How to Use Notification Bars

How to Use Your ActiveAgency Website

Help Center - How To Use Notification Bars
Read Time

7 minutes

Designed To

Look Amazing, Sell More, Service Better

Highlight important news and events with a few clicks.

Notification Bars are a great way to highlight important information using a colorful bar at the bottom of the website, making them one of the most widely-used features on the ActiveAgency website platform!

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Notification Bars are simply informative.

When you need a quick way to let your website visitors know about something, Notification Bars are where it’s at. This static bar will appear on every page of the site, so no matter where someone clicks, you’ll be able to reach them. Because the bars include clickable buttons, you can offer up a small dose of info and a call to action to find out more. Simple, yet effective!

Notification Bars - Magenta Home Page with Yellow Arrow

Share an urgent message.

If your clients expect your office to be open but it isn’t, that can create confusion. Do you ever need to close because of a snowstorm, hurricane, or other weather event? Similarly, how can you let clients know what to do if your phone lines go down? It doesn’t always have to be something bad, however. Maybe you’re closing early for summer Fridays or the whole team is going off-site for a holiday party, retreat, or picnic? In all of these cases, putting a notification bar at the bottom of your website will let visitors know what’s happening, when you’ll be back, and what they can do in the meantime.

Sometimes, you may expect an influx of claims because of a recent storm or other catastrophic event. Show clients that you care and are prepared to help by putting a Notification Bar on your site with a link to where they can go to submit a claim. That simple act not only shows how compassionate and tied to the community your agency is, but it’s informative and gives clients what they need easily in a difficult time.

Β  Notification Bars can help you make a statement or provide instructions.

Explore the many uses of Notification Bars.

You don’t have to save Notification Bars for temporary situations, although they are perfect for that. Notification Bars can stay up for an unlimited period of time, so you can have a consistent message that always appears on your site. Consider a call to action to request a quote, with a box and link to the Request Quote form. Or, you can put your phone number there with a click-to-call button.

You can use this space to draw attention to other sections of your site as well. Link out to your Team Member page, your blog, or other resources. If you’ll be hosting a webinar or another event, you can put a link to the registration page in a Notification Bar. Maybe you’re sponsoring a charity event or something else in your community. Use a Notification Bar to tell others.

Β  Set up a Notification Bar with a call to action to request a quote!

Schedule your Notification Bars.

It’s easy to schedule Notification Bars for when you need them. Let’s say you want to have a new static message for every month of the year. You can easily add them all and include start and end dates. This way, they change automatically with the calendar. If you need to swap one out temporarily for an emergency or other unanticipated event, that’s easy to do as well. Scheduling is a great way to be prepared for upcoming events, because you don’t need to worry about forgetting to turn your Notification Bars on or off. There’s no limit to how many you can set up, but only one will display at a time.

Notification Bars - Magenta Home Page with Yellow Arrow Blog

90.2

Percentage of Clients Using Notification Bars

2,146

Total Number of Notification Bars Created

Leverage Notification Bars to sell more.

Highlight coverages.

Call out a particular type of policy you’d like to sell more of and make it the focus of a Notification Bar. For example, September is Life Insurance Awareness Month. Let your visitors know and include a button to learn more or request a quote.

Feature carriers.

Maybe you’re eager to sell more with a particular carrier, or you just added a new carrier to your offerings. Point it out in a Notification Bar to raise awareness.

Get attention.

Are you targeting a particular industry? Give a shout out in a Notification Bar. You could link to the corresponding page or Clickable Coverage graphic to show off your expertise.

Keep it simple.

Nothing special to say? Notification Bars can still work for you. Keep a bar up all the time that says you’re eager to help and link to your quote or contact page.

Service better with Notification Bars.

There are so many ways to use Notification Bars to service your clients and engage with them more. These are just a few ideas to get you started.

Announce office closures.

Closing the office due to an upcoming holiday or a weather event? Let folks know you’ll be gone and what to do in case of an emergency.

Anticipate difficult times.

Is a catastrophic event headed your way? Reassure clients you’ll be there to help by including a link to help them report claims easily.

Promote your blog.

Have a new article available? Spread the word in a Notification Bar!

Share team bios.

The people in your agency make you shine! Help your clients and prospects get to know them with a link to their bio.

Β  Notification Bars are an easy way to send a message to all site visitors.

Using this feature is a breeze.

Creating and managing your Notification Bars is easy with ActiveAgency Dashboard. When you log in to ActiveAgency Dashboard on your website, you can see all your Notification Bars in one place. You’ll also see whether they are currently active, upcoming, expired, or drafted. You can set up a new one in minutes, too. And, if you run into any trouble, we’ll be happy to help!

If there’s a message you’ll want to have up more than once, such as for a holiday where you’re always closed, Β you can set it up once, and just turn it on or off as needed. This is helpful for standard messages like an office closure due to weather you’ll need at least annual or if you want to highlight certain sections of your site on a rotating basis.

How to Use Notification Bars - Manage your own Notification Bars

Frequently asked questions.

Curious about Notification Bars? You’re not alone! Read through some of the most common questions users have.

How many Notification Bars can I have on my website?

Only one Notification Bar will display at a time, but there’s no limit to how many you can create!

If I have more than one, how do I know which will appear?

If multiple Notification Bars are active with overlapping dates, precedence will be given to the one that appears highest on the Active/Upcoming list. But, don’t worry! It’s easy to rearrange the order.

Can I schedule a start and end time for a Notification Bar?

If you only need a Notification Bar for a limited time, you can set it up to begin and end at specific dates and times. This way, you can schedule it in advance, and you don’t have to worry about forgetting to turn it off.

How long should my message be?

Notification Bars are designed to give a quick hit of information. Keep the message short and sweet so it fits within the allotted width.

What makes a good Notification Bar?

Having a simple, direct message coupled with one or two call to action buttons is the best way to make Notification Bars work for your site.

Β  Have a question we didn’t answer? Ask us over the phone, through email, or via chat!

Helpful tips for Notification Bars.

We’ve got a few tips for you to help you get the most out of your Notification Bars. Avoid choosing bar and text colors that are too similar, which will make it hard to read. Opt for your brand colors or something that stands out, depending on the urgency of your message. Keep your message short and direct, and be sure to include that call to action so clients and prospects know what you want them to do.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and add a Notification Bar if you don’t already have one, or try creating something new today!

Manage Your Website on Dashboard

If you want to manage your website, use our tools and features, and learn more about ActiveAgency, log in to Dashboard.

https://your-website-address.com/aalogin

If you’d rather speak to us, reach out to our Client Experience team.

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