Adding a newsletter subscription form to your WordPress site is a cost-effective way to build relationships, promote products like “Flying Ninja” (from your “Creating Products” guide), and drive engagement for your blog or WooCommerce store like “My Shop” (from your “Blog Page” guide). The Convertful plugin, featured in the 6fc Live Educate WordPress video sponsored by Appmaker, creates customizable popups and widgets to capture subscriber emails. This guide, part one of a two-part series (part two covered in your “Sendinblue Email” guide), details how to set up a Convertful account, install the plugin, and add a newsletter popup, based on the video and enriched with web sources.
Why Add a Newsletter Subscription?
- Engagement: Connects with leads, customers, and past buyers (3B+ email users globally).
- Cost-Effective: Builds trust and drives sales with minimal investment (e.g., free Convertful plan).
- Versatile Goals: Supports traffic generation, lead nurturing, revenue growth, and reactivating inactive users.
- WooCommerce Fit: Promotes products or membership plans (from your “Membership Plans” guide) to verified users (from your “Email Verification” guide).
- Limitations: Convertful requires integration with an email provider like Brevo (Sendinblue) to send emails (covered in part two).
Step 1: Create a Convertful Account
- Sign Up:
- Visit convertful.com (linked in video description).
- Click Try Free (per video).
- Select the Free Plan (up to 5,000 visitors/month, sufficient for small sites).
- Note: Paid plans ($19-$99/month) offer advanced features like A/B testing and unlimited widgets.
- Register with an email address (per video).
- Verify your email by entering the code sent to your inbox.
- Click Verify (per video).
- Add Site Details:
- Enter your credentials (name, company, etc.).
- Add your website URL (e.g., yoursite.com).
- Select Site Platform: Choose WordPress (per video).
- Select Site Category: Choose E-commerce (per video, or select Blog, Portfolio, etc., as applicable).
- Click Add Site.
- Access Dashboard:
- Log in to Convertful’s dashboard to manage widgets and integrations.
Step 2: Install and Connect Convertful Plugin
- Install Plugin:
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for Convertful (official plugin, per video).
- Click Install Now, then Activate (per video).
- Alternative: Download from wordpress.org/plugins/convertful/ and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
- Connect to Convertful:
- After activation, go to Settings > Convertful (new sidebar menu).
- Click Connect to Convertful (per video).
- Log in to your Convertful account (if prompted).
- Click Approve to link your WordPress site to Convertful (per video).
- Verify connection in the WordPress dashboard.
Step 3: Create a Newsletter Subscription Popup
- Access Convertful Dashboard:
- Log in to app.convertful.com.
- Click Create Widget (per video).
- Choose Template:
- Select Pop-ups from the widget types (per video).
- Browse templates (e.g., email capture popups).
- Choose a template (e.g., a clean, centered popup, per video).
- Click Create Popup.
- Customize Popup:
- Use Convertful’s drag-and-drop editor (similar to Elementor, per video).
- Edit elements:
- Headline: E.g., “Join Our Newsletter!”.
- Subheadline: E.g., “Get exclusive deals on My Shop!”.
- Form Fields: Keep default (email) or add name, phone, etc.
- Button: E.g., “Subscribe Now”.
- Colors: Match your theme (e.g., Neve’s palette, from your “Neve” guide).
- Add images or links (e.g., to yoursite.com/shop).
- For simplicity, keep the default design (per video).
- Set Display Rules:
- Click Display Rules (per video).
- Configure triggers:
- When Visitor Scrolls More Than 40%: Shows popup after scrolling 40% of the page.
- When Visitor Intends to Leave: Triggers on exit intent (e.g., mouse movement toward browser close).
- Activate the popup by toggling Enable (per video).
- Save changes.
Step 4: Verify and Test
- Test Popup:
- Visit your site (e.g., yoursite.com).
- Scroll down 40% or simulate exit intent (move cursor toward browser close).
- Confirm: Popup appears with the designed headline, form, and button (per video).
- Enter a test email and submit.
- Verify: Subscriber appears in Convertful’s Subscribers tab (per video).
- Check Subscriber List:
- In Convertful’s dashboard, go to Subscribers.
- Confirm the test email is listed with details (e.g., timestamp, source).
- Troubleshoot:
- Popup Not Showing?:
- Verify Enable is toggled in Display Rules.
- Check Convertful connection in WordPress (Settings > Convertful).
- Clear cache (from your “Backup and Migration” guide).
- Form Not Submitting?: Ensure form fields are correctly mapped in Convertful.
- Theme Conflicts?: Test with Neve or Storefront (from your “Neve” or “Creating Products” guides).
- Mobile Issues?: Adjust popup size in Convertful (e.g., max-width: 90% for mobile).
- Popup Not Showing?:
Step 5: Prepare for Email Sending (Part Two)
- Next Steps: This video focuses on capturing subscribers. To send emails, integrate Convertful with Brevo (Sendinblue) and create campaigns, as covered in your “Sendinblue Email” guide (linked in video description).
- Integration Prep: Ensure your Convertful account is ready to export subscribers (CSV or API) to Brevo for email campaigns.
Step 6: Enhance with Optional Features
- Convertful Features:
- Widget Types: Beyond popups, add slide-ins, inline forms, or floating bars.
- Triggers: Use time-based (e.g., after 10 seconds) or click-based triggers.
- Pro Plan ($19/month): Unlock A/B testing, advanced analytics, and 50+ integrations (e.g., Brevo, Mailchimp).
- Targeting: Show popups to specific audiences (e.g., logged-in users, from your “Membership Plans” guide).
- WooCommerce Integration:
- Promote products in popups (e.g., “Get 10% off Flying Ninja!” with a shop link).
- Sync subscribers with WooCommerce customers via Brevo (from your “Sendinblue Email” guide).
- Pair with Razorpay or UPI QR Code for seamless checkouts (from your “Razorpay” or “UPI Payment” guides).
- Custom Styling:
- Customize popup CSS in Convertful (e.g., .cf-popup { background: #f5f5f5; border-radius: 10px; }).
- Align with Neve’s design (from your “Neve” guide) for consistency.
- Analytics:
- Track signup rates in Convertful’s dashboard.
- Integrate with Google Analytics for deeper insights (Pro feature).
Step 7: Best Practices
- Compliance:
- Add GDPR/CCPA-compliant opt-in checkboxes (e.g., “I agree to receive emails”).
- Include a privacy policy link (from your “Privacy Policy” guide).
- Offer an unsubscribe option in emails (handled in part two).
- User Experience:
- Avoid intrusive popups; use exit intent or scroll triggers (per video).
- Optimize for mobile (responsive templates in Convertful).
- Keep forms simple (email-only for higher conversions).
- Testing:
- Test popups on desktop and mobile.
- Use Convertful’s preview mode to check display rules.
- Performance:
- Convertful’s scripts are lightweight, but cache pages excluding dynamic popups (from your “Backup and Migration” guide).
- Monitor load times with GTmetrix to ensure fast performance.
Pro Tips
- Boost Engagement: Promote popups via a Welcome Bar (from your “Sticky Menu” guide) or Join.chat for support (from your “Join.chat” guide).
- WooCommerce Sync: Use FiboSearch to drive traffic to promoted products (from your “FiboSearch” guide).
- Security: Pair with Ultimate Member to target verified users (from your “Email Verification” guide).
- SEO: Add subscription CTAs to blog pages (from your “Blog Page” guide).
- Backup: Save Convertful settings with UpdraftPlus (from your “Backup and Migration” guide).
- Styling: Match popups to Neve’s design (from your “Neve” guide).
Congratulations!
You’ve added a newsletter subscription popup with Convertful and 6fc Live! Your WordPress site now captures subscriber emails, setting the stage for engaging campaigns. Continue with part two (your “Sendinblue Email” guide) to send emails via Brevo. Combine with your other guides (e.g., “Razorpay,” “FiboSearch,” “Neve”) for a dynamic platform. Need help with popup design, integrations, or troubleshooting? Comment below or visit convertful.com/support/!