Website Popups, you see them on almost every site… They annoy, they disrupt, they intrigue. But do they work?Website popup design can either enhance your message or distract from it. But when presented in the right way at the right time for your consumers, popups are a successful tool for website engagement.
Using popups in a variety of ways throughout your website helps convert leads and collect information.
Let’s take a look at the good and the bad of website popup design to find the best ways to engage your audience.
Why Use Popups?
The most basic reason to use pops on your website is to draw the user’s attention to something specific.
Do you have a special offer, breaking news, or an email newsletter? If your popup design is effective, you’ll catch the visitor’s attention and direct them to the desired action on your website.
But do popups get such a bad rap?
The Bad: Annoying
Most of us agree: popups are annoying. The knee-jerk reaction is to click the close-out button immediately after a popup takes over your screen.
And it’s true: most popups do more to distract and annoy than to encourage a visitor to stop, read, and click-through to the desired action.
What makes some of worst popups annoying?
You’ve already interrupted a visitor’s attention. Let’s try not to make it worse with these bad popup habits:
- Bad Timing. Appearing at the wrong time or place sends visitors running away from your site.
- Rude and Demanding. It’s okay to say “please” and encourage rather than demand a click or action.
- Manipulative. There’s no need for guilt, drama, or empty promises.
- No way out. Give the visitor a way to ignore or click out of the popup, or risk losing them all together.
The key to better success with popups? Make an annoying thing less annoying.
Why bother? Popups do work.
The Good: Higher Conversion
Despite the stigma of annoying, popups improve conversion rates throughout your website–from the homepage to a shopping cart.
Here are a few popup examples:
- An exit popup directs visitors back to take action before they leave your website
- Ask for user experience information with a popup survey
- Add a special offer at the end of a sale with a shopping cart popup
- Build your email database with email pop ups
- Direct visitors to more information on your own website with a popup that leads to another article
With many creative uses, don’t dismiss popups as a distraction for your website. Give them a chance to work for you.
Design for Results
Popup design is the key to converting visitors to action. And it’s not all about the “look” of the popup.
As digital marketing expert Gary Vee puts it, “Content is King, but Context is God.”
Popups must bring value. Keep these things in mind for pop ups design:
- Keep it Simple
- Entertain for Attention
- Useless text
- Request ONE Action
- Make it Relevant
Also, remember to design per device. Keep the offer consistent, but design for a mobile popup vs. a desktop popup to work best on these different devices.
The most beautifully designed popup will fail if it is too elaborate or doesn’t speak to the visitor.
Right Time and Place
We’ve all visited a website for the first time only to be hit with a popup page takeover within a second or two of landing on the homepage.
A popup that “pops up” at the wrong time or in the wrong place disrupts a visitor’s experience on your website. It’s a sure way to lose new and repeat visitors.
Take these ideas into considering when planning the timing of your popup:
- Wait for it. Program the timing of the popup a few seconds after the page loads to give a visitor time to absorb the page.
- Block the exit. When the browser hits the bottom of the page, launch your popup to direct your visitors to the next call-to-action.
- Not the homepage. It’s tempting to put a big popup offer on the homepage. Let visitors get to know you before hitting them with the first popup on your site.
- Location is everything. Depending on the offer or desired action, place your popup in the center, across the bottom, or in a corner of the screen.
Bring visitors on a journey through your website with strategic timing and placement of popups.
Not Sure Where to Start?
With so many options for popups, it’s tough to know the best popup offer and style to use if you are new to popups.
Let’s start simple with a few of the best popup ideas.
Free Gift
If your goal is to build a customer database, collecting emails is a great tool to use with a popup.
Offer a free gift. Anything from a free download, a coupon, or something sent by snail mail works well.
“Free” is a great motivator for action and a pleasing word to see pop up in the middle of your screen.
Survey
People love to share their thoughts about user experiences or products.
Design a popup to offer a discount for completion of a survey. Take the responses and build a customer database. Use the feedback to improve services or user experiences.
First-Timer Offer
Everyone loves a discount!
If your website offers products, a welcome popup with a first-time offer is a great way to encourage the first purchase.
Website Popup Design for Best Results
If you hesitate to add popups to your website, don’t miss out on better conversion rates. Effective website popup design keep visitors engaged and boost your website performance.
But there’s no need to figure it out on your own.
We create effective popup designs and much more. Check out our website ideas for fun. We also work across platforms to keep your brand consistent.
Contact Us for a free consultation! We’ll start fresh or take a look at your current designs and provide recommendations to help you reach your goals.
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