Why & How To Add Sticky Ads In A WordPress SideBar (original) (raw)
The sidebar of your blog is one crucial aspect to get more conversion, and for lead generation. Many bloggers don’t take advantage of their sidebar to full potential, and if you fall in the same category; I recommend you to start taking optimum care of your blog sidebar.
Place elements which help in getting more subscribers or getting more page views. Or, add ads that help in making more money. Just don’t use those useless sidebar widgets like live traffic widget or things that don’t add value for your readers.
Today, I will be talking about one trick which can double your earnings or conversion from your sidebar widget. The sticky sidebar is not a new concept, and you might notice sticky widgets on many blogs including ShoutMeLoud.com.
When you scroll down the page, you will notice that one sidebar widget will stick, and floats along with the scrolling down of the page. This is useful for you to get more attention to one of your sidebar widgets.
You can use it to:
- Get more clicks on one of your ads.
- Get more subscribers by sticking your subscription form widget.
- Get more Facebook likes by making your Facebook Like widget sticky.
And many more practical usage.
In this tutorial, I will share how you can add sticky sidebar widget in WordPress using a simple plugin. This whole process will not take more than 4-5 minutes.
Here, I’m sharing two WordPress plugins which let you add a sticky widget. The first one is to make your sidebar widget sticky, and the second one adds the Accordion effect along with Sticky.
Q2W3 Fixed Widget plugin (Sticky widget)
The Q2W3 Fixed Widget plugin is a free plugin that I use on my blog to offer a sticky widget. This is the simplest plugin and doesn’t require any configuration. Install and activate this plugin (download link), and go to Appearance > Widgets to make any of your sidebar widget sticky.
Every widget will have a checkbox to make it sticky. You can use it to make one or multiple widgets sticky. Add a checkbox in front of Fixed widget, and click on save. This will make your selected sidebar widget sticky. I would suggest you use it on the last sidebar widget, as it will not overlap with other widgets on your blog sidebar.
If you want to make some changes in plugin settings, go to Appearance >Fixed widget options, and make changes. If the fixed widget overlaps with your footer, add the height of your footer in “Margin bottom” to avoid it.
Note: Don’t make your AdSense ad widget sticky, as it’s against their ad implementation policy.
What widgets should you make sticky?
You can use fixed widgets to :
- Promote any of your top content.
- Get more email subscribers. Make your email subscription widget fixed.
- Get more clicks to your CPC ads ( Check ad network policy)
- Get more clicks to your affiliate ad from your sidebar.
A good idea is to use it for your blog subscription widget, as people who would be scrolling down to read your content, are more likely to subscribe to your blog updates.
Do let me know how you use this fixed widget hack. Which sidebar elements do you promote? Do share this guide with other WordPress bloggers on your social network, as it would help them get more CTR.
Here are a few hand-picked WordPress plugins that you should check out:
- 8 Best Comment Plugins For WordPress
- Best Ad Management Plugin For WordPress To Make More Money
- Here Is The Fastest Method To Import Content From Docx To WordPress
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A Blogger, Author and a speaker! Harsh Agrawal is recognized as a leader in digital marketing and FinTech space. Fountainhead of ShoutMeLoud, and a Speaker at ASW, Hero Mindmine, Inorbit, IBM, India blockchain summit. Also, an award-winning blogger.
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