Website pop ups – we love to hate them. Also called “interstitials”, these pop ups can get in the way of an otherwise nice website browsing experience. So why do businesses still use them? Well, in short, they work. Or they can work. Let’s take a look at what website pop ups are, how they work, how to use them, and how not to use them.

Can You Use Website Pop Ups?

Pop ups have been around for quite a while and are perhaps most commonly seen on eCommerce sites, promoting new products and sales.

The technology used to create pop ups has gotten better and is more widely accessible than ever before. This means that, regardless of which platform you’ve used to create your website, there are most likely pop up plugins or solutions available to you.

Used for far more than eCommerce sites, interstitials are used to grab attention, increase engagement, and increase dwell time (i.e. keep visitors on the site longer – good for SEO).

Pop ups are downright cheap to implement, easy to test, and can provide additional data and insights about your website visitors. However the rationale for, and benefits of, pop ups might not seem terribly straightforward for service-based businesses. A few examples of uses:
• Invite visitors to join your mailing list for exclusive tips and information.
• Direct visitors to a certain page whose content is relevant to that on the current page.
• Inform visitors of new product lines/services, or communicate operational changes like holiday or seasonal hours.
• Showcase a recent, glowing customer review.

Best Practices for Website Pop Ups

The key to success with pop ups is not to overuse them and to choose the proper time and trigger to deploy them. Some common pop up triggers include:
• arrival on a webpage,
• scrolling through specific content,
• the click of a button or link, and
• exit intent (when a visitor’s mouse travels north, over the header to navigate away from the page).

Pop ups should not trigger immediately when visitors arrive on your website. Give them time to get oriented and choose the trigger that is most suitable for your goal and message.

A final caveat: if you’re considering adding a pop up to your website, be aware that Google’s algorithm is primarily focused on UX, the User Experience. So, ensure your pop up is configured to trigger at an appropriate time and that it’s easy to close. This is especially critical on mobile devices, where pop ups can consume the entire screen. For this reason, some opt to only show pop ups on desktop devices and maybe tablets.

The bottom line on making website pop ups fantastic and not frightening: justify the disruption. Make them useful, make them timely, and ensure a good user experience.

Want to add a pop up to your website, but not sure how or that it makes sense? Schedule a complimentary 20-minute call with us to talk it through.