There used to be a time when pop-up ads are disadvantages to web design. There are still a few websites today that do not use pop-ups to its advantage, but the majority of web designers and developers know how to use these pop-ups to the benefit of the websites. Forget about the lousy pop-ups of before. Most of them have gone into oblivion now. You can use these pop-ups to enhance customer experience and increase your site’s conversion rate.
If you talk to any ad agency, they’ll tell you one thing about pop-ups: they work. Pop-ups will keep people glued on their screens. They will read about the offers and maybe sign up for a couple of your promos. In fact, many businesses reported having gained revenue of at least $1.1 million from very effective pop-up ads. So, in case your website is suffering from low conversion rates, low website traffic, and a high bounce rate, you may need to consider using pop-ups to pull your site from the doldrums.
Time the Pop-up Well
In the past, pop-ups appear as soon as the user opens the website. This was why it has become so annoying for web visitors. Imagine opening a website and expecting to see a homepage, only to get that experience ruined by a pop-up ad that offers a 10% discount. The web visitors didn’t even have time to browse around your site and get to know your organization. They don’t know yet if they want to take you up on your offer of a 10% discount.
A pop-up ad can be scheduled to appear on the visitors’ screens after 15 seconds of looking at the homepage. You can also time it to appear after at least five-page views. You need to learn how your web visitors navigate your site to have a full understanding of when to time the pop-up.
Pick the Right Format
There are a number of pop-up formats. You can place the pop-up on the side of the screen, so they are non-intrusive. The web visitors can easily ignore the pop-ups if they want. You can use this if you’re afraid of annoying your potential clients.
Then, there’s the lightbox pop-ups. These are very popular. What these pop-ups do is blur the main website and appear in the center of the screen. The web visitor won’t be able to miss the message on the pop-up because they are front and center of the screen. This is effective in trying to retain customers who left items in their shopping carts. You can collect email ads with this format.
Two other less intrusive pop-ups are the email bars and the call-to-action pop-ups. The email bar can appear on the top or bottom of the screen. It is a subtle invitation for the web visitors to sign up for a newsletter. The call-to-action pop-ups take limited space on the screen. They will only come into view if the web user clicks on the call-to-action button. The pop-up will usually be about how the web visitor can either call, subscribe, visit, or join.
Make the Design Cohesive to the Site’s Appearance
A website’s pop-up ads should have the same color, font, and design as the main website. This shows cohesiveness. The web visitors will immediately understand that the website and pop-ups are part of the company. If you use the default template of the pop-up, you will risk making web visitors think that it’s a spam. They will close the window without even browsing your website.
Use Calls-to-action
What’s the very last step of the buying process? Isn’t it to take action? What do you want your web visitors to do after they read your pop-up ad? Do you want them to call your office, make an appointment, subscribe to a newsletter, redeem the coupon, or like your page?
But don’t just put a call-to-action button on the page and call it a day. You have to make that CTA button stand out. That means using contrasting colors on the call-to-action. The most popular colors being used are red, yellow, and black.
Design a Pop-up Specifically for Mobile
Create separate pop-up designs for desktops and mobiles. Do you know that Google penalizes websites with intrusive pop-ups on mobile devices? The search engine wants web visitors to have a good experience browsing the sites it recommends. Since mobile devices use touch instead of mouse pointers, the controls must be larger. That’s easier for web visitors to see.
Pop-ups are extremely important on a website. If you need to make them mobile-friendly first because most of your web visitors access your site through their mobile devices, then go ahead and do it. Pop-ups have become a marketing tool that is indispensable to a site’s conversion strategy.
