Hellobar is a plugin/script you’ve more than likely seen.
It’s that branded bar that runs across the top of a website that generally displays important information such as a link to a newsletter, latest blog post, promotion, or whatever the site owner has it set to.
This bar is very unobtrusive compared to something like a pop over or pop under. It’s up at the top drawing eyeballs without “getting in the way” of a visitor finding your content.
Hellobar is awesome, no doubt, but it’s not the only viable option for this type of tool. Personally, I think Hellobar is well worth it but it doesn’t quite give you the same amount of flexibility as you’ll find in some of the competitors that hit the market afterward.
This post is going to tell you the extra benefits of using a notification bar and some of the other alternatives you have when compared to Hellobar.
The Benefits of the Notification Bar
Derek Halpern, the mastermind behind Social Triggers, can start us off with notification bar value (in this case he’s using Hellobar) for building subscribers. In this post about how he gained 1,180 additional email subscribers in 30 days he talks about how it’s done. The strategies he employed included adding a “tangible bribe” (such as a download like an ebook, webinar, etc), driving people from the bar to a landing page, and optimizing that landing page.
Worth noting: In essence, Derek is employing what we know from using opt-in forms we generate from our email list providers but then reworking them into the notification bar to maximize his conversion.
Melisa Culbertson, of BlogClarity.com, put together a wonderful post about how bloggers can use Hellobar. In this post she talks about how it can be used for a variety of means such as getting visitors to subscribe to the RSS, registering for a live event, sharing the news with readers, and more. Other sections of the post describe the process of installing and configuring the Hellobar tool.
Worth noting: Use Melisa’s bullet points to generate some ideas for what you could do with these notification bars and then put it into effect – the guide is very easy to follow and should pose no problem to you since it requires the faintest knowledge of coding.
Neil Patel, of QuickSprout.com, recommends Hellobar in his post The Power of the Nudge. The post looks at conversion optimization through a variety of means but in our case, the tidbit that’s worth examining is the stats such as an 11% amount of revenue for Neil using the bar or KimberlySnyder.net gaining around 20% revenue through its use, too.
Worth noting: Read into the post. It’s not just about one tool – it’s not a magic bullet – it’s a culmination of your conversion optimization strategies.
Hellobar Alternatives
Now – obviously with these examples, it’s an obvious choice to snag Hellobar (which is entirely worth its value) but to level the playing field I wanted to share a few of the alternatives which provide a few different sets of features you may want from a notification bar.
- Realtime Announcer ($9) – Get pretty much everything you’d need out of a notification bar. This one puts emphasis on being able to do live updates without the user needing to reload.
- Foobar ($14) – One of the best alternatives which give you full customization. You can make as many as you’d like, change colors, integrate Twitter & RSS, set up conditional logic, and more.
- WP Header Bar ($16) – A bit on the expensive side but worth it when it comes to flexibility. Be able to set up slideshows, A/B testings, social, page level targeting, shortcodes, and more.
Does this inspire you to install a notification bar? What would you use it for? Share a comment in the area below or come join us to discuss affiliate marketing (and more) on our Facebook page.
