How to Optimize Pop-Ups on Your Website | Institution Enterprises
The 3-Second Recap:
- getting web traffic is hard enough
- pop-ups are turning away potential customers
- 60-80+% of people leave a website due to pop-ups
- learn how to make pop-ups more effective and less hated
Everyone Hates Pop Ups…So Why Do We Have Them??
The short answer? Because your marketing agency refuses to get with the times and still insists you need them.
Honestly. I don’t know ANYBODY who actually enjoys an intrusive pop-up right as they are trying to read some information or peruse some potential purchase. Yet, your agency is still building them into your website, and designing them poorly.
Let’s make a distinction here about pop-ups: By far, the most intrusive and annoying pop-ups are for ads. If this is what you have on your website, then we can’t really help you. You are putting other brands ahead of your own. Hopefully the money is worth it.
However, there are also the “subscription” and “discount” pop-ups that most websites use. While these are still intrusive, they can be an important and effective part of your lead development strategy when done correctly.
For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing on these types of pop-ups.
Well, Do Pop-Ups At Least Work?
First, let’s define what we mean by “work”. What is the goal with your pop-up?
The most common purpose for pop-ups is to collect user information…like an email address. This allows you to start building a “leads bank” and start connecting with potential customers. This is a good and important thing for any business looking to grow.
According to most available data, the average conversion rate of your pop-up is somewhere between about 3-11%. This is highly dependent on how well the pop-up is designed (most are designed poorly).
On the other hand, research indicates that somewhere between about 60-80+% of users will “abandon” (i.e. leave) a website because of an intrusive pop-up!
Wow! When put in that kind of context, you really need to reevaluate the pop-ups on your website…
How Should We Use Pop-Ups?
Let’s not abandon pop-ups all together. But instead, let’s consider them with some discernment.
A pop-up should make it easier for a visitor to connect with your brand, without turning them away. Afterall, you have probably put a lot of time, money, and energy into funneling people to your website…now that they are there, let’s not piss them off!
If your website provides information, then a pop-up should make it easy for a user to subscribe to an email list that pushes new content to them, without getting in the way of the content they are currently viewing.
If your website is for selling your product, then a pop-up should offer them an incentive to complete a purchase. Such as an immediate discount, without getting in the way of them looking through your catalog.
If you are just looking to collect leads for your services with a pop-up, then it should be convenient and simple for them to inquire for more information, without preventing them from obtaining the important brand and sales info that is on your website.
When a pop-up gets in the way of the user experience, it is considered “intrusive”. This is a big turn off.
How Do We Make Pop-Ups Less Intrusive?
Sensing a theme here? So, how do we improve our pop-ups? Here are some best practices when it comes to designing pop-ups:
- Please, please, please let your visitor VISIT the site before you slam their screen with your pop-up. This is easily accomplished by setting a timed, scroll-triggered, or exit-intent trigger on your pop-up
**PRO-TIP: Research shows that pop-ups after 8 seconds convert better (34.57%) than those shown before or after.**
- Fewer cells to fill improves conversions (i.e. just collect the most important info, not their life story)
- Graphics and pictures improve conversions
- Design the pop-up to make life easier for the user, not for your sales team
- Some people engage with gamified (i.e. spin-the-wheel) pop-ups, some people don’t
- Offering an immediate discount in order to collect an email address is a great incentive, and provides instant gratification…however, this has become so common place that savvy users now EXPECT a discount every time they shop…be prepared to handle this
- Users tend to engage well with seasonal pop-ups that offer an incentive connected to a certain holiday or event
Can You Fix My Pop-Ups??
Yes.
For a free website audit (we look at SEO and design-including pop-ups) just reach out via our contact form (it might even pop-up soon).
Institution Enterprises provides expert business development consultation and support, specializing in branding, web/digital development, SEO, and marketing.
