How to Use Sidebars in Getsitecontrol

In the way sidebars engage your website visitors, they are just as efficient as popups.

You can use them to:

• invite visitors to join your list
• conduct surveys
• announce deals
• and more

However, sidebars will be particularly convenient for featuring forms that contain multiple fields on a single page, like this complaint form below 👇

Sidebars provide more space than almost any other popup type while maintaining the visitor’s experience on your website relatively uninterrupted.

Keep scrolling down to see sidebar templates you can steal for your website right now.

How to create a sidebar in Getsitecontrol

If you prefer creating popups from scratch, select the Sidebar option from the menu.

From there, using the Position menu, you can choose the side from which it should appear. Next, select a theme, a layout template and continue to the following screen to add your content.

How to display sidebars on your website

Like most popups, sidebars can appear on a page on their own, based on the targeting settings you choose, or they can pop up on a click.

Depending on the use case, we recommend following these scenarios:

• display a sidebar after visitors have spent some time on a page or shown interest in your content (that goes for email subscription forms, announcements, sale promotions)
• display sidebars when a visitor clicks on a floating button, website link, or image (that goes for surveys, feedback forms, and order forms)

For the latter case, you can select one of the launchers from the Getsitecontrol gallery and connect it to a sidebar.

If you want to display a sidebar based on your website logic, check our guide to using API parameters.

More sidebar examples you can use

Now, to help you get started, here are 3 sidebar templates designed based on the most popular use cases.

1. Collect email addresses

We hate saying this, but some shoppers are so used to modal popups, they may subconsciously close them without even reading the text. This is less likely to happen to a sidebar.

Whether you’re offering lead magnets in exchange for emails or simply inviting visitors to join your list, sidebars are an excellent choice to display your call to action.

2. Conduct surveys

If your survey has multiple questions or a long list of options, sidebars are the optimal choice for you. Not only do they help you avoid creating a multi-page form, but they also guarantee a better mobile experience.

If you do have a long questionnaire though, it’s best if you launch it upon button click and survey only those who are willing to participate.

3. Announce important news

When it comes to website announcements, sticky bars at the bottom of a webpage are the most popular format. However, some websites have important interaction elements, such as a chat button or a cookie banner, exactly there. In this case, a sidebar is a much better option.

Sidebars are already available in our new template gallery. Check it out right now and grab one for your website!