What’s the first thing you think of when I say popup boxes? Probably something like: Ugh, those annoying boxes that make me want to leave a website?
Yep, those are the ones I’m talking about.
It’s true, most people hate popup boxes but the truth is they are used because they work.
- Entrepreneur.com increased their sales by 162%, subscriptions by 86% thanks to pop-ups.
- Visual Website Optimizer upped sign-ups by 50% with a pop-up form on the site.
They are a useful tool, and if you put a bit of thought into them, you can use them effectively without annoying your web visitors.
Monika Jansen and I sat down to talk about popup boxes in the 5 Business Rules series. Watch the video or read on for tips.
Google and Popup boxes
When I talk to clients about popup boxes, I often get the question, “Won’t Google penalize me if I use popup boxes?” Not in most cases.
Popup boxes have become an umbrella term for a variety of formats that help with lead generation, and that has led to some confusion. Google is not going to penalize you for a reasonable size box that takes up a portion of your screen.
What they do want to avoid are elements that block content, this comes in two forms:
- Full screen popup boxes that cover up all content and are difficult to get out of.
- Interstitials: intermediary screens that force you to view content (often ads) before you can access the link you were really after.
If you use popups that still allow users to easily view your content you should be okay.
Mobile Note: A box that is a reasonable size on a desktop may in fact take up a full screen on mobile and get you penalized, so use mobile boxes with caution.
Be smart about how you use popups boxes
While Google’s rules seem strict to some, the truth is they are trying to give users a good experience, and avoid sites that annoy them. This should be a guiding principle for all user experience.
Think about it, if you’re annoyed at a site for filling your screen with popups, will you give them your email address? No way!
The key is to be smart about using popup boxes. That means the popup doesn’t need to come up as soon as a user lands on the page. Give them a chance to read some of your content and learn about you, before you ask them for their email.
Tip: Set your popup to appear 20 seconds after a user visits a page, or has scrolled halfway down the page.
While you will miss the opportunity to capture everyone, you’ll likely be more successful if you focus on the users who have spent some time with you.
Your offer must be valuable
Even if you are smart about how you use popup boxes, your message must be relevant and valuable. If your popup offer doesn’t give a user something they want, then you’ve wasted the opportunity to capture their information.
For example: if someone is on your website reading about social media and then see a popup offering tips to write a press release, there’s a disconnect. Even if you offer several services, try to customize your offer to the content a user is viewing.
Oodles of popup options
I mentioned earlier that popup boxes are an umbrella term for a variety of formats. While most people think of popup boxes as the box that appears in the center of your screen the truth is there are lots of options when it comes to popups including:
- Ribbons: A message that appears on the top or bottom of your screen
- Slide In: A less intrusive box that appears in the bottom corner
- Scroll Mat: An offer that appears from the top and pushes content down.
Popup boxes can be effective, and they don’t have to suck for your site visitors. Just be smart about them and think about what would make you enter your email into a popup box.
Need help? Don’t be afraid to ask us.
