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Thrive Leads Review: How I Design WordPress Forms and Pop-Ups

Updated: Jul 26, 2024

How do I create a pop up in WordPress without Plugins?

Is Thrive Leads a good WordPress plugin for list building?


In this Thrive Leads plugin Review, I look at how the 'thrive leads' WordPress plugin works. I go through every Thrive Leads features, Thrive Leads integrations, Thrive Leads pricing.


And if it's still an effective email list-building tool for WordPress users in 2024.


What is Thrive Leads WordPress Plugin?


What is thrive leads for WordPress?


thrive leas review: thrive leads homepage
My Thrive Leads WordPress Plugin Homepage Logged In

The Thrive Leads WordPress plugin is a list-building tool used to collect email subscribers online.


Thrive Leads plugin builds this database by providing effective opt-in forms in which users can input their details (name, email, phone number, or address…) to get in.


Here are some sign-up forms designed using Thrive Leads WordPress plugin:


An example of a thrive leads form simon zaku


An example of a thrive leads form simon zaku 2

Other opt-in form types provided by this Thrive Themes' lead-generation plugin are Pop-up, slide-in, in-line forms, “sticky” ribbons, lightboxes, scroll mats, and many others.


How Effective is Thrive Leads for WordPress List Building?


This Thrive Leads Plugin helped me quadruple my email signups after signing up.


Here are four distinct features of Thrive Leads that make it one of the best, and cost-effective list-building plugins on the internet.


What are Some Distinct Features of the Thrive Leads WordPress Plugin?


Here are some Thrive Leads features for WordPress users looking to design opt-in forms with Thrive Leads.


Thrive Leads Feature 1: Drag & Drop Editor for your Forms


With Thrive Leads, you create the best designs for your forms using a slick drag & drop editor.


How fast can you build a high-converting opt-in form?


Well, it takes me about 5 minutes to set everything up and I’m almost certain it is because of the ease that comes with thrive leads designs.


Thrive Leads Feature 2: Effective A/B Testing


Thrive Leads A/B testing feature is the most effective in the market that I have tried yet. With thrive leads, users can A/B test different types of opt-in forms in lead groups too.


Lead groups are made up of opt-in form types which display based on how you set them.


For example, I could A/B test my Ribbon and Slide-In form on my thrive leads dashboard.



Thrive Leads Feature 3: Advanced Targeting


Thrive Leads offers a very effective targeting feature where users can target specific visitors using specific opt-in forms. With this list builder, I can set certain forms to appear only on specific pages, blog posts, and where I do not want them to display.


This feature helps me to display certain forms to only specific blog posts on this very blog. For instance, I set pop-ups (or sometimes slide-ins) to appear on every blog post I publish.


Thrive Leads Feature 4: Pretty Cool and Actionable Insights


Frankly, Thrive Leads reporting and insights are not the best I have tried but it reports every necessary detail & insight that I ever need for my blog.


I tend to see that as a good thing rather than a downside.


The VIEW MORE links provide more detailed insights into your forms, impressions, and conversion rates.


8 High-Converting Opt-in Forms You Can Design with Thrive Leads WordPress Plugin


One thing I love about Thrive Leads is that it focuses on achieving the “all-in-one list-building solution”.


What other forms can you create with the Thrive Leads WordPress plugin in 2023?


Here is a list of different thrive leads forms;


  1. In-Content form

  2. Lightbox

  3. Post-Footer

  4. Ribbon

  5. Screen-Filler

  6. Scroll-Mat

  7. Slide-In and

  8. Widget forms.


In-Content Forms:


Thrive themes in content forms are displayed between blog articles or web pages. In-content forms are displayed within your blog content (or webpage).


in-content thrive leads form example

In-content forms are a little different from widget forms.


In-content forms are set to appear in between all your blog articles automatically and they follow a specific display rule. For example, “display after every 4 paragraphs”.


This means, your form appears in between your blog posts after every 4 paragraphs.


Thrive Leads Lightbox:


What is a thrive leads lightbox form?


A lightbox is a small pop-up opt-in box that appears on your web pages. Most bloggers display light-boxes immediately after a user lands on a webpage (or blog post) or is about to leave (exit-intent forms).


an example of a lightbox thrive leads form


Post Footer:

What are Post Footer forms in Thrive Leads?


These are forms created to be displayed after every blog post on your website.


These forms are mostly general giveaways or “bribes” your blog visitors could easily sign up for.


For example, if you blog primarily about Affiliate Marketing, you could build a “Post Footer” form that would read “How to earn your first $1,000 from Affiliate Marketing”.


Ribbon:

What are thrive leads ribbon forms?


Ribbons are sticky opt-in forms that appear above or below your web pages.



Unlike other opt-in form types, the primary aim of Ribbon is to attract email subscribers without taking up screen real estate.


Ribbons are undoubtedly one of my favorite opt-in forms to create and they tend to convert higher than most opt-in forms I create (thanks to the A/B testing feature I have).


Screen-Filler:


What is a screen-filler form in thrive leads?


As the name implies, screen filler forms are pop-ups that appear and cover your content until the visitor takes action; this could be to sign up or close the form.


An eample of a screenfiller thrive leads form thrive leads review

Screen filler forms are also very effective when displayed to first-time visitors immediately after they land on your blog or webpage.


Scroll Mat:


A thrive leads scroll mat form is more or less like a screen filler. Both forms are pop-ups that take up screen real estate but the slight difference is that Scroll Mat forms disappear when the visitor scrolls down the page or blog post.


Slide-Ins:

What are Thrive Leads Slide-ins?


These forms take up website space (though not as much as screen-filler forms).


Your readers see a slide-in on your webpage that offers value.



Most slide-in forms that I have seen tend to allow the reader to access or read your blog articles without obstructing his or her view even without taking action or closing the form.


Widget Forms:


What are Thrive themes Widget Forms?


These forms can be created and embedded for a single purpose.


You can create three (3) widget forms to be placed in just a single blog post.


One form could be at the beginning of your article and read “Download the checklist mentioned in this Post” while another could be “Join this free 3-day email course”.


Other Distinct Form Features You Can Create Using Thrive Leads


  • PHP Insert

  • 2-Step Opt-in Forms

  • Content Lock

  • Yes/No & Multiple Choice Forms

  • Smart Exit & Exit Intent

  • SmartLinks


PHP Insert:


How does the PHP insert work in Thrive Leads?


PHP insert is a feature that allows users to create and build opt-in forms which can then be displayed using PHP codes.


As an experienced WordPress user, I do not fancy the PHP insert feature. I prefer to use easy HTML or CSS codes.


2-Step Opt-in Forms:


What are Thrive Leads 2-step opt-in forms?


2-step forms are engageable forms that allow visitors to engage or click on a link (or button) before signing up for your newsletter.


2-step opt-in forms tend to have a higher signup rate because research shows visitors are more likely to complete a process they’ve started.


Here’s an example of a live 2-step opt-in form designed with Thrive Leads WordPress plugin.


thrive leads review thrive themes reviews

When you click the button, it loads up this form:


thrive leads plugin thrive leads

The reader has to consent to get your freebie even before seeing the form signup form itself.


Content Lock:


What is Content Lock in Thrive Leads?


This allows users to lock out some part or portion of content that requires signup to be unlocked.


For example, if you write a post like “10 tips to make money from your blog”, you could lock away (or hide) three (3) of those tips with the content lock feature.


This way, readers sign up to access the remaining 3.


Yes/No & Multiple Choice Forms:


This is a multiple-step optin form feature Thrive Leads offers. This lets you create multiple, Yes/No Choice sign-up forms.


These forms allow your readers to answer a few questions (by clicking buttons) before getting the sign-up form.


Smart Exit & Exit Intent:


What is an Exit-Intent pop-up form?


An Exit Intent form triggers or displays when a visitor is about to leave your blog or webpage.


This trigger is caused by the upward movement of the reader’s mouse pointer towards the ‘close’ button.


Thrive Themes knows how powerful exit intent sign-up forms can be thus it is not left out in the Thrive leads package.


Smart Exit is an upgrade to the traditional Exit Intent technology you know. With a few smart tech adjustments, you can set your exit forms to display better and convert more.


SmartLinks:


What are Smartlinks in Thrive Leads?


Smartlinks are custom links created in thrive leads (or thrive themes) that trigger a pop-up form when clicked.


With smart links, you can place sign-up links around your write-ups, pages, and blog articles. Cool isn’t it?


Thrive Leads is Responsive on ALL Devices


Thrive Leads is effectively responsive on all devices including Desktop, Mobile, and Tabs.


Here are Thrive Leads mobile responsive features to get you even more interested;


  • Show or Hide Certain Opt-In Form Types - You can show or hide certain opt-in forms on any device.

  • Show or Hide Certain Elements on the Opt-In Form - Thrive builder allows you to show or hide certain form elements on any device.

  • You can add social share buttons for Desktop users but Hide these elements for mobile users.

  • Tweak Any Detail with Mobile Responsive Editing - This allows you to edit and change font size, button size, text color, and even form size to suit any device screen perfectly.


Thrive Leads Email Service Integration


Email marketing service integration is a crucial aspect of any list-building tool today.


Besides what’s a list-building plugin or tool that does not integrate with your email autoresponder service (MailChimp, Convertkit…)?


The Thrive Leads plugin integrates perfectly with almost every major email service provider on the internet.


Here’s a long list of email marketing tools that integrate perfectly with Thrive Leads.


Thrive Leads integrates seamlessly with:


  • ActiveCampaign

  • Mailchimp

  • ArpReach

  • iContact

  • ConvertKit

  • InfusionSoft

  • Drip

  • GetResponse

  • Aweber

  • Facebook

  • MadMini

  • CampaignMonitor

  • Mailerlite

  • MailPoet

  • MailReplay

  • Mautic

  • Ontraport

  • WebinarJam


Thrive Leads Pricing: How Much Does the Thrive Leads WordPress Plugin Cost?


How much does the Thrive Leads WordPress plugin lifetime license cost?


Pricing is one of the major reasons people choose to buy or not buy a product or service. It is no different from the list-building plugin we’re discussing here.


I have checked and seen dozens of opt-in form builders for bloggers but Thrive Leads is the most cost-effective one among all the tools I’ve seen yet.


How much does the thrive leads plugin cost?

Thrive Leads Pricing:


Thrive Themes charges $99 per year for the standalone Thrive Leads Plugin.


The Thrive Suite is $299 per year. This gives Thrive users access to all Thrive Themes products.


thrive leads pricing



Now here’s how to get started with Thrive leads today!


Getting Started with Thrive Leads Today


How to get started with Thrive Leads?


Are you already pumped to check out Thrive Leads and give it a try? Here’s how to get started with Thrive Leads (Step by Step):


How do I install Thrive Leads on WordPress?


Step #1: Purchase the Thrive Leads License through the Thrive website. You can use my link or the button below.


Step #2: Download and install the Thrive leads plugin on your WordPress website. The download link will be sent immediately after your successful license purchase.


Step #3: Activate your unique license from the installed plugin. Here’s how to go about this;



After activating your thrive leads plugin, the next thing is to begin creating your forms but before that, you first need to get familiar with the thrive leads dashboard.


Getting Started with the Thrive Leads Dashboard


If you are completely new to thrive leads, the dashboard may seem confusing but trust me, it is as easy as anything and what you need to know is the terms used on the dashboard;


Lead Groups:


What are Thrive Leads Lead Groups?


Lead groups are a thrive leads feature that allows you to create different forms (slide-in, pop-up…) with the same display rules.


This means a particular set of opt-in forms have the same display settings.


Thrive Leads Lead Short-Codes:


What are Thrive Leads Shortcodes?


Short codes are embeddable codes that you can use to display opt-in forms on any given webpage or blog. Users can display forms at any point in your blog articles.


This could be after ‘Introduction’, immediately after every ‘Bullet Point’, or before your ‘Conclusion’.


Have a productive day,

Simon Taki Zaku

Founder: Sim

Simon Zaku thrive leads review post

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