What the Hello Bar Can Do to Increase User Engagement

The Hello Bar is a slick new service from the creators of Slidedeck. The only purpose of The Hello Bar is to add a one-line colored bar to the top of your website with a simple call-to-action and a link. But however plain it might seem, it is getting plenty of attention.

The Hello Bar is being used by a number of well-known bloggers and internet marketers, and they are seeing significant results. DIYThemes reported getting 1,180 additional newsletter subscribers in just one month, and others have used it to advertise books, products, and new blog posts.

How does it work? It gets noticed.

Short and Sweet

The Hello Bar can only hold about a Tweet’s worth of text, which only wraps on the smallest window size. A single line of text is generally unthreatening, and can be read in a few seconds without the friction that larger blocks of text have. Inevitably, some people will still ignore the Hello Bar, but they are becoming common on more and more websites.

A Little Nudge

The Hello Bar can also be gently disruptive. Website owners can select whether the Hello Bar appears instantaneously, or if it should appear after a few seconds, wiggling the page just enough to get noticed. Though this can be surprising to users, it is also very effective for attracting attention and doesn’t impede reading or interacting with the rest of the page.

Call-to-action

An immediate call-to-action gives users a very simple choice: either they can visit the link or they can continue reading the current page with minimal disruption. Though the bar can be hidden with a click, most users will simply ignore the minor intrusion and continue interacting with the page as they would have before.

Maximizing return

When using the Hello Bar, some calls-to-action are still better than others – just because you are using a new service doesn’t mean you can skimp on your copywriting! Pro accounts can do A/B testing with their Hello Bar headlines, but you can do your own headline testing with free accounts by changing the content every few weeks.

One recommendation is to offer something tangible in the Hello Bar, like a whitepaper or an ebook, instead of just telling your readers how to get free updates. Offering an email course or ebook is a great way to interest people in your newsletter even without the Hello Bar!

Landing pages

You also need to be careful where your link is sending your readers. If they aren’t greeted with something resembling what they were promised, chances are they will simply turn tails and leave. Instead, you need to have a tested, ready-to-work landing page to receive your readers. This is another chance for A/B testing to be sure that you are maximizing your conversion rate.

The Cost

Another great part about the Hello Bar: its price. The free Hello Bar can be customized with text, colors and fonts, and a free account can actually create 3 unique Hello Bars for different pages or sites and update them using Twitter.

For only $25 each month, the Hello Bar can be personalized even more, removing the Hello Bar branding and allowing for A/B split testing and advanced statistics. The Hello Bar can even receive updates via either Twitter or RSS.