It amazes me, again and again, every time I split test landing pages with and without website countdown timers. Whenever I add a small countdown clock to a lead page, I see more opt-ins, more engagement in giveaway share pages/widgets, and more sales in sales and checkout pages.
In fact, many studies and experiments have proven that using countdown timers in marketing campaigns results in improved results. That is why you see many marketers utilize online website countdown timers in their funnels.
Why should you use countdown timers on web pages?
- Create a sense of urgency — People act fast when triggered by an emotion, especially Urgency and scarcity. Countdowns are proven to be one of the most effective ways to entice urgency without any additional mechanics. Put a countdown timer on top of the email subscription form and see how quickly people sign up.
- Get people’s attention — One of the fantastic facts about countdown widgets on websites is that they are animated. Animated objects or motions as a whole take people’s attention. In this era where a typical internet user is bombarded with tons of ads every day, it’s hard to get people’s attention regardless of age, location, or affinity group. Since countdown timers are animated and equipped with numbers, people’s eyes take them.
- Display the right local date and time — Suppose you want to add a countdown timer to a sales page promotion that closes at 5 PM PST today. How does a person in UTC actually know which is the absolute deadline for him/her?
- Confirm you are serious — You can display a final date and time as a text (ex: Offer closes today at 23.59 EST), but they are not as powerful and eye-opening as a countdown clock widget on the webpage.
- Personalize countdown timer widget according to the visitor — Current technology allows website owners to target people individually instead of mass targeting. This allows for displaying unique countdown timers for each person based on visiting number, location, and more.
- Push users to make a purchase — Countdown timers can push visitors to make a purchase by using psychological tricks, i.e., creating a demand. Users who feel like they might not be able to buy something tomorrow will likely buy it today.
When to use website countdown timers
Here are seven occasions you can use countdown add-ons on your blogs, websites, and landing pages.
- Lead funnels: If you are using lead generation as a part of your marketing strategy, using countdown widgets could increase conversions. Most page builders, such as Webflow, Wix, Clickfunnels, Unbounce, and Brizy, provide countdown widgets as elements. But those are limited in customization in most cases.
- Sales pages: Some countdown clock generators are dynamic, meaning they have options for you to specify what to do when the timer hits zero and repeat the countdown timer. Also, some countdown generators allow you to direct traffic to another page by defining a destination URL. If you will use it, make sure to use a quality traffic tracker tool like ClickMagick or a link rotator tool. Whether running a one-off sales offer or an evergreen promotion, you can embed countdown timers on web pages to boost conversions.
- Deadline funnels: One of the most significant issues of regular countdowns is time synchronization. Utilize these tools to embed the countdown timer on every page and part of the entire funnel, regardless of whichever platforms you’re using.
- Giveaway funnels: One of the best ways to encourage user engagement in an online sweepstakes or social media contest is to add a countdown timer at the top. Online giveaway tools like UpViral have a countdown timer as a landing page element. However, you can use a sticky countdown timer bar at the top to emphasize ending date.
- Event pages: Have a special occasion to celebrate? Create a simple website on platforms like Brizy and display your countdown clock widget.
- Checkout pages: Place a countdown timer on your checkout page(s) and compare the conversion rate before and after.
- Registration forms: Create urgency by displaying a countdown widget near the form. Notice how conversion rates differ.
Website countdown timers vs. email countdown timers
Recently, I shared a list of the best email countdown timers, and I want to compare their features against those of HTML countdown timers for websites.
- Email countdown timers are animated images (i.e., GIF images), while email countdown timers are powered by HTML (via iframe) or Javascript.
- Website countdown timers have more customization features like editing appearance with CSS and embedding JS scripts. However, email timers are limited in customization.
- Redirecting page traffic to another page is only possible with website countdown timers.
7 Best Website Countdown Timers
You can embed the timer widget on your website by copying and pasting the HTML code on your site’s source code.
Elfsight’s Countdown timer widget
Elfsight is one of the best website widget providers, with over 90 powerful applications. Elfsight’s countdown timer is an easy-to-use responsive website countdown clock widget that will look beautiful on any platform.
Here are the key features of Elfsight:
- Visual editor – See exactly how the widget will look when embedded on your website
- Mobile responsive designs
- Beautiful countdown timer types
- Change colors, labels of time units, fonts, animation type, and more
- Set start and end time
- Three post-timer options: Disable the appearance of the timer on the webpage, replace the countdown timer with a message, or redirect traffic to a URL after the timer hits zero
- Add custom call-to-action text and a CTA button at the bottom of the countdown clock, making the whole timer clickable.
- Holidays and specific events such as black Friday focused countdown widget themes.
- Several widget position options: Inline, Top banner, and floating top and bottom countdown bar positions.
- Restart the countdown timer after a specific time.
Here is an example of the Elfsight website countdown timer:
Create your Elfsight timer
You can also register your account using this link to create your countdown clock.
The video below walks you through Elfsight’s countdown timer widget editor.
Or use the free HTML countdown timer widget builder below. Choose a template, click on the “Continue with this template” button at the bottom, edit your countdown timer, and click on the “Add to website” button to get your countdown timer’s embed code.
Elfsight is an online service where you can find many apps, such as YouTube Gallery, and Social media feed aggregators, such as Instagram Feed widget, to power up your website. It has a unique pricing structure for the countdown app.
Elfsight is free to get started. However, the free plan will carry Elfsight branding on your countdown timers (which is a distraction if you especially intend to use them on your sales pages), and views are capped at 200. Paid plans have more features, and the branding has been removed.
- Basic — $6/mo – Unlimited websites, 5,000 views, 3 widgets
- Pro — $12/mo – Unlimited websites, 50,000 views, Advanced customizations, 9 widgets, 3 projects, 1 collaborator
- Premium — $24/mo – Unlimited websites, 150,000 views, Advanced customizations, 21 widgets, 9 projects, 3 collaborator
Its “All Apps” pack is costlier but allows you to use all 90+ widgets at a collectively cheaper price. Furthermore, Enterprise plans for freelancers, agencies, and marketing firms with higher limits exist.
Click here to create your countdown timer on Elfsight for free.
Common Ninja’s Countdown plugin
Common Ninja, like Elfsight, provides hundreds of plugins for upgrading your website. Among them, there are several countdown widgets.
- Countdown – Inline countdown timer
- Countdown bar – Sticky bar with a countdown clock displaying the top or bottom of the page
- Countdown to download – Lock content for a specific period
Also, Common Ninja has other count widgets, such as number counters and visitor count trackers.
Common Ninja’s Countdown widget is the ultimate timer you would need. It provides all the features you may look for.
Here are the main features of Common Ninja’s Countdown widget:
- Visual editor: Easily create a countdown widget for your marketing campaigns without coding. Common Ninja’s no-code countdown widget builder includes customization options, device-specific editing tools (i.e., unique designs for mobile users), element visibility control, and more.
- Two timer types: Count to date and Evergreen. The evergreen countdown type has an option to set a countdown expiration date.
- Post countdown options: You can hide the countdown plugin from your webpage or show a message. The [post countdown] message interface can be customized to show a call-to-action button, timer (which implies the timer has hit zero), and confetti.
- Customize the countdown widget: Select an animation type (options are normal, flip, tick, and dissolve) and color skin and main colors for your countdown timer. You can also go deeper and utilize advanced customization options to change appearance from the element level. Moreover, Common Ninja provides custom styles and a custom CSS field to truly make a unique countdown clock!
Here’s a countdown clock created using Common Ninja:
Pricing
Common Ninja’s countdown plugins are free to use as long as the total view count doesn’t exceed 300 per month. However, you must upgrade to a paid subscription plan for high-traffic websites, to unlock advanced customization features and remove branding from widgets.
Click here to check out Common Ninja.
Powr’s Countdown timer
Powr, like Elfsight, is an online service that provides valuable tools and widgets for website owners and marketers. For example, if you need a sales countdown timer, testimonials widget, pricing table widget, or a comments form plugin, Powr has dedicated widgets.
Its countdown timer app for websites is one of the easiest-to-use web countdown clock widgets.
Here are why:
- Customizable — Powr’s countdown timer plugin lets you change the colors, fonts, borders, backgrounds, etc., to resonate with your placements and brand color palette.
- Live editing – The WYSIWYG editor lets you efficiently adjust the appearance of the online countdown clock. No more going back and forth between live preview and editing modes!
- Count Down or Count Up — Count down to date to create urgency or count up from a number for great social proof. Perfect for product launches and new releases.
- Localize – Do you want to translate timer details into your local languages? No problem.
- Mobile responsive — Your animated timers will look beautiful on both desktop and mobile devices.
- Message During and After Count — Display different messages during counting once it’s reached 0 so your visitors know that a sale or event is over.
- Cloud Synched — One of the best features of the Powr Countdown Timer plugin is that it is cloud synchronized. It means you can re-edit the timer again and use the timer in your sales funnels, giveaway pages, solo ad campaigns, websites, and tools that work anywhere!
How to make a countdown widget using Powr
Powr’s Countdown app is equipped with many customization options. Watch the following video for more details:
Powr provides these options:
- Seven timer types – Countdown to date, Countdown time, Countdown time per visitor, Countdown number per visitor, Count up number, Count up number per visitor, Count up from a date
- Enable/disable label appearance and change count label wording
- Set countdown timer widget position – Fixed and Default (place code where you want to display timer)
- Link countdown widget to a page
- Add CTA button
- Change behavior after the count – Display the counter, Display a message, and repeat the counter.
- Collect payments
- Set countdown timer animation
- Change font family, size, and colors of countdown timer and texts
- Add custom CSS and JavaScript codes
Powr takes the local time on your computer in the time settings of the countdown widget. So, you might want to convert your time to the correct timezone.
HTML code for countdown timer
Click on the publish button at the top right corner of the header. You will see a page similar to the given screenshot below.
Copy the code and paste it into the HTML editor of your landing page builder. The best part is that Powr’s countdown timer is not capped in views nor limited to where you can use it. That means you can use the Powr’s countdown widget unlimited times anywhere!
Here is an example of Powr website countdown timer:
So, what about the pricing?
Powr countdown timer pricing
Powr’s Countdown Timer app is free for life! If you upgrade to the Business plan, you can access 60+ other apps like the Photo gallery, Count up timer, Holiday countdown gadget, Social feed, and Comments.
Click here to get the Powr Countdown app for free.
TickCounter
TickCounter is an online countdown timer widget creator with multilingual and timezone support.
Features:
- Unlimited counters
- Visual editor
- Countdown from twenty years in the future
- Use preferred timezone
- Add or remove the time units you need, which include items like years, weeks, and months.
- Localize timer widget with 50+ supported languages
- SSL encryption
- Three On-finish options (stop counting on zero, keep counting up, or repeat every preferred time (recurring countdowns))
- Unique web countdown timer page (see an example from here)
- Easy integrations
Here is a live version of the TickCounter’s countdown timer:
Tickcounter’s free plan lets you have unlimited counters with a 1,000,000 view limit per month. However, the free plan comes with the Tickcounter branding. Its sole premium plan, Pro, costs $10/mo. It allows recurring countdown timers, and neither ads nor branding are shown. Enterprise packages are available for agencies and high-traffic websites based on volume upon request.
CountingDownTo
CountingDownTo is another countdown clock maker with an international timezone and multilingual support.
Key features:
- Customizable event date and time and title
- Localize timer with language support and timezone selector
- Flexible repeat modes (repeat timer hourly, daily, weekly, etc.)
- Flexible layout and sizing
- Display the date on the countdown
- Visual effects
- Link the countdown widget
- Four embed locations: You can display the countdown clock created on CountingDownTo within page content, fixed at the top of the page, fixed at the bottom of the page, or make it a full page counter.
CountingDownTo has two widget builders: The old one (with more features) and the new one (with a fresh interface and modern designs). At the moment, some features are limited on the new builder. However, you can always create a widget using the previous builder.
Here is the live version of a countdown clock created on CountingDownTo’s new builder:
CountingDownTo has two paid plans. One is based on a monthly subscription, while the second one is a lifetime plan with a one-time payment.
TimeAndDate
TimeAndDate is dedicated to providing timers, world clocks, calendars, timezones, and weather widgets. It offers a free countdown timer for your website. The TimeAndDate countdown timer is highly configurable—you can display it in milliseconds.
Main features:
- The countdown is accurate (even if the user’s computer clock is wrong)
- Choices regarding DST — Different options on how to deal with daylight saving time (DST) with regard to your countdown timer.
- Timezones are supported
- Select which units to display (from days to milliseconds)
- Highly configurable – choose different backgrounds, text options, colors, and fonts
- No registration is needed — the HTML code is available immediately
- Countdown timer number customization – Multiple options such as counter modes, what to do when time has passed
- Different customization for when time has not yet passed and has passed
HTML powers TimeAndDate’s countdown timer widget. Here is an example countdown clock with the birthday theme.
Registration is not required to use TimeAndDate’s website countdown timer widget. Although it does not have features like the linking countdown widget and advanced color customization, TimeAndDate would be a great free option if you are looking for a simple counter widget for an event.
VClock
Vlock is an online service that lets you create simple timers, including countdown timers from a specific time or date.
Features:
- Add ‘Reset’ and ‘Stop’ buttons on counters
- Add sounds effects
- Three options when the timer’s on zero: Stop the timer, Restart the timer, Run as a stopwatch
Here is a live demo of the VClock free countdown timer for the website:
Like TimeAndDate, the VClock website countdown clock widget is free to use, and no registration is needed.
Final words on Best website countdown timers
Countdown timers are fun, bring readers’ attention to a specific part of the web page, and radically improve conversion rates. In fact, I have yet to find a high-converting sales page or checkout page without a countdown section.
Although you can design a countdown timer with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or find a countdown HTML template in Codepen, why would you worry when there are tools to make them easily?
In this article, you discovered why and when to use countdown timers on websites and the best sites to generate visually appealing countdown widgets.
So, what is your favorite tool on this list? Share your opinions below in the comments.