Building an email list is one of the most important things you can do for your business, but it’s also one of the hardest.
That’s because most visitors have developed ‘banner blindness.’ The moment a popup appears asking for their email address, they automatically look for a ‘Close’ button. They feel interrupted, not invited.
So, how do you fix this?
The answer lies in simple human psychology. Instead of demanding a commitment straight away, you change the dynamic by offering visitors a choice.
That’s where a Yes/No Optin comes in.
I’ve tested this strategy across countless sites, and the results are impressive (and a bit surprising): adding this extra step actually increases your conversion rates.
In this guide, I will walk you through exactly how to build a high-converting Yes/No optin campaign for your WordPress website – so you can stop annoying your audience and start genuinely engaging with them.
What is a Yes/No Optin?
Building an email list is one of the most important things you can do as a website owner. But getting visitors to hand over their email address is getting harder every day. In fact, most users automatically close popups the moment they appear.
After years of testing, I’ve found that visitors are more likely to subscribe when you stop demanding their email address straight away, and present them with a simple choice first.
This is the essence of the Yes/No Optin.
At its core, this is a popup that gives visitors two clear options:
- Option A: Accept the offer (The “Yes”).
- Option B: Politely decline the offer (The “No”).
You might hear marketers refer to these as Two-Step Optins. This is because the user must complete two actions (such as clicking the button, then entering their email) rather than just one initial action (entering their email address straight away).
It’s worth noting that the choices don’t have to be a straightforward ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’ In fact, I’ve found that creative copy almost always converts better. For example, I’ve seen sites offer a discount where the choice is ‘Claim My Discount’ or ‘No thanks, I don’t want a discount.’
When it comes to Yes/No optins, the rule is simple: you’re giving the visitor a choice. Ultimately, it’s the difference between empowering your audience, and interrupting them.
The Psychology Behind the Click
Asking visitors to click twice might seem counter-intuitive. As website owners, we’re typically taught that adding extra steps causes friction, which usually hurts your conversion rates.
In reality, studies show that Yes/No popups are surprisingly effective. This success is due to a psychological principle known as the Zeigarnik Effect. This phenomenon suggests that once a person starts a process, they feel compelled to finish it.
By clicking ‘Yes’ in the first step, the visitor has technically already started the process. This makes them more motivated to complete the second step, which is entering their email address.
Beyond the psychology, a Yes/No optin gives your visitors a sense of control.
Rather than feeling pestered, visitors feel they’re making a decision. This slight shift in perspective encourages them to complete the action, which ultimately helps you generate more leads.
Creating Your Yes/No Popup Using OptinMonster
Readers often ask me how to create effective Yes/No popups for WordPress. My advice is always the same: OptinMonster.
OptinMonster is the best tool I’ve found for turning passive website visitors into active subscribers. It allows you to create high-converting Yes/No optins, while giving you complete control over where these popups appear across your WordPress website.
This means you can trigger your campaigns at the perfect moment based on visitor behavior. For example, you can use OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent technology to display your Yes/No optin right when a user is about to leave your site.
That said, in this guide I’ll show you exactly how to create a Yes/No optin campaign using OptinMonster.
Setting Up OptinMonster and Building the Campaign
Before we build our first popup, you’ll need an OptinMonster account. To get started, head over to their website and click the ‘Get OptinMonster Now’ button.
You can now choose your plan and complete the signup process. A quick bit of advice: to create Yes/No optins, you’ll need to select the ‘Plus’ plan or higher.
Once you’re signed up, you’ll need to install and activate the free OptinMonster WordPress plugin. This plugin seamlessly connects your WordPress site to your premium OptinMonster account.
If you’re not sure how to do this, then check out our detailed guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Connecting Your Account
When the OptinMonster welcome screen appears, go ahead and click the ‘Connect Your Existing Account’ button. I really appreciate how streamlined this connection process is, as it makes getting started so much easier.
In the popup that appears, click the ‘Connect to WordPress’ button.
Your WordPress website and OptinMonster account are now connected.
Creating a New Campaign
To get started, head to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to OptinMonster » Campaigns.
From here, click the ‘Create Your First Campaign’ button to launch the setup wizard.
Templates vs. Playbooks
At this point, OptinMonster will ask you to choose between using a template or a playbook.
I strongly recommend selecting the ‘Templates’ tab. While OptinMonster’s playbooks offer pre-made strategies inspired by successful brands, starting with a blank template gives you total creative control.
In my experience, this flexibility is crucial when you’re building a specific tool like a Yes/No optin.
After selecting ‘Templates,’ you’ll see various campaign types.
For this guide, we want maximum visibility, so go ahead and select ‘Popup.’
Selecting the Right Design
OptinMonster comes with a huge library of professionally-designed templates.
To take a closer look at any design, simply hover over it and click the ‘Preview’ button.
You can use any design you want. However, I’m using the ‘Increase Subscribers’ template in all my screenshots.
To make your choice, hover your mouse over the template and then click the ‘Use Template’ button.
Next, you’ll need to name your campaign. I always recommend using something specific and descriptive. When you eventually have dozens of campaigns running, you’ll be glad you didn’t just name them ‘Campaign’ or ‘Popup.’
Type your title into the field labeled ‘My WordPress Campaign’ and then click ‘Start Building.’
Understanding Campaign Views
OptinMonster will now load your template within its drag-and-drop editor.
Before we start editing, let’s take a moment to understand how the template is structured. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see options to switch between different views.
In OptinMonster, views represent the different screens a user sees within a single campaign. Typically, a Yes/No option contains three views:
- The Yes/No view: This is the initial hook, such as the question or call-to-action buttons.
- The Optin view: This is the main form where the user actually types in their email address.
- The Success view: The confirmation screen that appears after a successful signup.
You can add custom views for more advanced flows, but in this guide I’ll be focusing on these three core steps.
Customizing Your Yes/No Optin
While many OptinMonster templates come with a Yes/No view enabled, sometimes you may need to activate this feature.
To see how your specific template is set up, click the ‘Yes/No’ button in the bottom toolbar.
If the view is already active, you’ll see the design straight away. However, you might see a button asking you to ‘Enable Yes/No for This Campaign.’ If you see this button, then give it a click.
Using the Drag-and-Drop Editor
Now the view’s active, it’s time to get creative.
In my opinion, the editor is one of the best parts of the OptinMonster platform because it’s so intuitive. On the left-hand side, you’ll see a menu with all the available elements like images, buttons, countdown timers, and videos.
To add an element, simply find it in the menu and drag it onto the live preview.
To edit an existing element, click to select it in the live preview.
After that, you can edit it using the settings in the left-hand menu.
As you tweak settings in the left-hand menu, the preview will update automatically. This means you’ll always know exactly how the popup will look on your WordPress blog.
You can also edit text directly. Just click any text block in the preview, and then type in your new headline or copy.
One thing you’ll definitely want to customize are the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ buttons. For the best results, you’ll need to make the choice clear and compelling. That said, go ahead and click either button to open its settings.
From here, you can change the text, font size, and background color.
I recommend using a high-contrast color for your ‘Yes’ button (like bright green or orange) and a neutral color for your ‘No’ button. This makes the positive action really stand out.
Finally, you need to review the button actions.
By default, the ‘Yes’ button takes the visitor to the Optin view, where they can enter their email address. Meanwhile, the ‘No’ button simply closes the popup.
For a standard Yes/No optin, OptinMonster’s default settings are usually exactly what you need. However, you can change this behavior by selecting the button and then opening the ‘Button Click Action’ dropdown in the left-hand menu.
You can now choose any other action from the list. For example, you might redirect users to a specific URL, reload the page, or even open their email client.
Editing the Subsequent Views
After fine-tuning the Yes/No view, you’ll want to edit the Optin view. This is the screen visitors will see after they click ‘Yes.’ It’s also where they’ll typically enter their email address.
To edit this screen, click the ‘Optin’ tab in the bottom toolbar.
You can customize this view using the exact same process we covered above. You can drag elements from the left-hand menu, drop them onto the preview and click to edit any text or images.
Just make sure the Optin view reinforces the promise you made in the Yes/No view.
In my experience, conversion rates drop if the message feels disconnected. If your first button said “Get My 20% Discount,” then your Optin form headline should say something like “Where should we send your code?” rather than a generic “Subscribe to Our Newsletter.”
Finally, don’t forget the Success view. This is the confirmation screen users see after they successfully enter their email address.
Many website owners overlook this screen, but it plays an important role by reassuring users that their information has reached you safely.
You can even use this space to deepen the relationship with your new subscriber. For example, you might provide a download link for your latest lead magnet or display a list of your most popular blog posts.
To customize this view, go ahead and click the ‘Success’ tab.
Once again, you can add elements to this screen, remove elements, or customize any of the text, images, and other content.
When you’re happy with how the views look, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the screen to store your changes.
Connecting Your Optin to Your Email Service
If you’re creating an optin to collect email addresses, then you need to tell OptinMonster where to send those leads. This step is absolutely essential – if you skip it, your new subscribers will have nowhere to go.
To set this up, select the ‘Integrations’ tab at the top of the OptinMonster editor.
Then, click the ‘Add a New Integration’ button.
You can now select your email service provider from the list.
If you’re using a popular service like ActiveCampaign or Constant Contact, you should spot your provider immediately. If you don’t see it right away, then you can use the search bar to find your provider.
After choosing your provider, OptinMonster will walk you through the connection process. This usually involves logging into your email account or pasting in an API key.
I’ve tested the connection process with half a dozen different email providers, including Mailchimp, Drip, and Kit. In every case, OptinMonster made the integration incredibly easy.
With that done, you’re ready to move onto the next phase: defining exactly when and where the popup will appear on your site.
Setting the Display Rules for Your Yes/No Campaign
When you’re happy with your optin’s design, the next step is specifying exactly when and where it appears on your site. To explore your options, click the ‘Display Rules’ tab.
By default, OptinMonster will show your campaign after a user has been on any page for five seconds. While that’s a solid starting point, I believe that targeted timing is the real secret to boosting conversion rates.
This is one area where OptinMonster excels, as it gives you dozens of rules to choose from. You can show the optin on a specific page, wait until the visitor has scrolled 50% down your content, or even target visitors based on their geographical location.
You can edit either of the default rules, delete them, or add entirely new rules.
Choosing Your Trigger
To create a new rule, click the ‘Add a New Rule’ button.
You’ll see that OptinMonster categorizes its rules into groups like Who, When, and Where.
You can click any category to see all the rules within that category, such as showing or hiding popups based on the visitor’s device.
In my experience, this precision targeting is a game-changer. It promises to solve the problem of annoying, irrelevant popups, by only displaying highly relevant optins.
In my opinion, it’s well worth taking the time to explore all the different options to see what kind of display rules you can create.
Why I Recommend Exit-Intent
Since we’re creating a Yes/No optin, I strongly recommend using OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent technology.
This feature detects when a user’s mouse movement suggests they’re about to leave your site. You can then deploy your popup as a ‘last-chance’ offer. In my testing across multiple sites, Exit-Intent consistently delivers the highest conversion rates.
To set this up, click on the ‘When’ category. Then, find ‘Exit Intent’ and click the ‘+’ button next to it.
This adds a basic Exit intent rule to your campaign.
You can then go ahead and customize this rule. For example, OptinMonster will show your popup on all devices by default. You can change this by clicking the dropdown menu that shows ‘on all devices.’
You can now choose either of the following options: ‘on mobile devices only,’ or ‘on desktop devices only.’
After that, you can choose the sensitivity of the exit intent technology. It defaults to ‘Medium,’ but you can change it to ‘Low’ or ‘High’ depending on how aggressive you want the trigger to be.
Where Should It Appear?
Finally, you need to select where the campaign will appear on your website. The default setting is ‘current URL path is any page,’ which means the popup will appear across your entire WordPress website.
For the best results, I typically recommend targeting specific high-traffic pages or blog posts where your optin is most relevant, rather than showing it everywhere.
To target specific content, open the dropdown menu that currently says ‘is any page.’
You can now refine this logic using options like ‘exactly matches’ (for a specific landing page) or ‘contains’ (to target a whole category of blog posts).
When you’re happy with how everything is set up, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button to store your changes.
Making Your Yes/No Optin Live on Your Site
Finally, it’s time to take your beautifully-designed and perfectly-targeted campaign, and make it live on your site.
First, select the ‘Publish’ tab at the very top of the screen.
This screen gives you a quick overview of your settings.
If you’re happy with how everything looks, go ahead and switch the status to ‘Publish.’
Then, click the ‘Save’ button at the top of the OptinMonster editor.
After that, there’s one final step that trips up a lot of beginners. Even though the campaign is live in OptinMonster, you need to approve it inside your WordPress dashboard before it actually appears on your site.
To do that, switch back to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to OptinMonster » Campaigns. Here, you’ll see a list of all your campaigns.
Find the campaign you just created and click its ‘Pending’ status.
In the dropdown that appears, select ‘Publish.’
Once you’ve done that, the campaign is officially live on your website. Simply visit your site to see your Yes/No optin form in action.
That’s all there is to it! You have successfully created a high-converting Yes/No optin for WordPress using the power of OptinMonster.
However, a high-converting form is just one piece of the puzzle. If you want to continue learning, then our comprehensive video library covers everything from essential setup to advanced customization.
We created these lessons to provide a clear, step-by-step roadmap so you can create a perfectly-optimized, high-converting site with confidence.
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