best when the scarcity or deadline is real. Manufactured urgency destroys trust fast.

1. “This deal disappears in three hours”
2. “Only 11 spots left — claim yours”
3. “Last chance: your discount expires tonight”
4. “You’re about to miss this”
5. “We’re closing enrollment at midnight”
6. “48 hours left to lock in your price”
7. “Your invitation expires tomorrow”
8. “Don’t close this email yet”
9. “Everyone else already grabbed theirs”
10. “This is the last time we’re offering this”
11. “Your free trial ends in 24 hours”
12. “We’re selling out faster than expected”

Curiosity-Inducing Email Subject Lines

These subject lines open a loop the reader has to close. Use them when you want strong opens without giving away the offer in the subject.

1. “The weird thing behind our highest-converting page”
2. “I wasn’t going to share this”
3. “Here’s what we found when we actually tested it”
4. “This email is a little different”
5. “You might not want to hear this”
6. “Something unexpected just happened with our results”
7. “The one question you should ask before every send”
8. “We almost didn’t tell you about this”
9. “What nobody tells you about email marketing”
10. “We ran the numbers. The results were surprising.”

Funny Email Subject Lines

Humor breaks the pattern. A funny subject line stands out in a crowded inbox, so make sure the tone matches your brand before you go this route. When it lands, the opens are hard to beat.

1. “We messed up. Here’s how you benefit.”
2. “This email is 99% less boring than your last meeting”
3. “Sorry, this isn’t a cat video. But it’s close.”
4. “Shocking: you might actually like this one”
5. “We tried to write a boring subject line. We failed.”
6. “You have better things to do. This takes two minutes.”
7. “Not another Monday email. This one’s different.”
8. “Your inbox called. It wants something good.”
9. “We bribed our team with coffee to make this for you”
10. “Plot twist: you’re going to want to open this”

Professional Email Subject Lines

These subject lines work for outreach, workplace communication, and formal follow-ups. They’re not designed to maximize open rates through tricks. They’re designed to get read and respected.

Business Outreach

1. “Quick question about [project or topic]”
2. “Following up on our conversation from [day]”
3. “Introduction: [Your Name] from [Company]”
4. “Meeting request: 20 minutes this week?”
5. “Checking in — any updates on [topic]?”
6. “Proposal for [Project Name] — attached”
7. “Action required: please review by [date]”

Meetings and Calendar

1. “Confirming our call on [day] at [time]”
2. “Can we reschedule to Thursday?”
3. “Agenda for [Meeting Name] on [Date]”
4. “Reminder: [Meeting Name] starts in one hour”
5. “Notes from today’s meeting — see below”

Professional Follow-Up

1. “Still interested? Happy to answer any questions”
2. “Re: [Topic] — one more thought”
3. “Any updates on the [project or proposal]?”
4. “Touching base from our call last week”
5. “Just wanted to make sure this didn’t get buried”

Formal and Report-Based

1. “Q1 performance summary — ready for your review”
2. “Update: [Project Name] status as of [Date]”
3. “New policy effective [Date] — please read”
4. “Your invoice from [Company] is ready”
5. “Contract sent — please review at your convenience”

Networking

1. “Great meeting you at [Event Name]”
2. “Your advice from [Event] — here’s what happened”
3. “A quick favor — takes two minutes”

Catchy Email Subject Lines

Catchy subject lines are memorable without relying on urgency or mystery. They work well for brand-building campaigns where the goal is engagement over immediate conversion.

1. “The email you’ll actually want to open”
2. “What’s working in email marketing right now”
3. “Stop sending emails nobody wants to read”
4. “Your subscribers want this — are you giving it to them?”
5. “The subject line that outperformed all the others”
6. “We rewrote our homepage. Here’s what we learned.”
7. “Everything you think you know about open rates is wrong”
8. “The one change that transformed our email list”
9. “Why your best emails are being ignored”
10. “Email marketing in 2026: what actually works”

Personalized Email Subject Lines

The best personalized subject lines do more than insert a name. They reference behavior or recent activity. That’s where the real lift comes from.

1. “[First name], here’s your personalized recommendation”
2. “You left something behind, [First name]”
3. “Based on your recent visit — we picked these for you”
4. “Happy [anniversary or birthday], [First name]. Here’s a gift.”
5. “You downloaded [Resource] — here’s the next step”
6. “[First name], your account needs attention”
7. “We noticed you haven’t tried this feature yet”
8. “A follow-up on your recent [purchase or action]”
9. “You’re almost at [milestone]. Here’s what’s next.”
10. “Since you liked [previous content], you’ll love this”

Pain Point Email Subject Lines

These subject lines work because they name the exact frustration your subscriber is already experiencing. When someone reads a subject line and thinks “that’s exactly my problem,” the open is almost guaranteed.

1. “Tired of emails that nobody opens?”
2. “Why your list is growing but your revenue isn’t”
3. “Is your email list actually working for you?”
4. “The open rate problem most marketers ignore”
5. “Getting traffic but not enough sales? Read this.”
6. “Your welcome email is costing you subscribers”
7. “What to do when your engagement drops overnight”
8. “Still sending the same email to everyone? Here’s why that hurts.”

Sales Email Subject Lines

Direct, conversion-focused lines for promotional campaigns. Keep these honest and specific. Vague promotional lines get ignored; specific ones get clicks.

1. “40% off — today only”
2. “Your exclusive offer is inside”
3. “Here’s the deal we promised you”
4. “New: [Product Name] is now available”
5. “Introducing [Product] — early access for subscribers”
6. “We lowered the price. Here’s why.”
7. “Buy one, get one — this weekend only”
8. “Your cart is ready. So is your discount.”
9. “Everything in the sale section — one more day”
10. “We’ve never offered this before”

Welcome Email Subject Lines

Welcome emails have some of the highest open rates of any email type. Your subscriber just took action. This is the moment to set expectations and deliver immediate value. Don’t waste it on a generic “Thanks for signing up.”

1. “Welcome to [Brand Name] — start here”
2. “You’re in. Here’s what’s next.”
3. “Thanks for joining — here’s your gift”
4. “Your account is ready, [First name]”
5. “Before you do anything else, read this”
6. “Everything you need to get started — in one email”
7. “We’re glad you’re here. Let’s start with this.”
8. “Three things to do right now with your new account”

Thank You Email Subject Lines

Thank you emails are underused and underestimated. Sent well, they deepen loyalty and prompt repeat action without feeling transactional.

1. “Thank you, [First name] — we mean it”
2. “Your order is confirmed. Here’s a small thank-you gift.”
3. “You made our year. Here’s something in return.”
4. “We appreciate you. Here’s what’s coming next.”
5. “From our team to yours — thank you”
6. “You’ve been with us for a year. Let’s celebrate.”
7. “Your feedback helped us improve this — here’s what changed”
8. “Because of you, here’s what we built”

Event Email Subject Lines

For webinars, conferences, product launches, and live events. The goal is to drive registrations first, then attendance.

1. “You’re invited: [Event Name] on [Date]”
2. “Just announced: [Event Name] registration is open”
3. “Seats are filling up — grab yours for [Event]”
4. “Reminder: [Event Name] starts tomorrow”
5. “Your link to join [Webinar Name] — starts in one hour”
6. “[Event Name] recap — here’s what you missed”
7. “Early bird pricing for [Event] ends Friday”
8. “Join us live: [Topic] — [Day] at [Time]”

Follow-Up Email Subject Lines

Follow-ups make people uncomfortable to write. They shouldn’t. A good follow-up subject line is honest, low-pressure, and gives the reader an easy out.

1. “Did you get a chance to look at this?”
2. “One last nudge — then I’ll leave you alone”
3. “You never responded. Totally fine. But…”
4. “Still thinking it over? Here are your options.”
5. “We saved your cart — it’s waiting for you”
6. “You started something — let’s finish it”
7. “Re: my last email”
8. “One more thing before I follow up again”

Re-Engagement Email Subject Lines

For subscribers who haven’t opened in 60 to 180 days. These subject lines have one job: get the open. Keep them short, direct, and low-pressure.

1. “We miss you, [First name]”
2. “Are you still interested in hearing from us?”
3. “It’s been a while. A lot has changed.”
4. “We saved something for you — but not for long”
5. “Should we stay in touch? Yes or no.”
6. “Before we say goodbye — one last offer”
7. “Your account has been quiet. We noticed.”
8. “Here’s what you’ve been missing”

Cold Email Subject Lines

For first-touch outreach to people who haven’t opted into your list. The goal is relevance and respect. Not tricks.

1. “Quick idea for [Company Name]”
2. “Saw your post on [Topic] — had a thought”
3. “Mutual connection suggested I reach out”
4. “Question about your recent [announcement or article]”
5. “I helped [similar company] achieve [specific result] — curious if relevant”
6. “Not a mass email — specifically for you”
7. “[Referral name] suggested I send this”
8. “Two sentences on why I’m emailing”

Newsletter Subject Lines

For recurring newsletters and digest-style emails, the subject line needs to communicate value at a glance. Subscribers should feel like they’re getting the best of the week, not more inbox clutter.

1. “This week’s must-reads — [date]”
2. “What we learned this week”
3. “The [Brand] weekly: [teaser of top story]”
4. “Three things worth your time this Friday”
5. “What everyone’s talking about in [industry]”
6. “Your [weekly or monthly] roundup is here”
7. “The story everyone missed this week”
8. “What’s working in [industry] right now”

Words and Phrases That Boost Open Rates

Certain words consistently outperform others across email campaigns. Here’s what to use, and why.

• “You” and “your”: Direct address outperforms third-person every time
• Numbers (“7 ways,” “30 days,” “three mistakes”): Specific figures imply credibility and set expectations
• “Free”: Still works, especially for content offers and trial invitations
• “Now” and “today”: Signals immediacy without manufacturing fake urgency
• “New”: Novelty triggers curiosity reliably
• “Because”: Explaining the reason behind an action increases response
• “Easy” and “simple”: Reduces the reader’s perceived effort
• “Proven”: Signals credibility without overpromising
• “Exclusive”: Implies insider access
• “Reminder”: Works well in sequences; signals value without pressure

Email Subject Line Mistakes to Avoid

Even great writers make these errors. Check every subject line against this list before you hit send.

All caps or excessive punctuation. Writing “OPEN THIS NOW!!!” triggers spam filters and looks desperate. It also signals low production value to your subscriber.

Vague subject lines. “Check this out” and “Important update” give the reader no reason to open. State what’s inside.

Misleading subject lines. A subject line that doesn’t match the email content destroys trust instantly. Subscribers won’t open your next email, and many will unsubscribe.

Lines longer than ten words. Subject lines that truncate on mobile lose their meaning. Front-load the value.

Spam trigger words. Phrases like “free money,” “act now,” and “100% guaranteed” increase the chance your email lands in a junk folder before it’s ever seen.

Skipping the A/B test. Every audience responds differently. Testing two subject line variations on every campaign is how you learn what your specific list responds to. If you’re not testing, you’re guessing. Here’s how to set up email A/B tests that actually tell you something useful.

Subject line writing gets better with repetition. Use the formulas. Pick the category. Send the test. Your list will tell you what resonates.

The other half of the equation is having enough subscribers to email. OptinMonster converts your site traffic into subscribers, so the list you’re sending to keeps growing. Start your OptinMonster subscription today.

Frequently Asked Questions

TL;DR:

The best all-around choice for SEO competitor research is Ahrefs. For website traffic intelligence, Similarweb leads the pack. For social media analysis, Sprout Social is the strongest option. If you want one tool that covers SEO and paid search together, Semrush is your best bet. For free options, Google Alerts and MozBar give you solid baseline data at zero cost.

Are you trying to figure out what your competitors are doing and how to do it better? You’re in the right place.

I’ve spent years using competitor research tools across SEO campaigns, content marketing strategies, and paid search. The difference between guessing and knowing what’s working in your market comes down to the data you have access to.

This guide covers the 14 best competitor research tools in 2026, organized by category so you can go straight to what you need, whether that’s SEO keyword data, website traffic intelligence, or social media benchmarking.

Quick Comparison: Best Competitor Research Tools at a Glance

Best SEO Competitor Research Tools

These tools give you the deepest view into what your competitors rank for, what keywords they target, and how their organic traffic compares to yours.

1. Ahrefs: Best for In-Depth SEO Competitor Research

Ahrefs is the most thorough SEO competitor research tool available. I use it every time I need to understand exactly what a competitor ranks for, down to keyword position, monthly volume, and estimated traffic.

The Site Explorer feature is where most competitor research happens. Enter any competitor’s URL and you get every keyword it ranks for, every backlink pointing to it, and every page driving traffic.

Key features:

• Organic Keywords report (see every keyword a competitor ranks for)
• Content Gap tool (find keywords competitors rank for that you don’t)
• Backlink profile analysis with link quality metrics
• Top Pages report (which competitor pages drive the most traffic)
• AI Keyword Clustering, available on Standard subscriptions and above, groups related keywords automatically

Pricing: From $129/month (Lite). A $29/month paid trial is available. It’s not free, but it’s a low-cost way to test the platform before committing to an annual subscription.

Best for: SEO professionals and content strategists who need the most accurate keyword and backlink data.

One downside: Ahrefs doesn’t offer PPC competitor data the way Semrush does. If you run paid campaigns, you’ll want a second tool.

2. Semrush: Best All-in-One SEO and PPC Competitor Tool

Semrush, now marketed as Semrush One, does more than any single competitor research tool on this list. It covers organic SEO, paid search, display advertising, and content analysis from one dashboard.

The Competitive Research toolkit is where it shines. You can see a competitor’s entire keyword universe, ad history, and traffic estimates side by side with your own data.

Key features:

• Organic Research (competitor keyword rankings and traffic)
• Advertising Research (competitor PPC keywords and ad copy)
• Traffic Analytics (full-funnel traffic source comparison)
• Market Explorer (industry landscape overview)
• AI search visibility tracking: see how your competitors appear in ChatGPT and Google AI Mode, not just traditional search

Pricing: From $139.95/month (Pro). Free account available with limited searches per day.

Best for: Teams that need SEO, PPC, and content competitor data in one place.

One downside: The volume of data can overwhelm beginners. Start with Organic Research and Traffic Analytics before exploring the full suite.

3. SpyFu: Best for Keyword and PPC Spying

SpyFu is the specialist tool for competitor keywords, both organic and paid. Its historical data goes back to 2006, further than most alternatives.

The core feature is straightforward. Type in any competitor’s domain and see every keyword they’ve ever ranked for organically, plus every Google Ad they’ve ever run, including the actual ad copy.

Key features:

• Organic and paid keyword history going back years
• Ad history with full ad copy archive
• Kombat tool for three-way keyword comparison
• SERP analysis by keyword
• Backlink outreach tool with contact information

Pricing: From $39/month. All subscriptions include unlimited data with no per-search caps. SpyFu has no free trial, but there’s a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Best for: PPC managers and SEOs who want deep historical keyword data without Semrush pricing.

One downside: SpyFu’s data is US-centric. For international competitor research, Ahrefs or Semrush give better global coverage.

4. Moz Pro: Best for Beginners

Moz Pro is the most beginner-friendly SEO competitor tool on this list. The interface is clean, the data is reliable, and it won’t take weeks to learn.

The Competitive Research features include a keyword gap analysis tool and the Link Intersect report, which shows you exactly which sites link to your competitors but not to you.

Key features:

• Keyword Explorer with volume, difficulty, and opportunity scores
• Link Intersect to find competitor backlink sources
• Rank tracking with competitor comparisons
• Domain Authority scoring for quick authority benchmarks
• On-page SEO recommendations

Pricing: From $99/month (Standard). 30-day free trial available.

Best for: Small business owners and marketing teams that are new to SEO competitor research.

One downside: Moz’s keyword and backlink databases are smaller than Ahrefs or Semrush. For deep research at scale, you’ll want a larger dataset.

5. SE Ranking: Best for Tracking Competitor Rankings Over Time

SE Ranking is a strong mid-range competitor research tool with an excellent rank tracker and a growing keyword database. It gives you most of what Semrush does at a lower price point.

The Competitive Research feature lets you analyze any domain and see its organic and paid keyword distribution. The rank tracker monitors how competitor positions change week over week.

Key features:

• Full competitor keyword and traffic analysis
• Daily rank tracking with competitor comparison
• Backlink monitor with link quality scoring
• On-page SEO checker
• White-label reporting for agencies

Pricing: From $65/month (Essential). 14-day free trial available.

Best for: Agencies and in-house SEOs who want solid competitor tracking without the Semrush price tag.

One downside: The keyword database coverage is weaker than Ahrefs or Semrush for long-tail research outside the US and UK.

Best Website Traffic and Competitive Intelligence Tools

These tools go beyond keyword rankings. They show you where competitors get their traffic and how much of it.

6. Similarweb: Best for Website Traffic Analysis

Similarweb is the go-to tool for understanding the full traffic picture of any website. It’s the closest thing to seeing a competitor’s actual analytics without them knowing you’re looking.

I’ve used it to identify which traffic sources a competitor is investing in before making channel decisions for our own growth strategy. The source breakdown alone saves hours of guesswork.

Key features:

• Traffic overview showing visits, bounce rate, session duration, and pages per visit
• Traffic source breakdown across organic, paid, social, direct, and referral
• Top referring websites and referral traffic analysis
• Audience geography and demographic estimates
• AI Studio, which lets you ask questions about competitor traffic patterns in plain English and get instant answers

Pricing: Custom pricing for all paid plans. Contact sales for a quote. A free tier is available with high-level data, though drill-downs and historical depth are limited.

Best for: Marketing strategists and growth teams who need a full-funnel view of competitor traffic.

One downside: Traffic estimates are approximations. For sites under 50,000 monthly visits, the data gets less reliable.

7. BuzzSumo: Best for Content Competitor Analysis

BuzzSumo is the tool you reach for when you want to understand what content is working for competitors. It shows you which articles, videos, and posts in your niche earn the most shares and backlinks.

I use it at the start of any new content strategy. It immediately shows what’s resonating with an audience, so you can create something more thorough and better targeted.

Key features:

• Content Analyzer for most-shared content by domain or topic
• Competitor content alerts
• Influencer discovery by topic
• Trending content by keyword
• Backlink tracking by content piece

Pricing: From $199/month (Content Creation plan). A free trial is available, though the duration varies. BuzzSumo is part of the Cision group.

Best for: Content marketers building a strategy who want to know what’s performing before they invest in creation.

One downside: BuzzSumo is expensive for its feature set. If you primarily need SEO competitor data, Ahrefs covers most of BuzzSumo’s content research features at a lower price.

Best Social Media Competitor Analysis Tools

These tools track what your competitors are posting, how their audiences are growing, and how your social performance benchmarks against theirs.

8. Sprout Social: Best for Social Media Competitive Reporting

Sprout Social combines social media management with one of the better competitor analysis modules available. You get audience growth tracking, post performance benchmarking, and share-of-voice data in one dashboard.

The Competitive Reports feature lets you compare your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or X, and LinkedIn performance against up to five competitors side by side.

Key features:

• Competitor performance benchmarking across all major platforms
• Share-of-voice tracking by brand mention
• Audience growth monitoring over time
• Post engagement comparison
• Social listening for brand and competitor mentions

Pricing: From $199/seat/month on the Standard plan, billed annually, or $249/seat/month on monthly billing. Pricing is per seat. A team of three pays $597/month on the annual plan. 30-day free trial available, no credit card required.

Best for: Social media managers and agencies who want both scheduling and competitor analysis in a single tool.

One downside: Per-seat pricing adds up quickly for larger teams. If you only need competitor data and not the full social management suite, Rival IQ is a more focused option.

9. Brandwatch: Best for Brand Monitoring and Social Listening

Brandwatch is an enterprise-grade social listening and consumer intelligence platform. It’s what large brands use to track what people say about them and their competitors across social, forums, blogs, news, and review sites.

The depth of listening data here goes well beyond what a typical social media management tool can provide. Brandwatch has also absorbed Falcon.io’s social management capabilities, making it a more complete platform than it was two years ago.

Key features:

• Social listening across 100+ million sources
• Competitor brand mention tracking with sentiment scoring
• Audience intelligence and demographic analysis
• Crisis detection alerts
• Full social media management, with Falcon.io capabilities now integrated

Pricing: Custom pricing for all plans. Contact sales for a quote. No pricing is listed publicly. Brandwatch is part of the Cision group, the same parent company as BuzzSumo.

Best for: Enterprise marketing teams and brand managers who need thorough competitive intelligence, not just social metrics.

One downside: Brandwatch is built for enterprise budgets. For smaller teams, Sprout Social covers most of what you need at a fraction of the cost.

10. Rival IQ: Best for Social Media Benchmarking

Rival IQ is purpose-built for social media competitor analysis. You set up a competitive landscape with your brand plus up to 20 competitors, and it continuously tracks everyone’s posting activity, engagement rates, and audience growth.

The benchmarking reports are where Rival IQ stands out. You can see exactly how your engagement rate compares to industry averages and to specific competitors, not just follower counts. Rival IQ is now part of Quid, a broader market intelligence platform.

Key features:

• Cross-platform competitive benchmarking across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok
• Post frequency and timing analysis by competitor
• Engagement rate tracking with trend history
• Paid social performance monitoring
• Automated weekly competitive landscape reports

Pricing: From $239/month on the Drive plan, which includes 10 tracked companies. 14-day free trial available, no credit card required.

Best for: Social media teams focused on benchmarking and competitive content strategy.

One downside: Rival IQ is a pure analytics and benchmarking platform. It doesn’t offer social media scheduling or publishing.

Best Free Competitor Research Tools

You don’t need a paid subscription to start gathering useful competitor intelligence. These free tools give you a solid baseline at zero cost.

11. Google Alerts: Best Free Tool for Monitoring Competitor Mentions

Google Alerts is the simplest competitor monitoring tool available. Set up an alert for a competitor’s brand name and Google emails you every time that brand gets a new mention online.

It won’t give you keyword rankings or traffic data. But it’s a fast, free way to stay informed about competitor news, partnerships, product launches, and press coverage.

How to use it:

• Go to google.com/alerts
• Enter a competitor’s brand name in quotes
• Set frequency to “as it happens” or “once a day”
• Repeat for each competitor you want to track

Best for: Business owners who want a passive, zero-cost competitor monitoring setup.

One downside: Google Alerts misses a large volume of mentions, especially on social media and behind paywalls. For thorough monitoring, Brandwatch or Sprout Social’s listening features are more reliable.

12. Ubersuggest: Best Free Keyword Competitor Tool

Ubersuggest gives you competitor keyword data, traffic estimates, and domain-level SEO metrics, with a free tier that doesn’t require a credit card.

Enter any competitor’s domain and see their top-ranking keywords, estimated monthly traffic, and the content with the most backlinks.

Key features (free tier):

• Domain overview with traffic estimates, keyword count, and SEO score
• Top pages by traffic
• Keyword suggestions based on competitor rankings
• Backlink checker
• Three searches per day on the free plan

Pricing: Free for up to three searches per day. The paid Individual plan starts at $12/month, or a one-time $120 lifetime deal.

Best for: Freelancers and small business owners who need basic competitor keyword data on a budget.

One downside: Three free searches per day is a tight limit. You’ll hit that cap quickly if you’re researching multiple competitors on the same day.

13. MozBar: Best Free Chrome Extension for SEO Research

MozBar is a free Chrome extension that shows you SEO metrics directly in your browser as you visit any site. You can see a competitor’s Domain Authority, Page Authority, and backlink count without switching to another tool.

It’s especially useful for quick SERP analysis. When you search any keyword, MozBar overlays metrics on every result, so you can immediately assess how competitive it would be to outrank the current top pages.

Key features:

• Domain Authority and Page Authority for any URL
• Backlink count visible while browsing
• On-page SEO element highlighting
• SERP metrics overlay for any Google search

Pricing: The extension is free. Advanced features, including custom searches and deeper on-page analysis, require a Moz Pro subscription from $99/month.

Best for: SEOs who want quick authority checks without opening a separate tool.

One downside: MozBar only shows Moz’s metrics. Use it as a fast benchmark, not a definitive data source.

14. Social Blade: Best Free Social Media Stats Tool

Social Blade tracks public statistics for YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Twitch. Look up any public account and see their follower growth history, estimated earnings, and posting activity for free.

It won’t give you engagement rates or content performance details. But it shows you whether a competitor’s social presence is growing, stagnant, or declining.

Key features:

• Follower and subscriber growth charts going back several years
• Estimated monthly earnings for YouTube channels
• Comparative growth benchmarking between accounts

Pricing: Free. Premium accounts are available for additional data depth.

Best for: Content creators and social media managers who want to benchmark competitor channel growth at no cost.

One downside: Social Blade only covers public data. You’ll see growth trends but not engagement rates or content performance.

How to Choose the Right Competitor Research Tool

The right tool depends on what you’re trying to learn. Here’s how to match the tool to the job.

Start with your primary channel. If most of your marketing is search-focused, start with Ahrefs or Semrush. If social media is your growth engine, start with Sprout Social or Rival IQ. Don’t pay for a full suite if you only need one channel covered.

Match data depth to your budget. Ahrefs and Semrush give you the most accurate SEO data but cost more. SE Ranking and Ubersuggest offer affordable paid subscriptions with free tiers to start. For most small businesses, SE Ranking gives you 80% of what Semrush does at half the cost.

Consider historical data needs. SpyFu’s keyword archive goes back to 2006. That’s invaluable if you want to understand how a competitor’s keyword strategy has evolved. Most tools only show current data or 12-month comparisons.

Think about team size. Brandwatch and Sprout Social are built for teams with multiple users and complex reporting workflows. Sprout Social’s per-seat pricing adds up fast, so factor in your full team headcount before comparing it to flat-rate tools. If you’re a solo operator or small team, a single-user Semrush or Ahrefs subscription covers you well.

Test before you commit. Most tools on this list offer free trials or limited free accounts. Run the same competitor domain through two or three tools before committing to an annual subscription.

Understanding Your Competitors = Better Marketing for Your Brand

The right competitor research tools give you a clear view of what’s working in your market. You stop guessing and start making decisions based on actual data.

Start with one tool from the category that matters most to your business. Run a competitor analysis this week. The patterns you find will directly shape your next content, keyword, or campaign decision.

Once you know what’s driving traffic for your competitors, OptinMonster helps you convert that traffic into subscribers and customers. Our conversion toolkit includes exit-intent popups, floating bars, and targeted campaigns, all built to turn the visitors you’ve worked to attract into people who stay.

Sign up for OptinMonster today and launch a comprehensive lead generation campaign in minutes. That way, you’ll be ready to convert all the visitors you’ll gain through your competitive research.

Frequently Asked Questions

Shopify is the leading platform for entrepreneurs and businesses to build online stores. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, Shopify makes it easy to set up an online store and start selling products or services.

However, to truly excel in this competitive world of ecommerce, it’s essential to use the right tools, and that’s where Shopify apps come into play.

There are both paid as well as free Shopify apps for you to grow your email lists, generate leads and increase revenue.

In this article, I will share with you the best apps for Shopify and, most importantly, the best free Shopify apps that can boost your ecommerce stores.

Quick Links

• Best Shopify Apps for Conversions
• Best Shopify Apps for Social Media Selling
• Best Shopify Apps for Social Proof
• Best Shopify Apps to Upsell and Cross-Sell
• Best Shopify Apps for Gift Giving
• Best Shopify Payment Option Apps
• Best Shopify Apps for Email Marketing & SMS
• Best Shopify Apps for Dropshipping

Overview: Best Shopify Apps by Category

Best Shopify Apps for Conversions

A conversion is any action taken leading up to and including the actual sale. These might include joining your email list, clicking on a coupon offer, adding an item to the cart, or clicking the checkout button.

Improving your conversion rate means convincing more people to take action when they visit your site. Here are the top Shopify apps to increase conversion rates across your website.

1. OptinMonster

Ranking first on our list is OptinMonster, one of the best Shopify apps for growing your email list, boosting your sales, and recovering potential customers.

In fact, OptinMonster can do the job of multiple apps, which is why I have put it at the top.

With OptinMonster’s ecommerce features, you can quickly and easily create stunning marketing campaigns for:

• Lead generation
• Product recommendation
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Discount wheels and other incentives

Key Features:

• Drag and drop campaign builder
• Lots of design blocks to add videos, countdown timers, images, and more
• Varied campaign types such as popup, fullscreen, floating bar, slide-in, discount wheel, inline, and content locker
• 50+ premade templates and playbooks
• Precise targeting and triggering rules
• Usable across platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Big Commerce, and more
• Live customer support and extensive documentation

Best Used For:

• Recommending products
• Retaining customers on site
• Increasing conversion rates

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $9/month for up to 2,500 campaign impressions.

Available On: Shopify App Store, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and all other ecommerce platforms

If you’re serious about jumpstarting your ecommerce business growth, then get started with OptinMonster today!

2. PushEngage

PushEngage is a push notification Shopify app you can use to send custom notifications to your visitors. This lets you recover abandoned carts, re-engage with users when they’re on the site, and ultimately drive more sales.

People are more likely to sign up for push notifications since they don’t have to share personal information, like an email or phone number, to opt in.

The best thing is that you can easily install PushEngage with one click.

Key Features:

• Customizable optin display rules
• Flexible push notification design options
• Automated abandoned cart messages
• Audience segmentation
• Easy setup with no coding required

Best Used For:

• Attracting traffic
• Reengaging visitors on site
• Recovering abandoned carts

Customer Review:

Pricing: PushEngage has a free plan for up to 200 subscribers and 30 campaigns to help you get started. The pricing plans start at $9/month for up to 100K subscribers.

Available On: Shopify App Store, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and all other ecommerce platforms

3. Octane AI: Advanced Quiz Maker

Octane AI is a Shopify quiz app that lets you build a product quiz in minutes.

These product quizzes are not just an amazing opportunity to send personalized recommendations. It’s also a source of incredibly valuable data about what your customers want.

Your quizzes ask customers one question at a time to pinpoint what they’re looking for. Then it automatically generates a list of personalized product recommendations.

The recommendations come with add-to-cart links to improve average order value. The quiz data syncs with your email and SMS marketing apps so you can follow up with truly customized marketing.

Key Features:

• Conversational quiz popups
• Personalized product recommendations
• Add to cart directly from the popup

Best Used For:

• Suggesting products
• Increasing average order value
• Gathering customer data

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $50/month.

Available On: Shopify App Store

4. LiveChat

LiveChat is the best live chat support software on the market that can help you improve customer satisfaction, conversion rate, and revenue.

Studies reveal that 70% of shoppers abandon their carts. By answering their questions quickly, you can minimize their frustration and increase their chances of purchasing from you. In fact, website visitors who engage in a live chat are 6.2 times more likely to buy.

You can also use LiveChat to:

• Initiate automated chat greetings
• Offer personalized customer service
• Conduct post-chat surveys to further improve the user experience
• Upsell and cross-sell complementary products

And more.

Key Features:

• Saved templates for repeated questions
• File sharing
• Inactivity messages
• Evaluation surveys for collection feedback
• Mobile responsive
• 200+ integrations

Best Used For:

• Improving customer satisfaction and engagement
• Reducing cart abandonment
• Increasing conversion rate and revenue

Customer Review:

Pricing: Pricing starts from $20 per month.

Available On: Shopify App Store

Best Shopify Apps for Social Media Selling

While Shopify is a great platform to build your ecommerce store, you may want to sell on other sales channels that have more reach. Here are the best apps for selling through other platforms.

5. Pinterest

Pinterest, another free Shopify app, makes it possible to publish shoppable product Pins on your Pinterest account.

Pinterest is a popular content sharing platform, especially for fashion, household goods, and other lifestyle products. With the Pinterest Shopify app, customers browsing on Pinterest can discover, save, and buy products from your online store. It’s basically free advertising.

Pinterest can be used directly in the Shopify admin panel. You can view Shopify’s marketing attribution reports to show you just how much revenue your Pinterest posts are generating.

Key Features:

• Automatic catalog updates
• Pinterest tag for performance tracking
• Shop tag on Pinterest profile
• Targeting by demographics and interest

Best Used For:

• Building awareness
• Generating traffic

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free to install, you pay for any Pinterest ads you purchase

Available On: Shopify App Store

6. Instafeed

Instafeed creates custom shoppable Instagram feeds to expand your store’s reach.

The connection between Shopify and Instagram goes both ways. You can add your Instagram feed to your Shopify store. This keeps your store content looking updated, grows your Instagram audience, and shows social proof on your Shopify store.

You can also use Instafeed to create shoppable posts in Instagram. This can convert your Instagram audience into Shopify customers.

Instafeed is fully integrated into Shopify’s admin panel, so you can manage your feeds from inside Shopify.

Key Features:

• Compatible with all themes and devices
• Flexible post layouts
• Product tagging on Instagram posts
• Show likes on posts

Best Used For:

• Building brand awareness
• Displaying social proof
• Converting visitors to customers

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available with basic feed features. Paid plans with product tagging, advanced layouts, and more feeds start at $5.99/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

7. Vajro – Mobile App Builder

Mobile App Builder is a free Shopify app (60 days free trial). This app makes it easy to create a fantastic customer experience with a mobile app without coding.

You can drag and drop the pieces you need to build the app you want. There are also 4 pre-built themes you can customize to your heart’s content.

Your app will automatically sync all products with your Shopify store. And it can all be done from within your Shopify admin panel.

Key Features:

• Push notifications
• Live selling on the app and Facebook
• Marketing automations for onboarding, abandoned cart, special deals, and more

Best Used For:

• Creating a custom brand experience
• Driving engagement
• Increasing sales

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $99/month with a 60-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store

Best Shopify Apps for Social Proof

Social proof is when shoppers look to the behavior of other customers as an example to follow. When you show social proof like reviews, testimonials, and purchase notifications, you’re basically saying, “These customers bought this and are happy, if you want to be happy like them, you can buy this too!” Here are the best Shopify apps for collecting and displaying social proof:

8. Judge.me

Judge.me is a trending Shopify app for collecting and displaying customer reviews automatically. This social proof app can boost sales by showing real feedback from happy customers.

Judge.me will email customers for reviews, which they can leave directly inside the request email. You can then curate your reviews and display them on your Shopify site, Google Search, Google Shopping, and Facebook.

Key Features:

• Text, photos, and video reviews
• SEO (search engine optimization) rich snippets
• Social sharing of reviews

Best Used For:

• Displaying social proof
• Gathering customer feedback
• Improving SEO

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available. Paid plan is $15/month and includes advanced features like coupons, product groups, and Google Shopping integration.

Available On: Shopify App Store

9. UpPromote: Affiliate Marketing

UpPromote lets you create an affiliate program for your Shopify store. This can broaden your marketing reach significantly, but you only have to pay when affiliates actually make a sale.

UpPromote provides a registration form and branded affiliate landing page to encourage affiliates to join your program. They then receive an affiliate link or coupon code to promote your shop and products. UpPromote tracks all the completed referrals and makes it easy to pay affiliates through PayPal, store credit, or manually.

Key Features:

• UpPromote Marketplace for finding potential affiliates and influencers
• Reliable order tracking
• Powerful affiliate management
• Individual portals for affiliates to get resources and track their performance

Best Used For:

• Growing brand awareness
• Influencer and affiliate marketing

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans start at $21.99/month with advanced features like store credit affiliate payments and customer signups for affiliate program

Available On: Shopify App Store

10. Referral Candy

Referral Candy is an easy way to set up a referral program that turns your existing customers into brand ambassadors. Word-of-mouth marketing is still incredibly powerful, so harness it for your store!

Customers can earn discounts, store credit, cash, and even custom gifts for sending their friends to your Shopify store.

Referral Candy makes it easy to recruit new referrals with a post-purchase popup, embedded signup form, or widget.

You can also run an affiliate program with Referral Candy.

Key Features:

• Seamless integration with Shopify admin, email marketing tools, and other apps
• Automated customer invitations
• Customizable templates for everything

Best Used For:

• Building customer loyalty
• Growing brand awareness
• Reaching new customers

Customer Review:

Pricing: Plans start at $49/month with a 30-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store, WooCommerce Magento, BigCommerce, and other ecommerce platforms

11. Smile: Loyalty & Rewards

Smile: Loyalty & Rewards is the best Shopify app for boosting sales from your existing customer base through points and rewards.

You can create a custom loyalty and rewards program easily with Smile. Customers earn points by joining the program, placing an order, making repeat purchases, leaving reviews, or even donating to a nonprofit. Then you choose how you want to reward them.

Smile can also help you create a referral program, so your most loyal customers can also be rewarded for telling their friends about you.

Key Features:

• Rewards, referral, and VIP program management
• Customizable widge and rewards panel
• On site nudges to encourage customer engagement

Best Used For:

• Growing customer loyalty
• Generating referrals
• Increasing lifetime value (LTV)

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available, paid plans start at $49/month and include advanced branding, unlimited orders, and more

Available On: Shopify, BigCommerce

Best Shopify Apps to Upsell and Cross-Sell

You’ve done the hard work of persuading a customer to buy. Don’t stop there! It’s often easier to increase the amount of an order than it is to get the sale in the first place. Check out these apps for getting bigger orders.

12. ReConvert Post Purchase Upsell

ReConvert lets you create one-click upsell and other offers that appear on the checkout and thank-you pages.

Customers can add upsell items to their cart with 1 click and proceed straight to checkout. You can also optimize your thank you page with upsells, cross-sells, pop-up discounts, product recommendations, urgency timers, and customer surveys.

ReConvert integrates fully with the Shopify admin panel, so you can create your upsells directly in Shopify.

Key Features:

• Advanced segmentation
• Intuitive editor and offers and thank-you pages
• AI-powered product recommendations and discount distributors

Best Used For:

• Boosting average order value (AOV)
• Recommending products
• Collecting customer feedback

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available with 49 store orders per month, paid plans start at $7.99/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

13. Vitals

Vitals is a true marketing workhorse. This Shopify app lets you import and collect product reviews, create upsell and cross-sell campaigns, provide live customer support chat, reduce abandoned carts, improve SEO, and more.

Best of all, you can do all of this from inside the Shopify admin. Vitals also integrates with popular marketing tools like Facebook Messenger, Klaviyo, and Instagram.

Key Features:

• Over 40 apps in one suite
• Future updates and improvements included in your subscription
• Speedy support team

Best Used For:

• Improving user experience
• Increasing order value
• Showing social proof

Customer Review:

Pricing: $29.99/month with 30-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store

14. Frequently Bought Together

Frequently Bought Together brings Amazon-like related product recommendations to your Shopify store.

The AI-powered recommendations are displayed as bundles on the product page, with automatic bundle discounts to further tempt customers.

Frequently Bought Together is directly integrated with the Shopify admin panel.

Key Features:

• Fully customizable user interface
• Multiple recommendation algorithms
• Bundle discount upsells

Best Used For:

• Upselling
• Recommending products

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available for new businesses, paid plan starts at $9.99/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

15. BOGOS.io Free Gift Buy X Get Y

BOGOS.io Free Gifts helps you create a wide variety of gift promotions for your Shopify store.

You can increase order value by offering free gifts with purchase, discounts on cart totals, buy 1 get 1, and more. The free gifts can be added automatically or customers can choose from several offers.

Key Features:

• Many offer types and customization options
• Customizable gift icons
• Prioritized gift offers

Best Used For:

• Increasing average order value
• Building customer loyalty

Customer Review:

Pricing: Plans start at $29.99/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

16. ViralSweep

ViralSweep takes gamification in your Shopify store to the next level. You can use ViralSweep to award contest entries for purchases, and run photo, video, hashtag, and referral contests.

These contests are not only a great way to build engagement and boost orders. You can also collect important contact information and build your list.

Key Features:

• Variety of promotions
• Shareable contests
• 1-click winner selection

Best Used For:

• Building engagement
• Boosting average order value
• List-building

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $49/month with 7-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store

Best Shopify Apps for Gift Giving

Another way to increase your sales is to tap into gifting. Perhaps a customer isn’t really interested in your products, but they know someone who would love them. Here are our top picks for gifting apps in Shopify.

17. Rise.ai: Gift Cards & Loyalty

Rise.ai is an easy way to offer gift cards for purchase.

Customers can send branded digital gift cards through email and earn store credit or other rewards for purchasing gift cards. This not only helps you make a sale you otherwise may not have gotten, but introduces your brand to a new customer.

You can also use Gift Cards & Loyalty Program to run loyalty, rewards, and referral programs.

Key Features:

• Advanced gift card experience
• Fully customized loyalty program
• Intuitive store credit solutions

Best Used For:

• Increasing sales
• Building brand awareness
• Improving customer retention

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $19.99/month with 7-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store

18. Giftship

Giftship makes it easier for customers to gift your products to their friends and family.

Customers can send items to multiple addresses in a single checkout with gift options for every recipient. You can offer gift messages, gift wrap, delivery dates, and more.

Giftship also makes your life as the store owner easier with its automatic packing slip and invoice printer, as well as their expert customer support.

Best of all, you can use Giftship directly inside the Shopify admin panel.

Key Features:

• Shipping to multiple addresses
• Gift options
• Upselling

Best Used For:

• Increasing order value
• Improving customer experience

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $29.99/month plus optional usage charges, with 7-day free trial available

Available On: Shopify App Store

19. Gift Reggie

Gift Reggie is a gift registry and wishlist app for Shopify. Customers can create their own wish lists and gift registries right on your Shopify site.

Wishlists and registries are a great way to make more sales and build brand awareness, since customers will be sending their lists and registries to lots of other potential customers.

Gift Reggie works within the Shopify admin panel.

Key Features:

• Full white label integration with your store theme
• User-friendly front and back end dashboards
• Automated registry and wishlist updates

Best Used For:

• Increasing sales
• Building brand awareness

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $9/month with 5 active registries

Available On: Shopify App Store

Best Shopify Payment Option Apps

Alternate payment and ordering options are often overlooked as a way to increase sales, but they can work quite well.

20. PreOrder Globo | Back in Stock

Globo PreOrder can increase your sales by offering preorders on new or out of stock products, and showing restock alerts. Customers who might otherwise leave disappointed will instead be able to preorder or get reminders to buy when the product or variant they want is back in stock.

Globo PreOrder works directly in the Shopify admin dashboard and works with the latest themes.

Key Features:

• Manual and scheduled preorder options
• Partial payments and discounts on preorder
• Customizable preorder buttons and email notifications

Best Used For:

• Improving customer experience
• Boosting conversion rates

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available for up to 5 products, paid plan starts at $9.90/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

21. Appstle Subscriptions App

Appstle Subscriptions is a subscription app for Shopify that lets you offer products and services to your customers on a repeating basis.

Recurring orders are a great way to boost your revenue, and Appstle makes it easy to offer subscriptions to your customers.

You can manage your Appstle subscription orders from within your Shopify admin panel.

Key Features:

• Unified shopping cart for one-time and subscription purchases
• Tiered discounts on subscriptions
• Self-managed customer portal

Best Used For:

• Increasing lifetime value
• Building customer loyalty

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available for up to $500 in monthly subscription sales, paid plans start at $10/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

22. Shopacado Volume Discounts

Shopacado Volume Discounts makes it incredibly easy to offer tiered pricing and volume-based discounts. Customers are encouraged to purchase more items and buy in bulk.

You can also offer member-only pricing and nudge visitors to sign up for your membership program.

Key Features:

• Custom pricing and discounts
• Discount notification bar
• Easy-to-use dashboard

Best Used For:

• Increasing order value
• Nurturing customer loyalty

Customer Review:

Pricing: Starts at $7.99/month with a 7-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store

Best Shopify Apps for Email Marketing & SMS

Once the sale has been made, your customer relationship is just beginning. With the right strategy and tools, you can convert a new buyer into a loyal repeat customer and brand advocate. Here are our favorite marketing tools for nurturing customer relationships after the sale.

23. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)

Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) combines email and SMS marketing to reach your Shopify customers with onboarding material, new products, and other marketing content.

With Brevo, it’s easy to create beautiful and effective emails and send them to your Shopify customer lists. You can also manage your text messaging directly from your Shopify back office.

Key Features:

• Automatic sync with Shopify contact and purchase data
• Best deliverability rates for Shopify marketing and transactional emails
• Powerful and intuitive email builder

Best Used For:

• Providing customer service
• Growing customer relationships

Customer Review:

Pricing: Brevo has a free plan for up to 300 emails per day, paid Brevo plans start at $25/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

24. Constant Contact

Constant Contact provides the email and ecommerce tools you need to drive more sales. You can connect your Shopify store to Constant Contact in seconds. Then you can segment your contacts and send targeted offers, abandoned cart emails, and coupons.

Constant Contact integrates with Zapier, Salesforce, Canva, and over 3,700 other online marketing solutions.

Key Features:

• Hundreds of design templates
• Marketing automation
• Advanced email reporting metrics

Best Used For:

• Growing customer relationships
• Increasing lifetime value

Customer Review:

Pricing: Paid plans start at $9.99/month with a 60-day free trial

Available On: Shopify App Store

25. OmniSend

OmniSend is an all-in-one ecommerce marketing solution that includes email and SMS marketing, gamified popups, push notifications, and more.

You can create shoppable emails quickly with the drag-and-drop content editor and prebuilt templates and workflows.

Key Features:

• Pre-built workflows
• Robust segmentation
• Fully customizable opt-ins

Best Used For:

• List building
• Improving customer relationships

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan for up to 250 contacts, paid plans start at $16/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

26. Klaviyo

Klaviyo is an incredibly popular email marketing and SMS platform for ecommerce.

You can sync all your Shopify data and drill deep into customer segmentation. Klaviyo has dozens of built-in, fully customizable automation for welcome emails, price drops, browser abandonment, and more.

Key Features:

• One-click Shopify integration
• Powerful segmentation and personalization
• Benchmarks to compare to other businesses similar to yours

Best Used For:

• Analyzing customer data
• Growing customer relationships

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan for up to 250 contacts, paid plans start at $20/month

Available On: Shopify App Store

27. Yotpo Email Marketing SMS

Yotpo Email Marketing SMS is an SMS and email marketing automation app that syncs seamlessly with Shopify. You can create hyper-personalized text and email campaigns for each customer using real products from your store.

Key Features:

• Targeted text campaigns
• SMS automation builder
• Accelerated mobile checkout

Best Used For:

• List building
• Abandoned cart recovery
• Increasing revenue

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free to install, and you pay for messaging rates, paid plans with advanced features start at $19/month

Best Shopify Apps for Dropshipping

Shopify Apps for Dropshipping are specialized tools that automate and optimize the dropshipping process on Shopify. They handle tasks like product sourcing, order fulfillment, and inventory management, allowing businesses to focus on growth and customer satisfaction.

28. DSers AliExpress Dropshipping

DSers is one of the best Shopify apps for dropshipping. DSers lets you source products for your Shopify store without handling inventory or fulfillment on your own.

Key Features:

• Automatic order and package tracking
• Bulk orders
• Multiple Shopify store management

Best Used For:

• Sourcing products
• Managing inventory and fulfillment
• Dropshipping

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan for up to 3,000 products, paid plans start at $19.90/month, including more products and advanced product mapping

29. Printful

Streamline your product creation process with Printful, an exceptional print-on-demand app. This platform empowers you to curate an array of items, from trendy t-shirts and cozy hoodies to stylish accessories and homeware. Say goodbye to inventory concerns and shipping logistics—Printful takes care of it all. Your primary focus? Unleash your creativity in crafting designs and effortlessly showcase your products on your online store.

Key Features:

• An expansive selection of over 300 products, catering to your Shopify store’s unique needs
• Seamlessly managed order fulfillment, encompassing inventory control and efficient shipping solutions
• Integrated tools for crafting captivating and customizable product designs

Best Used For:

• Leveraging global warehouses across five continents for streamlined dropshipping
• Swiftly expanding your product lineup with top-quality apparel, accessories, and more, seamlessly integrating them into your store.

Customer Review:

Pricing: Free plan available with 20% off and free shipping on samples; paid plans start from $9/month.

Available On: Shopify App Store, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and all other ecommerce platforms

There you have it! These are the best Shopify apps for improving your sales at any stage.

How To Choose the Right Shopify App for Your Store?

Here are some essential points to guide you in selecting the right Shopify app for your store:

• Identify your specific business needs and goals
• Read reviews and ratings from other users
• Check compatibility and integration with your current setup
• Consider pricing and ROI
• Utilize free trial periods for testing
• Look for regular updates and reliable customer support
• Prioritize security and data privacy
• Seek recommendations from fellow entrepreneurs
• Review app customization options
• Check app support documentation for ease of use

By following these guidelines, you can find the perfect app to enhance your Shopify store’s performance and streamline your ecommerce operations.

Summary – Best Shopify Apps for Ecommerce

Below is the list of the best Shopify apps you must have:

1. OptinMonster
2. PushEngage
3. Octane AI: Quiz Growth Tools
4. LiveChat
5. Pinterest
6. Instafeed
7. Mobile App Builder – Vajro
8. Judge.Me
9. UpPromote: Affiliate Marketing
10. Referral Candy
11. Smile: Loyalty & Rewards
12. ReConvert Upsell & Cross-Sell
13. Vitals All-in-One Marketing
14. Frequently Bought Together
15. Free Gifts BOGO
16. ViralSweep
17. Gift Cards & Loyalty Program
18. Giftship
19. Gift Reggie
20. PreOrder Globo & Back in Stock
21. Appstle Subscriptions & Loyalty
22. Volume & Discounted Pricing
23. Brevo (formerly Sendinblue)
24. Constant Contact
25. OmniSend
26. Klaviyo
27. SMSBump
28. DSers Dropshipping
29. Printful

OptinMonster: The Ultimate Shopify Solution for Exponential Sales Growth

While there are numerous Shopify apps available to help boost sales, one stands out from the rest: OptinMonster.

As highlighted in the article, OptinMonster is not just another app; it’s a comprehensive solution designed to grow your email lists, boost sales, and recover potential customers.

With its user-friendly drag-and-drop campaign builder, varied campaign types, and precise targeting rules, OptinMonster offers unparalleled customization and efficiency.

Whether you’re looking to recommend products, retain customers on your site, or increase conversion rates, OptinMonster has got you covered.

So, if you’re serious about taking your Shopify store to the next level, it’s time to invest in the best.

FAQ

More About Shopify Apps

• Best Shopify Popup Apps To Boost Sales: Comparison
• Shopify Email Apps: Best Email Marketing Apps For Shopify
• Best Upsell Apps for Shopify to Maximize Revenue
• Best Newsletter Apps for Shopify to Grow Subscribers

In this article, I’ve rounded up the 14 most effective types of content marketing and, more importantly, how to use them. Because no single format resonates with every reader, the right mix can dramatically improve your reach, engagement, and ROI.

Use the table of contents to jump straight to the format you want to try first.

1. Blog Posts
2. Long Form Articles
3. Original Research
4. Video
5. Infographics
6. Images
7. Case Studies
8. White Papers, Reports, and Ebooks
9. Presentations
10. Webinars
11. Quizzes and Polls
12. Podcasts
13. Checklists
14. Email Newsletters

Let’s get started!

1. Blog Posts

Let’s start with blog posts. After all, that’s what you’re reading right now. Blogs are also what many people think of first when they think about content creation.

Blog posts can be relatively easy to produce, especially if they’re not too long and don’t contain a lot of images.

You don’t need to buy special equipment or conduct in-depth studies to write engaging posts. You just need a good writer who knows how to conduct SEO keyword research.

And the potential benefits are worth it.

Done right, blog posts can help you:

• Share authoritative content in your niche.
• Get more citations from other trusted sources, leading to better search ranking and more organic traffic.
• Build a library of blog content that you can later adapt into other types of content marketing, such as videos or podcasts.

You can also use guest blogging to build up your inbound link profile.

Blogging covers many types of articles. These include how-tos, reviews, lists, thought leadership articles, and more. You can even add buttons for quick social shares. Readers can then easily share your content on their social media pages, helping your post find a new audience.

Here are some tips to get started with writing blog posts:

• Use headline tools to help you find the best headline ideas
• Check out some blog post ideas for inspiration
• Optimize your content and link posts together for better SEO

Related ContentUltimate List of Blogging Statistics and Facts (Updated for 2023)

2. Long-Form Articles

Long-form articles are another form of content worth your time.

They’re a type of blogging, but long-form content requires a different skill set than shorter posts.

One example is WPBeginner’s guide to choosing the best website builder. This article is more than 8,500 words long.

WPBeginner’s post is an in-depth guide that compares 15 different website builders. It provides detailed descriptions, pros, cons, and pricing info for each one.

The post has been shared approximately 2,000 times. After all, readers like sharing helpful, in-depth articles with their colleagues and friends.

Blogs often use these types of content marketing posts as pillar content. Pillar content is a collection of your most important cornerstone articles. These articles are comprehensive, evergreen, and frequently linked to in your other posts.

The downside?

If you want to use the long-form content format, then you’ll need to research and write content with real depth.

Articles over 2,500 words take a lot of time and work. That means they may not be the best place to start for beginners. Or for small business entrepreneurs who are doing everything themselves.

But if you have the time, knowledge, and writing skills? You could see huge traffic and lead generation from long-form articles.

To get started, use your own industry expertise to produce in-depth and well-researched content. You can also check out the content that’s already around and try to produce something better, fresher, and with more resources.

3. Original Research

Original research is another popular type of content marketing that builds authority and trust.

Original research is also a great way to get inbound links. When the data you provide is helpful, other websites will link to your posts, and you’ll get more organic traffic. This happens when people cite your work, and it’s great for SEO.

In fact, you’ve seen examples of this type of citation throughout this blog post, such as our links to CMI’s annual B2B content marketing report.

There’s only one issue: producing in-depth research like CMI’s report can be time-consuming and costly.

If you want to speed up the process, carry out a survey using WPForms. Then use the built-in reporting dashboard to view charts that will help you visualize the results.

4. Video

As our article on video marketing statistics shows, video is a proven attention-getter online. Most age groups watch videos. It’s also one of the most popular content marketing formats for mobile device users.

In fact, YouTube is often cited as the 2nd most popular search engine in the world, behind Google.

Plus, the formats and platforms for video content marketing keep expanding. They now include:

• YouTube Shorts
• Instagram Reels
• Facebook Reels
• TikTok videos
• Livestreams

This variety means that you can almost certainly incorporate videos into your content marketing strategy. Your video content can range from:

• 60-second Reels, Shorts, and TikToks shot with your phone
• Longer, highly-produced YouTube videos, such as tutorials
• Anything in-between

The potential ROI of video marketing is undeniable. One well-known success story is Dollar Shave Club, a razor subscription service. They established their brand through hilarious, low-budget YouTube videos.

Their first video, posted in 2012, is an irreverent and silly introduction to their company. That video now has over 28 million views, and it still regularly gets new comments. Their YouTube channel also has over 40k subscribers.

There are lots of ways you can get started using video for your business. Here are a few ideas:

• Create a welcome video that introduces people to your business.
• Regularly create short videos that tap into pop culture or viral trends. Just make sure they still relate to your company!
• Create videos showcasing the features of your products or services.
• Already have a podcast? Turn your episodes into YouTube videos.
• Shoot a tutorial to give visitors step-by-step instructions on using your product.

Want an example of a welcome video? Here’s OptinMonster’s introductory video, which we use as our YouTube channel’s trailer:

Bonus ResourceHow to Get Subscribers on YouTube (Reach 1,000 Subscriptions FAST!)

5. Infographics

More and more businesses are finding success by creating original infographics.

Venngage’s 2021 survey on visual content marketing shows the value of infographics. 36.4% of marketers reported that their most used visual content was original graphics, which includes infographics and illustrations.

In fact, Venngage even used its own infographic to display that data:

It’s important to get the graphic elements right and make your infographics attractive. But don’t forget to make the information interesting and reliable. That creates a linkable, shareable resource.

If you want to use this content format, here are a few tips to get you started:

• Plan your infographic like any other piece of content so it tells a story.
• Give it a good headline and interesting subheadings.
• Use Canva, Piktochart, or another visual content marketing tool to create it.
• Templates can be a great way to get started with making sleek infographics quickly.

6. Images

While we’re on the topic of visuals, let’s not forget about images in general.

Did you know that there are 750 billion images on the internet? They come from a variety of sources, such as website graphics and social media posts.

In fact, billions of images are shared on social media platforms every day, according to this data from Photutorial:

Here are some options for using images as a content format:

• Turn the key takeaways from your blog post into a quote graphic with Canva or Stencil
• Take screenshots to include in any tech-related tutorial blogs.
• Visit Know Your Meme and pick a popular meme that you can adapt and share
• Find or create a shareable GIF with Giphy

7. Case Studies

Case studies are one of the most effective content marketing formats for winning new business.

Case studies give you the chance to feature your customers and to:

• Show off what you’re doing right
• Create niche-specific content
• Build trust and authority
• Highlight your competitive advantage

Learn how to create an effective case study with our case study guide.

8. White Papers, Reports, and EBooks

White papers and ebooks are similar to long-form articles, but they’re usually in a downloadable PDF format. They have a strong focus on providing helpful information, such as research reports and comprehensive guides.

In the chart above from the CMI content marketing report, you can see that 59% of B2B marketers used thought leadership ebooks or white papers in 2023.

Perhaps the smartest way to use these downloadables is as lead magnets. Lead magnets are special content or offers that website visitors get in exchange for subscribing to your email marketing list.

OptinMonster makes it easy to create website popups and optin forms for your ebook or white paper.

The popup above is a great example. It features a strong call to action (CTA) to enter your name and email address. In exchange, subscribers get access to an in-depth white paper on how to increase conversions by 200%.

When you offer content of real value, your email subscriber list will skyrocket.

Remember, the best white papers and ebooks aren’t just a marketing pitch. Instead, they aim to help the target audience. Even without the hard sell, they’re effective at gaining trust from potential customers.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

• Focus on one key issue or topic.
• White papers are relatively short, at about 6 to 10 pages. Ebooks can vary widely in length and scope.
• Use in-depth research.
• Back up any claims with verifiable statistics.
• Include charts, graphs, and pull quotes.
• Have a call to action so readers know what to do next.

Bonus ResourceHow to Create an Ebook Popup – Step by Step (with Templates)

9. Presentations

If you’re already promoting your business with presentations, they can be a useful online content format, as well. Plus, online tools like Google Slides make it easy for beginners to create helpful and attractive slideshows.

Google Slides’ premade templates make it faster than ever to build a presentation.

There are several online uses for slideshow presentations, such as:

• Including them in tutorial videos
• Embedding them on your website for people who prefer a slideshow over a long-form blog.
• Incorporating them into your webinars

And speaking of webinars . . .

10. Webinars

Webinars are a super important step in your sales funnel strategy. Website visitors have seen your blog posts and watched your videos. Now, they’re ready to learn more and connect with you directly.

Here at OptinMonster, we offer a weekly webinar that gives tips on growing your email list.

As you can probably guess, we wouldn’t be making the effort to host a webinar every single week if we didn’t see positive results.

Webinars usually consist of a presentation plus a brief Q&A session. They help you show off your expertise. You can also demonstrate products and services so that attendees actually want to use them.

To test the water with creating a webinar, try using Zoom which lets you host a 40-minute online meeting with up to 100 attendees for free.

Get more tips and tools in our guide to webinar marketing.

11. Quizzes, Polls, And Questionnaires

When creating website content, your top goal is to keep people on your site. You want people to browse your content and products and click your CTAs.

Quizzes, polls, and questionnaires are great examples of interactive content. These content formats engage your website visitors and get more clicks and leads.

Fun and interesting quizzes are also extremely shareable. You’ve probably clicked more than a few quizzes and polls that have popped up in your social feeds.

You can also experiment with asking for an email address before users can see their results.

Be cautious with this strategy, however. The results must be valuable enough that users will want to sign up for your email list. If it’s just a small, fun quiz, users will likely just leave your site instead of opting in.

Want to get started? Check out this post: Lead Generation Quiz: Examples, Best Practices, & How to Make One

12. Podcasts

According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, 62% of U.S. consumers listen to podcasts

With the majority of the U.S. population as a potential audience, podcasts are definitely a content marketing format you should consider.

They can be easy to get started. For example, if you’ve created a video, the audio can easily become a podcast. And you can also read a blog post to make that into a podcast episode, too.

Choose a theme for your podcast that will appeal to your potential customers. It should also be an avenue to showcase your business’s expertise.

If you’re looking for an easy way to start your own podcast, follow this tutorial from WPBeginner.

Top ToolsStart your own podcast today with one of the best WordPress podcasting plugins from our list!

13. Checklists

One of the easiest formats of content marketing is to create a checklist. This type of content marketing includes worksheets, tip sheets, and cheat sheets. They’re easy to make by pulling out the key points from another type of content (like a blog post).

Checklists are usually downloadable PDFs, just like the white papers and ebooks I discussed earlier. Also like those content formats, checklists can work as lead magnets or special content for subscribers or members.

Above is a screenshot of the “Competitor Quality Checklist” download that we offer through OptinMonster University. OptinMonster University is a series of specialized courses and guides for marketers. And it’s a huge perk of purchasing any OptinMonster plan.

By creating helpful checklists that are exclusive to customers, we raise the value of our product even further.

To get started, you can lay out your cheat sheet in a Google Doc or Word document and export it as a PDF. Alternatively, use software like Canva to make it into a graphic and do your PDF export from there.

14. Email Newsletters

Last, I’ll cover perhaps the most important content marketing type: your email newsletter.

Why are email newsletters so important?

Because email marketing has an average ROI of 3600%!

When that level of success is possible, you can’t afford to ignore email in your digital marketing strategy.

Email newsletters are a great way to highlight the content you’ve already created or to feature your top products.

However, they can also contain completely original content.

For instance, the image above is OptinMonster’s welcome email for new customers. In fact, we have an entire email welcome series that walks customers through their onboarding.

Need help getting started? Check out How to Create an Email Newsletter in 5 EASY Steps.

Get a Bigger Audience for All Your Great Content!

Now you know some of the most valuable types of content marketing formats you can use to improve your marketing plan.

If you want to learn even more, check out these posts:

• The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing (2023)
• 29 Impressive Content Marketing Examples You Can Use in 2023
• How To Create a Content Marketing Strategy

There’s just one more thing to help you get more from your content: promotion.

OptinMonster is a great tool to help you with that. That’s because we’re the best lead generation software out there.

With our tools, you can easily create website popups and optin forms to get more eyes on your content.

In fact, Social Media Examiner got 250,000 new subscribers by promoting its content with OptinMonster.

Want to get more subscribers, leads, and sales by promoting your content?

Get started with OptinMonster today!

In this guide, I’ll share 15 proven ways to promote your website for free.

These strategies cover everything from content marketing to external websites, and they’re the same ones we use at OptinMonster to help businesses attract visitors and convert them into loyal customers.

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote your website for free.

If you look at content marketing statistics, you’ll see that content marketing increases engagement and generates leads.

The nice thing about content marketing is that it can be very cost-effective. You don’t have to pay for advertising or sponsorships. It only costs your time and energy to create the content and build an audience. Let’s look at some specific tips for promoting your website through content marketing.

1. Prioritize Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is the process of making your website show up in search results. The first page of search engine results gets far more clicks, and organic search traffic is free. This means you can drive a lot more potential customers to your website without spending any money.

We don’t have space to go over a full lesson on SEO, but here are a few SEO best practices:

• Start with an SEO audit to get a baseline for your site’s performance
• Review the top SEO ranking factors to learn what search engines look for
• Choose keywords that your target audience is searching for
• Create high-quality content based on common keywords related to your online business
• Monitor your traffic and keyword rankings regularly
• Optimize your on-page SEO strategy
• Work on building links to your website over time

It’s also important to have the right SEO tools to help you monitor your website traffic, perform keyword research, and optimize your content for search.

2. Start Your Own Blog

Bloggers were some of the first online businesses and they knew how to promote themselves. Blogging statistics show that websites with blogs get more traffic and conversions.

Starting a blog for your business is simple. All you need to do is write blog content that’s helpful to your audience. You can use keyword research to identify terms that your audience is searching for to guide your content creation. Incorporate those keywords prominently and naturally through in your blog posts.

To get the best return on investment (ROI) from blogging, your blog posts should be written with conversion in mind. Here are some best practices for writing blog posts that convert. We also have some tips for getting more blog followers.

3. Offer a Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is something of value that you offer visitors in exchange for subscribing to your email newsletter. Examples include ebooks, downloadable guides, coupon codes, and other freebies. I’ll talk a little more about email marketing in a moment, but your lead magnet itself can be a great promotional tool.

If you create a super useful free tool like a template or cheat sheet, you’ll create trust with any subscribers who sign up for it. This builds brand awareness and positions your website as knowledgeable and helpful.

To help you out, we have a full tutorial on how to create a lead magnet.

4. Create an Email Marketing Newsletter

Email marketing is one of the best ways to promote your website. Unlike your social media audience, your email list belongs to you. You can make direct contact with your customers and leads any time you want. And you can also set up reusable email automations to generate leads and convert sales around the clock.

Now, many email service providers (ESPs) are now paid services. But some still offer free plans, and the cost of an ESP is relatively low compared to trying to outbid your competitors in advertising or sponsoring a piece of influencer content.

There are many ways to create an email marketing strategy. But the general principles are the same as any other type of content marketing:

• Give readers a reason to subscribe, like a lead magnet
• Send out great content that subscribers actually want to read
• Keep track of your email metrics to see how your outreach efforts perform over time

Check out our ultimate guide on how to run a successful email marketing campaign. With high-quality email marketing campaigns, you can drive repeat traffic to your site through powerful calls-to-action (CTAs).

5. Host a Podcast

Podcasting is another effective website promotion strategy that doesn’t have to cost much. Many people prefer listening to podcasts over reading blog posts, so this can be a great way to reach more of your audience.

You can create podcast content the same way you create blog posts. Look for topics that your target audience is interested in. If you bring in podcast guests, there are extra opportunities for promotion since your guests will want to share their episode with their audience too.

Plus, if you post your podcast episodes on your website with search-optimized headings and descriptions, podcasting can improve your search traffic. Take a look at the best WordPress podcasting plugins you can use.

So far we’ve been discussing ways to bring in free traffic to your website. Another strategy you can use is to promote your website on other websites and platforms. These can be social media channels that belong to your brand or completely external sites like online directories.

The advantage of this method is that you can access a bigger audience that someone else has already built. In many cases, visitors to these websites are looking for a specific solution. Your small business can provide the answer and gain a customer. Win win!

6. Post on Social Media

Social media platforms are a great place to promote your website for free. It’s free to set up an Instagram profile or Facebook page for your business, and you don’t have to pay for ads if you don’t want to. You can post content with links to your website, and of course link your website in your social media profile.

Social media marketing is great for building brand awareness. Many people turn to social media sites for information or simply when they’re bored and want something interesting to look at. You can also practice social selling and build the personal relationships that eventually lead to sales.

The most effective social media platform for your business will depend on your market. If you’re a B2B brand selling to other business owners, LinkedIn is probably the best. Consumer-facing businesses might do better on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram.

On each platform, you can use hashtags to increase your post’s visibility, and find potential collaborators. Here are our favorite social media marketing tools to help you promote your website on social media.

7. Create Videos

Video marketing is a specific type of content marketing that often performs best on external platforms. People often use YouTube as a search engine to find video tutorials, reviews, product showcases, and more. They might not land on your website but they could see your videos on the YouTube platform. Video is also extremely popular on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram.

Video production can be more involved than other types of content, but it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. People want to see authentic content, especially on social media. You can also repurpose video in many places. You can upload the full video to YouTube and share short clips on TikTok. Plus you can add YouTube feeds to your WordPress site to show off your video content on your own website.

8. Write Guest Blogs

While you’re blogging on your own website, you can also write guest posts for other people’s blogs. Another option is to be a guest on related podcasts. This does 2 important things for promoting your website.

First, it allows you to borrow the audience and the authority of the other blogger or podcast host. They’ve already spent time creating content and building an audience that will now see your blog post. If they’re a trusted leader in their field, their readers will assume that your content is also trustworthy.

Second, guest blogging is a great way to build backlinks to your website. Most bloggers will include a link to your website if you create a guest post for them. You can also promote your guest posts on your own email list and social media channels.

9. Interact on Forums

There are plenty of industry and topic-specific forums where people go to ask questions. When you show up in these spaces with the right answers, you build credibility for your business.

Look on websites like Reddit or Quora for topics related to your business. Be helpful, not spammy, in your responses. Answer the questions that are being asked, and then subtly promote your business if relevant. Some forums have rules about self promotion, so be sure to check these out before sharing links.

10. Join Directories

Even if most people don’t get the printed Yellow Pages anymore, there are still plenty of online directories that you can join. Putting your business profile in a global or local business directory makes it easy for potential customers to find you.

In addition to adding a listing for your business, you may be able to collect customer reviews as well. This is a convincing form of social proof that can boost your conversions.

Some directory websites are general while others are industry specific or local directories based on geography. There may be a fee for listing your business, but these are typically very low. Here are some nationwide directories to consider joining:

• Angi (formerly Angie’s List): home service
• Better Business Bureau: general business directory
• Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business): listings on Google search pages
• Thumbtack: home services
• Fiverr: freelance services
• Yelp: general business reviews

11. Cross-promote With Other Businesses Through Webinars

Another way to promote your business for free or very low cost is to collaborate with another business. You can work together to host a webinar or course that would interest customers of both businesses. In doing this, you can both reach an audience larger than you would on your own.

The key to successful cross-promotion is to choose someone who isn’t a competitor but still works with a similar target audience. For example, a wedding photographer might team up with a makeup artist. Both can offer a booking discount to attendees, but they won’t be stealing business from each other. A clothing brand might partner with a stylist rather than a competing fashion retailer. The clothing brand could offer a discount while the stylist could offer a special service package add-on.

If you’re hosting a joint webinar to promote your website, here’s how to create a webinar landing page.

12. Ask for Referrals

Referral marketing is a cost-effective way to promote your website. You ask your previous customers to share your brand with their friends and family. When a referral buys something, you give the referring customer a gift or bonus. This could be a gift with purchase, discount, or store credit, which means you don’t have to spend any actual cash for that new sale.

Referral programs are also amazing for building customer loyalty. Happy customers are more likely to make referrals, and then spend their referral bonus on something else from your business.

Referral marketing isn’t limited to eCommerce sites. People love recommending service providers or SaaS products that they’ve had a good experience with, especially if that means they get to work with you more. Consider free upgrades or contract extensions as referral bonuses in these situations.

13. Start an Affiliate Program

Affiliate programs are another variation of referral marketing. This is when content creators and other businesses place special affiliate links in their content. When one of their visitors clicks a link to your site and makes a purchase, the affiliate gets a small commission. Again, you don’t pay unless someone makes a purchase, so there’s no risk of losing money like you might buying Google Ads or other advertising.

If starting an affiliate program sounds really technical, don’t worry! There are great plugins like AffiliateWP that make the process simple and automatic.

14. Publish Press Releases

Press releases aren’t dead! Whenever your business has something newsworthy to share, you can submit a press release to PR sites. This can help you build media relationships, establish credibility, and improve SEO.

Press releases are written differently than traditional marketing content. They are more journalistic and focused on facts and features. Be transparent and honest with your press releases and let media and consumers decide for themselves.

15. Add a Link to Your Email Signature

Finally, here’s a super easy way to promote your website for free. Put a link to your website on your email signature. This is almost like a digital business card. Now everyone you send an email to will have the link for your website. You can link your homepage, a special landing page, or even a lead magnet signup page.

Next Steps: Convert More Traffic to Leads and Customers

Promoting your website doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. With the strategies in this guide, you can start driving more traffic and reaching your target audience without spending a dime. The key is to stay consistent and focus on delivering value to your visitors.

But driving traffic is only half the battle. You also need to convert those visitors into subscribers and customers. That’s where OptinMonster comes in. As the leading conversion optimization tool, OptinMonster helps you turn your website traffic into real results with easy-to-use popups, lead capture forms, and more.

Join over 1 million websites using OptinMonster to grow their audience and increase conversions. Try OptinMonster risk-free today and see the difference for yourself!

Related Resources:

• How to Increase Blog Traffic: 25 Proven Strategies
• How to Create a Fail-Proof Digital Marketing Plan in 5 Steps
• 29 Impressive Content Marketing Examples

To help you craft testimonials that actually convert, we’ve compiled a collection of standout examples across different formats and industries, so you can see exactly what good looks like.

10 Examples of Testimonials

The following are the 10 different types of customer testimonials examples that you can use on your website:

1. Quotes

Quote testimonials are the most popular form of testimonials. They’re powerful, they’re credible, and, most importantly, they’re effective.

As the name suggests, these are testimonials simply pull a quote directly from a customer.

Here’s an example of using a customer quote from one of OptinMonster’s campaigns:

This example is highly effective for 2 reasons:

• It uses a testimonial with a photo to build credibility
• It’s displayed on a popup campaign

Popups have been proven to increase conversions. Especially when you add custom triggers to the campaign to attract visitors based on their behavior.

In fact, a simple popup with an exit-intent trigger is how Crossrope increased its email list by 900%.

Adding a customer quote only increases your chances of converting your site’s traffic. If you can, add a high-quality image of the customer providing the quote.

This adds extra credibility to your campaign and will boost your conversion rates for signups, pre-orders, revenue, and more!

Want to see more conversions on your site?

2. Social Media Posts

With the popularity of social media, getting customer testimonials is extremely convenient.

All you have to do is pull screenshots from a Facebook post or a Twitter update, and you have instant proof that your customers love your products.

No one questions the authenticity of these screenshot testimonials. Many of these social media posts are public, so if someone wants to check it out for themselves, they can usually do so.

Here’s an example of a very good testimonial pulled from Facebook:

To get social media testimonials like these, keep your customers engaged with your social media accounts by posting regularly yourself, and encourage them to tell you about their experience with your products.

And instead of taking screenshots, you can keep your website automatically updated with social media testimonials using a plugin like Smash Balloon.

With Smash Balloon, you can easily create a feed of tweets that mention your account or use your branded hashtag. Or, you can embed a feed of Facebook reviews on your website.

Here’s an example of a Twitter testimonials feed:

Setting up a feed is super simple, you can design the feed to match your brand, and you can control exactly what content is displayed in your feed.

3. Case Studies

Case studies can also serve as great testimonials when you take small sections of them.

For instance, you could take a full-blown case study and break it down into brief, digestible tidbits. Then, showcase these tidbits on a product page.

You can link back to the full case study so users can conduct a further investigation if they desire.

Here is an example of a case study for one of our customers, DealDoktor:

We used the full case study as a blog post and used just a small quote from it on our Testimonials page. Then we linked back to the full case study.

Here’s what that testimonial looks like:

4. Video Testimonials

Video testimonials have quickly gained popularity in recent years, and it’s become easier than ever to create and publish videos on your website.

The great thing about video testimonials is that they really stand out and make a big impression. There’s just something about seeing a talking head and hearing an actual voice that establishes likability and trust.

Timothy Sykes features his top student front and center in a lengthy video on his “Testimonials” page:

In fact, the entire page is filled with video testimonials.

5. Interview Testimonials

Interviews are especially effective because they help to get more details about the customer experience, painting a vivid picture in the minds of your prospects.

To get a great interview, make sure you ask questions that elicit a story about how and why your customer came to buy your product.

Here are some examples of questions to ask your customer in an interview (suggested by Sean D’Souza):

• What was the obstacle that would have prevented you from buying this product?
• Would you recommend this product? If so, why?
• What did you find as a result of buying this product?
• Is there a specific feature you liked most about this product?
• What would be three other benefits of this product?
• Is there anything you’d like to add?

6. Influencer Testimonials

Influencer testimonials are a powerful form of endorsement, leveraging the credibility and reach of influencers to promote products or services. These testimonials are particularly effective due to the influencer’s established trust and rapport with their audience.

One example is the YouTube sensation from Karachi, Pakistan, Irfan Junejo. Irfan often uploads testimonials as reels, videos, or posts. Brands then repurpose the testimonials in their marketing collaterals.

In the video above, he can be seen talking about the pizza place Famous O’s.

People tend to place a higher value on something when an authority figure approves of it. So if one or more of your customers are well-known or authorities, make sure to feature those people on your website.

These customers could be celebrities, well-known professionals in your industry, or people who have certain qualifications that make them authorities.

On our Testimonials page, we showcase our customers Michael Stelzner, Joost de Valk, Chris Brogan, Neil Patel, and many other high-profile authorities.

If you can’t get an actual testimonial, simply drop the names of your high profile customers.

Or, display the logos of high profile companies you’ve served like Neil Patel does on his “Consulting” page:

7. Press Reviews

Press reviews are persuasive because they come from sources who are professionally qualified to speak on the topic.

For example, new restaurants often try to get reviews from local restaurant critics. Here’s an example from the LA Times:

The key to getting press reviews is making real relationships with the right people.

Press reviews aren’t easy to come by, but when you do land one, it can make your brand popular in an instant!

8. Peer Reviews

Remember what we said about how people are influenced by the behaviors of other people like them? That’s why peer reviews–especially from people who resemble your customer profile–are so powerful.

Yelp is a great place to get peer reviews. You can use a screenshot to place these reviews on your website.

But there are a lot of other review sites and apps besides just Yelp. Here are a few:

• Bazaarvoice – for any kind of product or service
• Goodsnitch – for any kind of product or service
• TripAdvisor – for hotels and restaurants
• Foursquare – for local shops and restaurants
• UrbanSpoon – for restaurants
• Chefs Feed – for restaurants
• Chekplate – for restaurants
• GoodReads – for book reviews

9. Image Testimonials

You may have seen this type of testimonial in the past, and it’s usually limited to healthcare/fitness niches. That said, you can use these if your business has any kind of “Before/After” effect on your customers.

Here’s an example from the skincare company Bioclarity:

This can be one of the most powerful types of customer testimonials. It doesn’t require any commentary from the actual customers.

Instead, the images show the radical transformation your product or services can have.

It’s like they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

10. Blog Testimonials and Reviews

Finally, you might be lucky enough to have customers write blog posts or reviews about your products.

These can be incredibly effective at showcasing your product or services from a neutral point of view. Plus, these are fairly common types of posts.

You’ll see product reviews across most websites, including our own. Here’s an example of an OptinMonster review from the WPForms blog:

These are excellent resources for sharing across social media, using for social proof in your own blog posts, sending to your mailing list, and much more.

The customer testimonial examples shared above can be used in a variety of ways. You can add them to your website, embed them in blog posts, reshare them on social media, and much more.

We highly recommend trying to get each type of customer testimonial and leveraging this social proof to grow your business faster.

Now that we’ve seen customer testimonial examples, let’s quickly look at 3 ways you can increase your testimonials/reviews.

How to Boost Customer Testimonials

1. Leverage Social Proof Notifications

If you’re serious about getting more customer testimonials, then you’ll definitely want to add social proof notifications to your website.

These are small, non-intrusive messages that show your site’s traffic how others are engaging with your brand.

As a result, your site’s visitors get hit with a dose of FOMO (“fear of missing out”), and they’re more likely to take the same actions as others.

That means you can quickly create a notification for when someone leaves a review or testimonial on your site. And this will motivate more of your customers to do the same.

But how do you create customer testimonial notifications if you’re not a professional coder?

The easiest way is with a tool like TrustPulse:

TrustPulse is the BEST social proof software on the market and the easiest way to increase customer testimonials FAST.

That’s because TrustPulse gives you everything you need to create your notifications without requiring any technical skills.

Instead, you can design these notifications to suit your exact needs. That means you can change the image, text, link, and layout of your notification to match your brand’s unique style.

Then you can create a trigger to make the notification display, like when someone leaves you a review on Google My Business or Yelp.

So let’s say you want your site’s traffic to see when someone leaves your business a review on Google.

You create your notification and sync it with your Google My Business account through the TrustPulse Zapier integration.

Then when someone leaves you a review, the following message appears on your website:

When users click on the notification, they’ll be redirected to your Google review. As a result, they’ll be more likely to leave their own customer testimonial on your behalf.

You can even tailor the message to ask customers to leave a review, depending on where they are in their customer journey.

Social proof notifications are one of the easiest ways to get more customer testimonials in less time. And TrustPulse users have been shown to see an instant boost in sales by up to 15%.

Want to see it in action for yourself? Try out TrustPulse today 100% risk-free!

2. Reward Customers for Sharing Their Experiences

Offering a discount, coupon code, or extra product as an incentive to review your business’s products is one of the most effective ways to increase the number of reviews you receive.

Add an incentive at the checkout page to get the most reviews. If you can capture customers at the moment of their purchase, your brand will be fresh on their minds, and excitement for their new product will be high.

This is the perfect time to get them talking about your business through a review.

Or you can send an email thanking customers for their purchase and offering them an exclusive discount or coupon code for writing a review on your company.

This also gives users a chance to test your product before they leave a review, which sometimes might be necessary.

That said, the longer you wait to ask for a customer testimonial, the harder it will be to get users to give you one.

3. Segment Your Emails

Audience segmentation is the process of dividing a larger group into smaller groups (or “segments”) based on their similarities.

It’s a way to organize and categorize your audience, so you can target them more easily and know the types of content that will appeal to each of those groups.

Take this example: You’re a marketing manager for a popular food company, which makes and sells orange-flavored dog biscuits. Your job is to increase the number of sales from your current customer base by getting more online reviews.

First, you want to figure out which online groups of people are most likely to buy your product—let’s call these people your “market segments.”

So how do you go about doing this?

The first thing to do is look at who you already sell to. If the customers who have given a review tend to be older than those who haven’t, you might want to create a segment of your audience who are seniors.

If another segment is more likely to buy products directly from Amazon rather than from your company’s website, there may be a significant opportunity to build sales around that group specifically and drive them back to your business.

There are many ways you can segment your audience, but the most effective method is to figure out which parts of your audience have similarities in demographics and online behavior.

This will help you to determine what content they might respond to and increase your chances of getting more customer testimonials.

Harnessing the Power of Customer Testimonials with OptinMonster

From showcasing real-life experiences to leveraging the influential power of social proof, testimonials can dramatically transform how potential customers perceive your products or services.

But how do you effectively gather, manage, and display these powerful testimonials? This is where OptinMonster steps in.

OptinMonster isn’t just about creating stunning pop-ups and engaging lead forms; it’s a comprehensive tool that can help you harness the full potential of customer testimonials.

With OptinMonster, you can easily collect testimonials through targeted, well-designed forms and pop-ups.

Imagine capturing customer feedback right at the peak of their satisfaction – OptinMonster makes this a reality. But it doesn’t stop there. You can then strategically display these testimonials on your website, using OptinMonster’s templates and customization options to ensure they align perfectly with your brand and catch your visitors’ attention.

Moreover, OptinMonster’s A/B testing feature lets you see which testimonials resonate most with your audience, helping you refine your approach for maximum impact. And with detailed analytics, you’re always in the know about how your testimonial-driven campaigns are performing.

In a world where consumers are bombarded with choices, let OptinMonster be your partner in standing out.

Start your journey with OptinMonster today and transform your customer testimonials into a powerful driver of trust, engagement, and conversions.

We hope you enjoyed this post. If you did, you’ll definitely want to check out the following:

• How to Ask For a Testimonial
• Best Social Proof Software to Boost Sales
• Ways to Get More Product Reviews and Increase Social Proof
• Reasons You Need to Invest in Case Studies Right Now

Think of it like the top half of a folded newspaper on a newsstand. Back in the day, that’s where all the important headlines and attention-grabbing stories were placed to entice people to buy the paper. Websites use the same concept for the content they want visitors to see first.d

To help you get your visitors scrolling down, we’ve collected some great examples of above the fold content you can use for inspiration.

Let’s get started.

What Is Above the Fold?

“Above the fold” is the part of the webpage visible before the user scrolls down. It is prime real estate for web designers because it attracts the most attention.

Web designers put their most important content “above the fold” to engage visitors and keep them scrolling. The exact location of the fold will vary depending on the device someone uses to view the website.

Why Above the Fold Matters for Online Businesses?

Here’s why “above the fold” is important:

• First Impressions: It’s where visitors form their initial opinion of your website. Strong content above the fold can keep them engaged and encourage them to explore further.
• Attention Grabbing: This is prime real estate for grabbing visitor attention. Compelling headlines, clear calls to action, and interesting visuals are all important elements for the “above the fold” area.
• Limited Viewport: With so many different screen sizes and devices, there’s no guarantee how much content will be visible initially. Focusing on what’s most important “above the fold” ensures visitors see the key information regardless of their device.

Key Elements of Effective Above the Fold Content

Crafting Compelling Headlines: Your headline is the first thing visitors see. Make it count. It should be clear, engaging, and reflective of your brand’s voice.

Utilizing High-Quality Visuals: Humans are visual creatures. High-quality images or videos can convey your message quickly and effectively. Remember, these visuals should be optimized for fast loading.

Clear Calls to Action: Your CTA should be prominent and persuasive. It guides users on what to do next, whether it’s subscribing to a newsletter or checking out a product.

Embracing Responsive Design: Responsive design ensures your above the fold content looks great on any device. This isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about functionality and accessibility.

Testing and Optimization: Always a/b test your designs across different devices. Tools like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can be invaluable for this.

Balancing Design and SEO: While above the fold is crucial for user experience, it also impacts SEO. Google values user experience, and a well-designed above the fold area can contribute to better search rankings.

Measuring Effectiveness: Use tools like Google Analytics to understand how users interact with your above the fold content. Look at metrics like time on landing page and bounce rate to gauge effectiveness.

Above the Fold Website Examples

1. HubSpot

HubSpot is all about growth, and that’s exactly what its above the fold design shows. The image suggests learning (notebook) and advanced technology (space helmet).

The headline is a play on the common phrase “all systems go”, suggesting that the reader will be forging ahead with growth. That idea’s reinforced in the subhead. Then there’s a compelling offer of free software on the CTA button.

2. Jeff Bullas

Jeff Bullas has two sets of above the fold content. When you first land on his site he has a welcome gate, with a compelling offer to get his tips on doubling traffic. The large background image attracts readers’ attention immediately.

Click on the arrow, at the end of the welcome gate, and it takes you to his main page, where there’s social proof of his readership and online authority. You still have to scroll once to get to the content, but by then most readers are likely convinced.

3. SnackNation

SnackNation‘s above the fold content shows exactly what’s on offer, with a background image of a person with a snack sampler box in an office. The content offers visitors the chance to sign up for their own sampler box. This is a great way to get business leads. In fact, thanks to OptinMonster, SnackNation gets 1200 new leads each week with this above the fold design.

4. Missinglettr

Missinglettr‘s homepage also works because the headline gets right to the point of what its visitors want: a hassle-free way to drive social traffic with their content.

The two-sentence explanation gives more detail on the product, then there’s a visible CTA below. The landing page also includes two other CTAs targeted to those who might not yet be ready to sign up.

Having three actions to take instead of just one might make them less effective, but we’re willing to bet this design is based on rigorous split testing, so the company knows it works for their audience.

5. OptimizeMyAirBnB

Optimize My AirBnB takes a more personable approach to its above the fold website design. There’s a big picture of the site owner who appears to be looking directly at the reader, thus drawing their gaze.

To the right of the page, there’s a welcome sentence which outlines the key benefit of the site. And by the time you’ve read that, there’s an OptinMonster floating bar offering you the chance to sign up for more tips and tools. This was one factor in growing the site’s list 650%.

6. Content Marketing Institute

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) takes a slightly different tack with its above the fold content. At the top, there’s a menu listing all the different types of content they offer.

But the bulk of the landing page is taken up with the products they most want to promote: their events, consulting services and magazine. Everything is in the brand colors, creating a harmonious visual experience.

7. MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights keeps it simple with a white background. Against this, the headline stands out well, and the subheadline subtly underlines two key benefits for readers. There’s also a clear and visible call to action, with a subtle arrow inviting readers to scroll down if they still want more info. In the case of this above the fold design, minimalism works!

8. The Guardian

As you’d expect from an online newspaper, The Guardian nails above the fold content. In this example, two stories stand out. The one on the left has a bigger headline and picture to draw the eye.

But the online publication is taking no chances; there’s another story just in case the main one doesn’t grab readers. The story category is in red, contrasting with the black of the headline, to create a compelling visual effect.

9. Guido’s

The most effective aspect of Guido’s above the fold content isn’t the statement about its authentic cuisine. And it isn’t the compelling image of the wine rack with labeled bottles sticking out of it.

It’s actually the menu button that says “Get free appetizer”. That button triggers an OptinMonster MonsterLink, which got the restaurant more than 1000 new leads in four months.

Here’s how you can add a popup to your website menu, too.

10. OutreachPlus

OutreachPlus grabs readers’ attention with a question that makes them think. Then it shows how the product could help solve that problem. The homepage is simple. Apart from the headlines, there’s a screenshot of the product, plus two choices of what to do next: buy, or learn more by viewing a demo.

11. Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal is a content site, so its above-the-fold design puts their content in the spotlight. The site’s design lets them showcase three stories above the fold. There’s also a clever bit of web design here. The three stories are listed on the right of the page. Each is highlighted in green in turn. When a story’s highlighted, it takes the top spot on the left of the page, displaying with an attention-grabbing image and headline.

12. ConversionXL

You’d expect Peep Laja’s ConversionXL to get above the fold content right. It’s another simple design. This page has an in your face headline, and a subheadline that states their core belief. There are also two CTA buttons giving choices for what to do next, and a secondary CTA below that to sign up for their email newsletter.

13. Christmas Lite Show

Christmas Lite Show converted 30% of visitors simply by triggering an OptinMonster MonsterLink in its above the fold content. The button launched a countdown popup with a coupon offer. The combo converted 30% of visitors and added 7,000 new subscribers to the company’s email list.

14. Problogger

Problogger is another content heavy site, so its above the fold content focuses on making it easy for people to find the information they want. At the top, there’s a comprehensive navigation menu. There’s an image of founder Darren Rowse to create a personal connection with the visitor, plus a 2-step optin that triggers an email signup form popup.

15. Kennedy Blue

Kennedy Blue is a great example of above the fold online content. The main banner includes an image of three women in different styles of bridesmaid dresses.

Meanwhile the copy highlights how easy it is to shop for dresses, and gives a price range. The CTA sends visitors straight to the shop. And the site’s using an OptinMonster floating bar to highlight the current sale – just one of the ways they were able to achieve a 50% increase in sales.

16. Copyblogger

Copyblogger‘s above the fold content is minimalist. Most of the space is taken up by an image showing a person looking at a piece of Copyblogger content. Since she’s facing left, her gaze draws the visitor’s attention to the headline. The headline shows the benefit (building online authority) with the offer (effective marketing).

17. Bluehost

On its homepage, Bluehost uses an image on the right with the person’s eyes looking towards the text on the left. This is a clever bit of psychology that directs readers’ eyes there, too.

When they look, they see a headline, a reduced price (which is always appealing) and a short list of key benefits. Underneath is a visible CTA button urging readers to get started.

That’s it! Now you’ve seen some above the fold web examples that really work, apply these principles to get your visitors on board.

Want to learn how to use custom fonts on your optin campaigns? Learn how to upload custom fonts to your OptinMonster campaigns.

Quick Answer: What is the Best WordPress Membership Plugin?

I recommend MemberPress as the best all-around WordPress membership plugin for most creators. It’s beginner-friendly, works with any theme, supports paid subscriptions, courses, and content gating, and integrates seamlessly with tools like Stripe, PayPal, and email marketing platforms.

A WordPress membership plugin is a fantastic tool to monetize your website.

These plugins convert your website into a membership platform and unlock massive potential for increasing revenue and subscribers.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with various membership plugins. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, and I’ve learned to match the right plugin to my client’s specific needs.

In this article, I share 5 of the best WordPress membership plugins based on my experiences with some of the most popular options.

If you are looking for the best membership plugin for WordPress, read on and pick the one that best suits your goals. 

Here are the 5 WordPress membership plugins I tested for this review. You can click any of the names below to jump directly to that section and see my full breakdown of each tool:

Summary of WordPress Membership Plugins

	Plugin	Best For	Key Features	Pros	Cons
	MemberPress	Complex membership sites, online courses, digital product stores	Multiple membership tiers, drip content, digital downloads, strong integrations	Comprehensive feature set, easy to use, excellent support	Can be overkill for simple sites, pricing can escalate
2	Paid Memberships Pro	Customizable membership sites, budget-conscious users	Flexibility, open-source, strong community	Highly customizable, cost-effective	Steeper learning curve, core features might be limited
3	WooCommerce Memberships	Online stores with product-based memberships	Integration with WooCommerce, product-based memberships	Seamless integration, leverages WooCommerce infrastructure	Limited to product-based memberships
4	LearnDash	Online courses, educational content	Drip content, quizzes, certificates, strong LMS features	Excellent for online courses, robust features	Can be overkill for simple membership sites, pricing can be steep
5	Restrict Content Pro	Small to medium-sized membership sites, content protection	Easy to use, affordable, focuses on core features	Simple setup, cost-effective	Limited features, not suitable for complex membership structures

Why Trust OptinMonster?

At OptinMonster, our team has over 15 years of experience with WordPress, lead generation, and online marketing. We actively use and test membership plugins on live websites to understand what truly works for real site owners, not just in theory.

Every plugin in this list has been installed, configured, and tested by our in-house experts to ensure accurate, unbiased recommendations for all types of membership sites.

Here are our favorite WordPress plugins to manage memberships on your website.

1. MemberPress

I first encountered MemberPress on a client project that required a robust membership solution with a focus on digital product delivery. The client was launching an online course platform and needed a plugin that could handle multiple membership tiers, drip content, and digital downloads seamlessly.

MemberPress impressed me right away with its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set. Setting up membership levels, creating drip schedules, and integrating payment gateways was a breeze. The plugin’s ability to restrict content based on membership level is excellent, and the digital downloads feature is a real standout.

However, while MemberPress is undoubtedly powerful, its extensive feature set can sometimes feel overwhelming for simpler membership sites. For smaller projects or those with very specific needs, it might be overkill.

Features

• Integrations with Mailchimp, Constant Contact, GetResponse, Easy Affiliate, and more
• Unlimited members and memberships
• Content dripping functionality
• Content restriction rules, including access end dates
• Powerful learning management system (LMS) features for online courses
• Customizable checkout

Pros

• Comprehensive feature set
• Easy to use interface
• Strong support
• Excellent for digital product delivery
• Flexible membership tiers

Cons

• Can be overkill for simpler membership sites
• Pricing can escalate with add-ons

MemberPress Pricing

• Basic: $179.50 per year
• Plus: $299.50 per year
• Pro: $399.50 per year (includes 3 free months of OptinMonster and TrustPulse)

Best for: Online course platforms, digital product stores, and complex membership sites with multiple tiers and features.

Get started with MemberPress today!

2. Paid Memberships Pro

I’ve used Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro) on several personal projects and for clients who needed a highly customizable membership solution. It’s open-source nature and extensive add-on ecosystem make it a versatile choice.

I appreciate PMPro’s flexibility. It allows you to tailor the membership experience to your exact needs. Whether you’re building a simple members-only area or a complex subscription-based platform, PMPro can adapt.

That said, the initial setup can be more involved than with some other plugins, and the core functionality is less extensive out-of-the-box. You might need to invest time in configuring settings or purchasing add-ons to achieve your desired results.

Features

• Can show “sneak peeks” of content
• Pay per post or view
• Personalized member homepages
• Thorough admin dashboard
• Many payment methods and gateways

Pros

• Highly customizable
• Open-source
• Strong community and support
• Cost-effective
• Suitable for a wide range of membership sites

Cons

• Steeper learning curve
• Core features might be limited compared to some competitors

Pricing

• Free: $0
• Standard: $174 per year
• Plus: $299 per year
• Enterprise: $5,000+ per year

Best for: Developers, those with advanced customization needs, and budget-conscious users who don’t require a full-featured membership plugin.

Click here to get started with Paid Memberships Pro.

3. WooCommerce Memberships

As a WooCommerce expert, I naturally gravitated towards WooCommerce Memberships for clients who already had an online store. It’s a logical extension of the popular ecommerce platform.

The plugin works seamlessly with WooCommerce, allowing you to offer product-based memberships. This is ideal for businesses that sell physical or digital products and want to create additional revenue streams through exclusive member content.

However, if you don’t already use WooCommerce, the learning curve might be steeper, and the plugin’s focus on product-based memberships could limit its usefulness for other types of membership sites.

Features

• Integration with Constant Contact
• Member areas requiring invitations
• Content dripping
• Membership levels
• Easy communication with members

Pros

• Seamless integration with WooCommerce
• Ideal for product-based memberships
• Leveraging existing WooCommerce infrastructure
• Familiar interface for WooCommerce users

Cons

• Limited to product-based memberships
• Might not be suitable for non-ecommerce membership sites

Pricing

• $199 per year

Best for: Online stores looking to create membership tiers based on product purchases.

Click here to get started with WooCommerce Memberships.

4. LearnDash

I first came across LearnDash when a client approached me about building an online course platform with membership functionality. Initially, I was skeptical about using an LMS for membership, but I decided to give it a shot.

LearnDash blew me away with its focus on creating structured learning experiences. While it’s primarily an LMS, its membership features are solid. The ability to drip-feed content, create quizzes, and offer certificates within a membership framework is a unique selling point.

For complex membership sites with a strong educational component, LearnDash is a fantastic choice. However, if you’re primarily focused on content restriction and don’t need the full LMS functionality, there might be more streamlined options.

Pros

• Excellent for online courses and educational content
• Robust drip content and quiz features
• Strong community and support
• Versatile platform

Cons

• Can be overkill for simple membership sites
• Pricing can be steep for basic membership features

Features

• One-time payment or subscription courses
• Integration with popular payment gateways and marketing apps
• Course and group management
• Detailed reporting on enrollment, performance, and progress
• Robust LMS capacity

Pricing

• 1 Site: $199 per year
• 10 Sites: $399 per year
• Unlimited: $799 per year

Best for: Online course platforms, membership sites with a strong educational focus, and those who need advanced learning management tools.

Click here to get started with LearnDash.

5. Restrict Content Pro

Restrict Content Pro (RCP) is a plugin I’ve used on several small to medium-sized membership sites. Its simplicity is its greatest strength. If you need a straightforward way to protect content and manage subscriptions, RCP is a solid choice.

The plugin is easy to set up, and the interface is clean and intuitive. While it lacks some of the advanced features of other plugins, it excels at the core functionality of content restriction.

However, for complex membership sites with multiple tiers, drip content, or advanced features, RCP might fall short. It’s best suited for simpler membership models.

Features

• Unlimited number of membership levels
• Customer dashboard
• Stripe integration for free level, more payment options at paid levels
• Membership emails
• Autogenerated member pages

Pros

• Easy to use and set up
• Focuses on core membership features
• Affordable
• Good for smaller membership sites

Cons

• Limited features compared to other plugins
• Might not be suitable for complex membership structures

Pricing

• Basic: Free
• 1 Site: $99 per year
• 5 Sites: $149 per year
• Unlimited: $249 per year

Best for: Small to medium-sized membership sites with basic requirements, bloggers, and those on a tight budget.

Get started with Restrict Content Pro right here.

What Is the Best Membership Plugin for WordPress?

Through our testing and research, I determined that MemberPress is the best membership plugin for WordPress .

MemberPress is the most comprehensive option, and it’s the easiest to use. It has tons of features and excellent documentation and support.

That said, our favorite may not be the right one for you. That’s okay! The best membership plugin for you depends on your specific needs. Consider factors like the type of content you’ll be offering, the complexity of your membership structure, your budget, and your technical expertise when making your decision.

Do you want to learn more ways to increase revenue on your member website?

Take a look at our list of 30 Ways to Make Money With OptinMonster! In that article, you’ll learn how our powerful popup software can help you make the right offers to the right visitors.

If you want to start with OptinMonster today, check out our affordable pricing plans.

FAQ

Social selling can be as effective as email marketing or social media marketing if used correctly. Here are some social media statistics to put things in perspective:

• What is Social Selling?
• Why Do You Need Social Selling?
• General Social Selling Statistics
• Statistics: How Top Sales Reps Use Social Selling
• Statistics: How Customers Respond to Social Selling
• B2B Social Selling Statistics

What Is Social Selling?

Social selling is a digital marketing approach that businesses use to engage with potential customers, build relationships with them, and encourage them to buy.

Selling on social media is not just limited to paid ads or unsolicited DMs. Most successful brands on social media don’t always go in for the sale right away. Instead, they start by nurturing prospects and building relationships.

You can use social selling as a replacement for cold calls, email marketing, or SMS marketing when they fail to work. Or, you can use social selling as part of your integrated marketing strategy to maximize your marketing ROI.

Note that social selling is not social commerce. Social commerce takes place when customers buy from within a social media platform. Social commerce is an extension of eCommerce, one that occurs in the social media realm.

If you see an ad for CRM software while browsing Instagram or LinkedIn and buy it, that’s an example of social commerce.

With social selling, the differentiator is in building relationships instead of closing deals right away. The sale takes place outside of the social network.

What about social selling and social media marketing? Are they the same thing?

Certainly not. Social media marketing is a subset of social media strategy that uses social media platforms to market a new business.

This could be anything from creating branded videos on TikTok, using Facebook Ads, or creating sponsored posts on LinkedIn.

But social selling and social media marketing go hand in hand in converting prospects into customers.

Let’s look at some important social media selling statistics to learn what social media can do for your business.

• 73% of marketers say that their social media marketing efforts are ‘somewhat effective’ or ‘very effective’ for their business.
• Social media marketing has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing.
• 66% of marketers who spend an average of 6 hours on social media every week get more leads.
• 60% of business-to-consumer (B2C) brands get their customers through social media.
• In 2025, brands spend close to $234.14 billion on social media advertising.
• In the 3rd quarter of 2025, YouTube’s global ad revenue reached $10.26 billion.
• Meta made $121.9 billion, LinkedIn made $4 billion, and X made $2.5 billion in ad revenues in 2023.
• Approximately 25% of marketers use a strategy that includes selling directly through social apps.
• 30% of TikTok users have shopped through the TikTok Shop.

Social media marketing is effective, especially when you use it alongside social selling. If you aren’t using social selling yet, you need to get on board.

The good news is that your brand might already be doing social selling. If you are using your company’s Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, or LinkedIn pages to engage with potential buyers, you are essentially doing social selling.

Why Do You Need to Know Social Selling?

The role of social media in business is growing by the day. The following stats highlight social media’s burgeoning influence:

• October 2025 data shows that, of the 6.04 billion internet users worldwide, 68.7% are active users of social media.
• According to Statista, over 5.6 billion people used social media in 2025.
• The number of social media users is projected to increase to over 6 billion by 2028.
• In 2025, the social media advertising market is expected to reach $219.8 billion.
• A HubSpot research found that 61% of brands engaged in social selling see revenue growth.
• Social media ranks 4th among the most effective sales channels, behind in-peson meetings, phone calls, and email.

Your business will be at a huge loss if you can’t tap into such a powerful distribution network with hundreds of millions of potential buyers.

And the best part? Social selling works like a charm, and not just for big businesses.

So how effective is social selling really? Let’s take a look.

General Social Selling Statistics

From entry-level executives to C-level suite, and millennials to Gen Z, social selling works on all kinds of buyers.

• Social selling provides 45% more opportunities than traditional sales channels.
• More than 76% of buyers are willing to talk to salespeople over social media.
• Social selling influences over 50% of the revenue for major industries like computer and network security, software, and healthcare.
• U.S. social shoppers grew to 107 million from 97 million between 2021 and 2023.
• 84% of decision-makers like CEOs and VPs use social media in their buying process.
• 90% of marketers say social media marketing has increased their business’ exposure.
• 89% of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to generate leads.
• According to Snapchat, 92% of customers are willing to buy from brands on social media instead of an online marketplace.

Statistics: How Top Sales Reps Use Social Selling

The best sales teams use social selling to generate inbound leads, build deeper relationships with prospects, and speed up the sales process.

Findings from social selling research show how top-performing reps leverage social media in their sales strategy.

• 75% of sales reps use Facebook to find leads, followed by Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.
• 33% of sales professionals say that social media offers the highest quality leads.
• 78% of salespeople who use social selling outperform peers who don’t use social media.
• Social sellers create 45% more sales opportunities than reps with a lower social selling index (SSI).
• They are 51% more likely to meet their sales quotas than non-social sellers.
• 12% of the top-performing sales reps use social media when selling.
• 18% of salespeople consider social selling one of their top 5 focus areas.

But what about the buyers? How do they respond to social selling? Let’s go over some recent studies.

Statistics: How Customers Respond to Social Selling

• 40% of people say they’ve purchased a product online after seeing it used by a social media influencer.
• Social media influencers on X generate over 5.2 times higher purchase intent.
• That’s because 49% of X users listen to influencers’ recommendations.
• 90% of people shop from brands they follow on social media.
• 72% of customers trust a business more if a social media influencer recommends it.
• 71% of buyers who have had a positive social media experience with a brand recommend it to their friends and family.
• Customers report spending 20%–40% more money on brands that have interacted with them on social media.
• 49% of buyers rely on product recommendations from influencers to make purchases.
• 93% of consumers trust personal recommendations the most, a lot of which comes through social media.

Next, let’s look at social selling stats related to the business-to-business (B2B) industry.

B2B Social Selling Statistics

Generally, we assume that the B2B buyers are buttoned-up and not so social media-savvy. But these B2B social selling statistics tell a different story.

• 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make buying decisions.
• 54% of B2B marketers generate leads from social media.
• 39% of B2B companies say that they have seen revenue generated from social media.
• 31% of the B2B professionals believe they have built stronger relationships with clients through social selling.
• 50% of B2B buyers use LinkedIn as a trusted source to make a purchase decision.
• 31% of B2B prospects say that social media content resonates most out of all other sales enablement content.
• 92% of B2B buyers engage with a salesperson who is a well-known industry thought leader.
• 90% of decision-makers never answer a cold call. But 75% of B2B buyers use social media to make purchasing decisions.
• 39% of B2B professionals claimed social selling reduced the length of time they spent researching potential leads.

If you operate in the B2B domain, LinkedIn is among the best social selling tools. It’s the #1 social media network for business professionals with 1 billion members across 200 countries. Out of the 1 billion, 16.2% of LinkedIn users are active daily.

LinkedIn has useful social selling tools like Sales Navigator and Sales Insights that help your sales and marketing teams run an effective social selling strategy.

Want a real-life example of how big social selling is for B2B brands? Read this case study from Tribal Impact.

The UK-based B2B social selling and employee branding agency helped Commvault achieve 61% more pipeline and 52% more opportunities through a social selling program.

Invest in Social Selling to Grow Your Business

Now that you have all the social selling statistics, you can allocate a marketing budget this year to invest in improving your social media presence.

Once you’re all set up, devise a social selling strategy. If you are already running other marketing campaigns like webinars or influencer marketing, make sure you build overlaps between them to offer a consistent brand experience.

If you want more resources to help you with social selling, check out these articles:

• 8 Social Media Feed Tools to Boost Followers
• Best Time To Post on Social Media for the Highest Engagement
• 11 Social Media Metrics You Need to Nail Your Marketing Goals
• 20 Top Social Media Platforms for Explosive Brand Growth
• Social Proof Statistics: Powerful Facts That Will Help You Boost Your Brand