Review - Hello Bar

Have you seen the Hello Bar? 
On this blog, it's the green offer bar at the top of this page. Nope, it's not blinking or popping up all over the place but I have found it to be a really easy way to add a static offer bar that is not intrusive but keeps our sales message alive at the top of the viewer's browser window. It also gives me stats on views and click throughs. And it's free!
There are a lot of different options for adding pop ups and menu bars that bring attention to your newsletter and products but I have found 2 problems with many of them.

1. Coding them can be difficult. You're in the digital scrapbook design business, not the web development business!
2. Many people find them annoying. I am one of those people - are you?
3. The deliver timing can be tricky - why pop up in front of someone within the first 2 seconds of their visit? Maybe someone would like to look around a bit before they sign up or buy!

It is my personal opinion that a good blog with valuable content does not need a lot of "tricks" to capture readers or sales. If a blog is not interesting or a product does not have value, a blinking pop-up offer is probably not going to get a reader's attention, right?
However, I do think it is important to display a way to find your products or sign up for your newsletter in a prominent area of your site. To me, prominent does not have to be annoying - just easy to find! And that's why I like the Hello Bar. It stays at the top when readers scroll down, quietly and reliably delivering your message to those who are interested.
Sign up is easy and it's a free service! Just get started at hellobar.com
You start by entering the URL to the target you want your readers to hit - usually your store or newsletter.
After that, you will have a choice to drive traffic, collect emails or bring people to your social media pages.
The choices you make past that are super simple to implement and the site even guides you through how to install the code that is generated.
I love that it works really easily with Blogger, too. I think a lot more time and attention is given to plugins and widgets for WordPress than Blogger so I am excited to see this is available on more than one platform. The installation instructions are provided as you go through the process. You will have to dig into your Blogger template but it's a VERY easy code insertion. You don't have to mess with the actual coding, just paste it into your template.
Unlike other menu bars I have seen and tested, it's incredibly easy to change colors and fonts.
And one of my favorite features is the fact that one the code is inserted into your blog, you can make changes in the bar on the site and then your bar will automatically update on your own site! This includes changing the wording of the offer, the target URL, the type of goal and all the colors and fonts! This is so much easier than recoding your offer bar every time you want to make a change.
I encourage you to give it a try and...even turn off your pop up offers. Tricks and gimmicks aside, your BEST way to attract customers and readers is offering solid designs and valuable content.
I hope you find this useful - I'd love to hear from you if you try it or install it. Please feel free to leave a comment below.

image credit: freedigitalphotos.net

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