Adding an opt-in form to your WordPress website is easier than you may think!

What’s an opt-in form and why should you have one on your website?

An opt-in is a form on your website where readers enter their email in exchange for free, valuable content. 

And you should have one on your website because your email list is gold. Growing and nurturing your email list is one of the best things you can do for your business. This is because your email list, unlike your social media accounts, is an asset that belongs to you. Email enables you to talk with your audience members one-on-one, so it makes great business sense to build and cultivate that relationship.

So having a form on your website where your subscribers can “opt-in” to receive a free download that you’re offering helps you do that. It’s also known as a lead-magnet, and you can learn all about that here. 

Here’s an example of the opt-in form on MavroCreative’s website for our free workshop:

How do you add an opt-in form to your website?

If you have a WordPress website, adding an opt-in form is as easy as adding a plugin and configuring it to fit your brand and your offer!

Since we’re all about providing you with free resources, we’ve compiled a list of five free opt-in plugins that you may want to consider. We’ve tried all five, so they’re Mavrocreative-approved, and they all can be downloaded from the WordPress repository.

Prefer to watch instead of read?

Check out our recent video below that walks you through five free WordPress plugins you can use to easily add an opt-in form to your website:

Optin Forms: 

Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/optin-forms

Optin Forms is one of the more popular plugins. It’s very easy to use and, as I mentioned, it’s free!  It comes with prebuilt themes and the fonts and colors are fully customizable. While it doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as some of the other plugins on this list, it has enough features to make it a strong contender. 

It integrates with many of the most popular email service providers, including: AWeber, iContact, MailChimp, GetResponse, MadMimi, Interspire Email Marketer, ConvertKit, and MailerLite

MailOptin Lite

Link:  https://wordpress.org/plugins/mailoptin/

This free opt-in plugin also offers a premium (i.e. paid) version that has even more features, like list segmentation and automation features.

MailOptin makes it super easy to create your opt-in form thanks to its drag and drop builder. You can have a pop-up form, sidebar widget, before/after post subscription form, notification bar and more.

MailOptin integrates with Mailchimp, AWeber, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, Sendy, Mailerlite, MailPoet, ConvertKit, ActiveCampaign, Drip, Sendinblue, EmailOctopus, HubSpot, Ontraport CRM, Mailjet, Klaviyo, Sendlane, Mailster, Moosend, Gist, VerticalResponse, Zoho CRM, Zoho Campaigns, Emma, SendGrid Email Marketing, GoDaddy Email Marketing, GetResponse, GetResponse360.

PopUp Maker

LINK: https://wordpress.org/plugins/popup-maker/

PopUp Maker can be used to create an opt-in “pop up” on your website., You can configure the plugin to have a pop up appear when a visitor comes to your website, and modify the timing based on certain conditions that you set.

It integrates with form builders like Ninja Forms, Gravity Forms, and Contact7 forms, as well as many email service providers. With over 500,000 downloads, PopUp Maker is one of the most popular, free pop-up opt-ins.

PopUp Builder

Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/popup-builder

While PopUp Builder doesn’t have as many active installations as PopUp Maker, the reviews make it a strong contender for consideration. Like PopUpMaker it makes a pop up appear when a visitor comes to your website and is fully customizable.

The plug in page for PopUp Builder includes an extremely informative video that walks you through the different setups and configurations, providing some of the better installation support as compared to the other plugins listed here. If you go with this one, I highly recommend that you watch it!

Icegram

LINK: https://wordpress.org/plugins/icegram/

With Icegram, you can add Lightbox Popups, Header & Footer Action Bars, Text Notifications, and Slide-in Messengers to your website quickly and easily. You can customize them so they pop up or so they rest as a static bar at the top or bottom of your page.

Icegram offers some free, premade templates that you can use to get started with your design.  Personally, I found Icegram to be the least intuitive of the plugins that I have listed here, and the setup interface was a bit confusing for me.  But with 40,000 installations and great reviews from others, it’s worth checking out!

As you can see, you have many choices when it comes to the tools that will enable you to set up your opt-in. Your choice depends on the features you want and which plug-in you find fits your style and needs. I always find it helpful to play with one or two that I find especially interesting, and let my own experience guide me.

Do you have a free opt-in plugin that you’re using and didn’t see mentioned here?

Let us know in the comments below! We’re always open to learning about new tools!