40 Welcome Message Examples for Your Website (Copy and Paste)

A website welcome message is the first thing a new visitor reads on your store: a short greeting that says what you sell and gives one clear next step. The good ones fit in a headline and one sentence, match the visitor (first visit, returning, from an ad) and offer something real, like 10% off the first order.

Below are 40 welcome messages written for online stores. Each popup message comes as a full set: headline, body, button and a polite "no thanks" line, plus who to show it to.

What is a website welcome message?

A website welcome message is the short text that greets a visitor when they land on your store. It tells them where they are, what you sell and what to do next.

On an online store it usually shows up in four places:

• A welcome popup on the first visit, often with a first-order offer. See these welcome popup examples for designs from real brands.
• The homepage hero, the headline and line of text at the top of your homepage.
• The welcome email a new subscriber gets right after signing up.
• The welcome SMS for shoppers who opted in to texts.

This page is about the words. If you want the design and layout side, start with the popup basics.

How to write a welcome message for your website

Write one headline and one sentence. Say what you sell, give one reason to stay, and end with a button that says what happens next.

Every good welcome message has the same five parts:

A few rules make the difference between a message people read and one they close:

• Keep it short. A headline of up to about 8 words and one sentence of body copy. Visitors skim.
• Make the button say the result. "Get my 10% off" or "Show me the bestsellers", never "Submit" or "Sign up".
• Keep the "no thanks" line polite. "No thanks" or "Maybe later" works. Lines like "No thanks, I'll pay full price" make visitors feel judged, and we don't recommend them.
• Match the visitor. A first-time visitor, a returning shopper and someone who clicked an Instagram ad need different words.
• Offer something real. A discount, free shipping, a gift, early access or simply help choosing. A greeting with nothing behind it gets closed.

For more on popup copy in general, see our guide to writing a popup message.

40 welcome message examples you can copy

Copy any line below and swap the placeholders: [Brand] for your store name, [product] for what you sell, WELCOME10 for your own code. Each group ends with a "Show it to" line, because the right message depends on who is reading it.

First visit, no discount (4)

Not every store wants to lead with a discount. These greet a new visitor and point them to the best place to start.

Show it to: first-time visitors, after 5 seconds or 30% scroll, on any page except checkout.

First-order offer (6)

The classic welcome popup: an offer in exchange for an email address (or a phone number). Pick the offer type that fits your margins.

Show it to: new visitors who are not subscribers yet, after 5 to 10 seconds. Leave out shoppers already on your list. For more designs built around a signup offer, see these email popup examples.

Example 10 works best as a two-step popup: email first, phone number on the second step, so one field never blocks the other. If you use unique codes on Shopify, each subscriber gets their own code and you can apply it at checkout automatically.

Homepage welcome copy (4)

This is the text at the top of your homepage, not a popup. It comes from your store's own theme, so you edit it in your store platform. Write it once, keep it short, and let the popup handle offers.

Show it to: everyone. The homepage hero is the one welcome message every visitor sees, so it should work without knowing who they are. Only promise what's true (shipping times, returns).

Returning visitors: welcome back (5)

A returning visitor already knows you. Don't greet them like a stranger. Remind them of what they looked at, what's new, or an offer they haven't used.

Show it to: returning visitors. Use 15 and 19 for visitors who viewed a product page but haven't bought (visited pages), 17 for subscribers who haven't ordered yet, and 18 for existing customers.

By where they came from (3)

Where a visitor comes from tells you what they want. A shopper from another country wants to know you ship to them. A shopper from an ad wants the thing in the ad.

Show it to: 20 to visitors from a specific country; 21 to visitors from a specific traffic source (for example, a UTM tag from your Instagram ads); 22 to first-time visitors on exit intent, so it only appears when they're about to leave.

By industry (10)

The structure stays the same in every store. The voice changes. Here is one welcome message per industry, from fashion to kids.

Show it to: first-time visitors who are not subscribers, after 5 seconds. For a jewelry shop or another high-ticket store, try a later trigger (time on site or the second page view), so the visitor has seen a few pieces first.

For a jewelry shop, the welcome message often works better with early access or a service (engraving, sizing help, gift wrapping) than with a big discount. Test both.

After signup (2)

The message after the signup is a welcome message too. Show the code right away, then say what comes next.

Show it to: everyone who just signed up, as the second step of the same popup. Use 34 if you run double opt-in, so new subscribers know why they haven't got the code yet.

Welcome email (3)

The welcome email continues the popup's promise. Here are subject lines and opening lines only. For full welcome emails, see these 16 welcome email examples.

Send it: right after signup. Use the same offer, the same code and the same tone as the popup that collected the email.

Welcome SMS (3)

A welcome text has one job: deliver the offer in under 160 characters. Put your brand name first so the shopper knows who's texting, and always include how to opt out.

Send it: only to shoppers who clearly agreed to receive texts. Message 39 is the confirmation text for a recurring program: the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices (May 2023) recommend confirming the opt-in with the program name, how to get help, how to opt out, the message frequency and any fees. This is not legal advice; check the rules for each country you text.

Character counts include the placeholders as written; recount once you fill in your brand name, link and numbers. For popups that collect phone numbers, see these SMS popup examples.

Welcome popup examples from the OptiMonk Popup Library

Here are 10 welcome popups from the OptiMonk Popup Library. The agent designed each one for a real brand. Look at the words: each one does something specific that makes the welcome message work.

1. The Clean Glow (designed for Florence by Mills)

"welcome to the family", all lowercase, then 10% off and a promise to "stay in the loop with all things clean beauty". The friendly tone matches the brand, and the button ("reveal my code") says the result. The way out is a soft "maybe later".

See this popup

2. The Shoreline Immersive (designed for Jura Whisky)

"A warm welcome from Jura", then a 10% discount "reserved" for the first bottle and a question: "Where should we send it?" The question turns the email field into the natural next step.

See this popup

3. Campus Fullscreen (designed for GANT)

"Welcome to the House of GANT" sets the tone, and the body names one real product the 10% applies to. A named product feels more concrete than "your first order".

See this popup

4. The Heritage Editorial (designed for Burberry)

"The Burberry welcome" is calm and short. The 10% is in the body, not the headline, next to updates on new collections. For a luxury brand, a quiet welcome fits better than a shouted discount.

See this popup

5. The Editorial Pantry (designed for Momofuku)

"Join the Momofuku Fam." invites the visitor in, and the body lists exactly what the store sells: "noodles, salts, and sauces". A first-time visitor learns what's on offer in one line.

See this popup

6. The Editorial Heart (designed for Reformation)

A creative welcome message: "Make it a date." and 15% off, then a compliment, "You look great by the way." One unexpected line makes the popup sound like a person, not a form.

See this popup

7. The Puppy Warm Welcome (designed for BARK)

"Welcome Home, Pup!" speaks to the dog as much as the owner. The offer isn't a percentage: it's free toys for a year with a subscription, and the button says exactly that ("Claim my free toys").

See this popup

8. The Dewy Fullscreen (designed for Glossier)

A welcome message with no discount: "Let's celebrate you", with a birthday surprise and early access to new drops. It shows you can grow your list with a reason to join instead of a coupon.

See this popup

9. The Collection Reveal (designed for SKIMS)

"Don't miss a drop" leads with what fans care about: new launches. The 15% welcome discount comes with SMS alerts for the next collection, so the phone number has a clear reason.

See this popup

10. The Folk Studio (designed for Folkify)

"Welcome to the Studio" and 15% off "when you join our artisan community". A small store can sell belonging as well as products. The way out is gentle: "I'll just browse".

See this popup

When to show a welcome message (and to whom)

Show a welcome message after the visitor has had a moment to look around, and only to the people it's written for. The same popup on every page, to everyone, every visit, is how welcome messages get annoying.

All of these are targeting options in OptiMonk: returning visitor recognition, visited pages, traffic source, country targeting, exit intent, subscriber recognition, Klaviyo lists and segments, and frequency limits.

On mobile, keep the welcome popup smaller and easy to close. Google's guidance on intrusive interstitials and dialogs advises against overlays that block the main content, so avoid a full-page popup the moment a visitor lands from search.

Test your welcome message

You won't know which welcome message works best for your store until you test it. Change one thing at a time:

• The copy: "Welcome to [Brand]" vs. "Here's 10% off your first order".
• The offer: 10% off vs. free shipping vs. a free gift.
• The whole design: a small card popup vs. a fullscreen welcome mat.

OptiMonk has built-in A/B testing for the copy, the offer or the whole design. A holdout test shows how much revenue the welcome popup adds compared with showing nothing, and revenue analytics shows which version brought in more sales, not just more signups.

Write and launch a welcome popup in one sentence

With OptiMonk you don't build the welcome popup by hand. Describe it in one sentence, for example:

"Welcome popup for first-time visitors with 10% off their first order."

The agent designs the popup on brand, writes the welcome message, and builds a separate mobile version.

On Shopify, you can also create unique discount codes and apply them automatically at checkout.

After publishing, the same conversation keeps going: ask it to A/B test a second welcome message and roll out the winner.

See how it works for email popups.

FAQ

Write your first welcome message today

Pick a message from this page, describe your welcome popup in one sentence, and the agent designs it for your brand, writes the copy and builds a separate mobile version.

Free to start. No credit card.