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How to Add Subscription Box to Notify Readers of New Content

This quick WordPress guide looks at how to add a subscription box to notify readers of new content in WordPress. There are two benefits to this. Offering a subscription to your blog or website engages visitors at a more personal level. The other advantage is that it guarantees to brings some of those visitors back to your site each time you publish interesting new content.

You can choose where to place your new signup box for the best effect. That could be above or below the main content or in a sidebar using a WP Widget. Experiment if you’re not sure.

Automated Email Notifications

The notification method is automated emails, which are simple yet effective. Passing visitors may have enjoyed reading a new post on your WordPress blog or website. However, most people won’t keep returning to see if there’s any recently added content of equal interest. A lot of webmasters and bloggers rely on search engines or paid advertising to bring in new traffic.        

Email notifications offer a way to create an audience interested in your site content. Automation also means you don’t need to do anything more once the subscription form is live.

Types of Email Marketing

Effective email marketing campaigns can be a godsend for online businesses of all sizes. The type of marketing you do depends on what you need to achieve. Marketing campaigns may change over time, so bear that in mind when choosing a service.

Here’s a quick breakdown of typical email marketing functions and campaigns:

  • Welcome emails
  • Subscribers receive periodic newsletters
  • Follow new product releases or product updates
  • Special offers and free gifts
  • Announcements
  • Subscribe to mini-courses and educational tutorials
  • We’re Hiring
  • Surveys and polls
  • Requests
  • Others

With the right subscription service, even the novice can create a compelling email campaign.

How to Choose an Email Subscription Service

Jump to the WPForms Plugin below if you already know what email subscription service you’re going to use. Otherwise, read below to learn of the features to look out for.

There’s no shortage of email subscription services. They all offer similar tools, with a few unique features to help them stand out. Popular names include Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, AWeber, Mailchimp, GetResponse, and several others. For this guide, we’ll go over the Constant Contact email marketing features to illustrate.

Email marketing the smart way

Constant Contact also includes a set of tools for online enterprises. The one of most interest to us is the Email Plus feature. It lets you segment lists of subscribers based on specific criteria. Segmenting groups in this way let you send emails that targeted followers want to read.

The Email Plus options have the following additional features”

  • Automations
  • Coupons
  • Surveys
  • Polls
  • A/B subject line testing
  • Online donations

More subscribers equal more business/sales

Great written content is vital, but good-looking emails make it more enticing. Constant Contact’s smart Drag, Drop, Done, email editor makes sure your emails stand out. More subscribers also mean higher-priced plans. Don’t let that deter you, as lots of followers usually mean extra business. Thus, any email subscription service should pay for itself many times over.

New subscribers can follow your updates via email or social media if you set it up. These are all typical features to look for with a subscription service. Use Constant Contact’s feature set as a basis to compare other services against.

Try before you buy

All the decent email marketing services let you try before committing. Most tend to offer 30-day free, no-obligation trials. You can then choose a plan based on needs, or cancel if you don’t like it. The websites for these services are easy to read, simple to navigate, and quick to sign up to. Most have video tutorials that demonstrate the products and services on offer.

WPForms Plugin

Email subscription services include their own signup form builders. Despite that, consider using the one that comes with WPForms for your signup tool. WPForms connects seamlessly to all the popular email marketing services and is super-easy to manage and maintain. We’ll use the free Lite version for this tutorial, and highlight the premium benefits later.

This guide presumes you know how to install and activate WP plugins. If not, read How to Install New Plugins in WordPress and return to this page once you’re done.

Install and activate the WPForms free or premium version.

Go to WPForms => Add New from the Dashboard side menu.

You’re now at the Setup screen, which has 4 default form templates.

  1. Enter your chosen name for the new form in the Form Name box
  2. Click the Newsletter Signup Form to open it

You may see a message to configure your newsletter service provider. Click Close.

You’re now presented with a simple Email Subscription Form. Here you can drag additional fields from the left side column if you need them. Clicking a form field on the right opens its options in the left side column. Take a few minutes to explore the available fields if you need to.

To keep things straightforward, we’ll settle for the simple default form.

Click the Name field on the right, and enter the label details on the left. Do the same for the email address field. Always leave the Required box checked for compulsory fields.

Click Submit at the bottom once you’re done.

The Setup window now changes to the Settings screen. We won’t go through them here as the settings are personal to each site based on needs and preference. Again, take a few moments to explore your options if you want to add/change any form details.

Note: New subscribers will need to confirm their email by following the link in the welcome message. This ensures you’re connecting with a real person using a valid email address.

Here’s a snapshot of the General Settings options.

Now click the Confirmation link on the left.

There’s a default message that you can leave as-is if you want to. Most site owners will want to make it more specific or personal to their subscribers, though. You can also change the confirmation type from the Confirmation Type dropdown.

Click the ‘Add New Confirmation’ button when you’re done.

Finally, click the orange Save button at the top right of the screen.

Connecting your signup form to WPForms

You’re now ready to connect the signup form to your email subscription service.

Click the Marketing Icon on the left side menu.

Note: The Lite version of WPForms Builder only allows free connection to Constant Contact. The other Services are available through the premium (paid) version of the plugin. If your email subscription service isn’t listed, contact WPForms Builder directly, and they will try to add it.

Here’s how the Marketing Screen looks.

Select your email subscription service from the left side column. WPForms Builder then walks you through the simple setup process for the respective email signup provider.

That’s it. You now know how to choose an email subscription service and seamlessly add it to your WordPress posts and pages.

Want to Learn WordPress?

WordPress is an amazing platform for building any type of website.   It’s used by large corporations and small mom & pop sites.

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