How to create a popup for your website for free

Popups are great tools for gathering names for your latest giveaway or webinar, but they can be confusing to install. 

The first time I tried to add a popup to my site, I got so frustrated, almost as frustrated as when a pesky popup won’t go away when I am trying to read an article.

Now that I have figured it out, let me share the wealth. MailChimp has a FREE popup that is easy to install.  Let’s get started!

Create your popup 

In this step you will be designing your popup and given the HTML code that you need to paste into your website. 

In MailChimp, go to the Lists tab, and create a new list for your popup. On the right side of the screen, click the drop down menu for your list and choose Signup forms.

Select Subscriber popup

As you go through the design process, MailChimp allows you to see it in real time. To see how your popup will look on different devices, click the Desktop and Mobile buttons in the top left corner of the screen. 

MailChimp also adds a cookie to the viewer’s browser to prevent it from showing on their next visit to your site, so you won’t be that annoying site that has a pesky popup. every. single. time.

In the Design screen, choose your layout, form labels, and text color. 

In the Modal Styling section, you will enter the Close button text, select the Close link color, and set the Overlay Opacity percentage.

The Close Button Text is the text that appears in a colored box to finalize the opt-in process. This button is also referred to as the Call to Action button.

The Close Link color is the background color of the box where the Close button text appears. Choose a color that stands out and compliments your brand colors.

Want to take a peek at how your popup looks so far? In the upper right corner of your screen is a Preview Popup tab. 

Next you are ready to choose what fields you want on your form and the order they appear. 

Click on the Fields tab.

Check the boxes for the Available Fields you want to appear in your popup. To change the order they appear in, click and hold the handle (the vertical line of 3 dots) to the left of the field name and drag and drop. 

If you want certain fields to be required, move the toggle to show a green check mark in the Required column. 

Now it’s time to add content to your form. Click the Content tab to upload your image and add text to the body and footer. 

Click the Settings tab, choose Popup Delay, and set the Max Popup Width. 

Click the box for Generate Code. You will receive the HTML code to paste into your website.  

Edit your popup

If you need to make changes to your popup, go the the List tab and click the drop down menu for your new list. Choose Signup Forms, then select Subscriber Popup. 

Make your changes, and click Publish.

A popup will appear notifying you that you are about to save publish your changes. Click Publish.