How to Improve Viewability with a Sticky Widget in Wordpress
If you’re not running a sticky unit in your sidebar/right rail yet, maybe it’s time to start.
One way to improve an ad unit’s viewability is to make sure it remains on the screen. (If you’re unsure what “viewability” is, be sure to check out our FAQ about viewability first!) For WordPress users who routinely have posts that are longer than their sidebars, one method is to place an ad in the final widget of the sidebar and then prevent that widget – sometimes called a fixed or “sticky” widget – from scrolling off the page as the reader scrolls down. This keeps the ad on the page longer, improving its viewability while keeping the ad in the sidebar where it won’t bother readers.
For sites using SHE Media Infuse:
Settings and options:
If you look in the settings for SHE Media Infuse (Settings >> SHE Media Infuse), you'll now see a section for configuring Sticky Ads.
You don’t need to put anything in the two fields in the settings (the ads will be sticky on their own), but this will help you tailor the experience for your site.
Offset from top - this is the amount of pixels you want between the floating ad and the top of the screen. If you have a floating navigation bar, you want to set this for the size of your navigation bar and add on at least 5-10 pixels for padding. (In the example, our site had a sticky navigation bar that was 75 pixels tall)
Stop Element Selector - if you want the ad to stop scrolling when it reaches another part of your site (like your footer), this is the field where you'd put the selector that identifies where it should stop. (Reach out to the support team if you have questions about this one - we can find if for you very quickly)
How to Make Your Ads Sticky:
In the Widgets tab, you can either add a new SHE Media widget, or edit an existing one! You'll now see a checkbox in the widget to turn it into a Sticky Ad.
If you check the box for sticky ad, it will make that widget sticky! This works with both Classic Widgets and the box format.
Note: You can set multiple ads sticky. When the first ad reaches that second ad, it will stop being sticky and the second ad will stick as you scroll.
For WordPress Sites who aren’t using Infuse:
There are other widgets that can make sidebar ads sticky. If you’re a network member, please be advised they will require HTML code and not our drag and drop widgets.
Q2W3 Fixed Widget is one, though that isn’t always compatible with sites using widget blocks. It works similarly as the Infuse settings, only it requires a div ID to stop the scroll.
The Support team can try to help you with these implementations, but we can’t always guarantee that they’ll work with your theme or version of WordPress.
Have questions about this? Let us know at support@shemedia.com We can help you find the Stop ID or help you find a way to create one.