The New Pop-up, and Why It’s Good for Your Business

Pop-ups. The 11th plague. Ever since the 1990’s, when the internet was in its baby feet, people understood that pop-ups were bad. They look bad, and often contain viruses and spyware. People learned to completely ignore the presence of pop-ups, close them immediately the moment one of them suddenly opens, and install programs and ad-blockers in order to completely avoid their presence on their computer.

And yet, you need to know how to integrate pop-ups on your business website.

Many old ‘trends’ have been making a comeback on the internet since the beginning of the new decade: the full, packed design has become minimalistic, like on old websites; distribution lists – those same emails automatically sent which inform of any changes and sales on the website – have become a useful tool for online shopping aficionado; the pop-up has also become a popular tool found on e-commerce websites, and today, any self-respecting website greets its visitors with a pop-up ad. What’s the secret? Knowing how to do it right.

Why do you need a pop-up for your website?

The pop-up is a Call to Action. It calls on the user to be impressed by a collection or sale going on. But more importantly, it calls upon the user to leave their details by you (email address, Facebook page). When you have their details, you get the chance to convince the user to return to your website for the second and the third time.

And as it turns out, it works: a test run after the embedment of a pop-up on a website brought an over 1000% increase in conversion rates.

Another website that would get less than 10 registrations a day chose to embed a pop-up on the entrance page. The number of registrants to the website rose to 150 users a day.

Imagine walking down a long avenue full of restaurants. You’re hungry, but you’re not hungry enough to sit down at the first restaurant you see – you have options to choose from a wide range of different restaurants, and you plan to sit at the best restaurant for you – one that will fit with what they are offering and the price.

You examine one restaurant, it seems nice but a little empty of people – the food smells good, but you’re still just not convinced.

You walk past another restaurant. It’s jam packed, it seems to be very popular, but the prices seem a little expensive, so you move on. At the third restaurant, you’re greeted by the hostess: “Good evening, here at the restaurant we’re going to treat you like a king. We are the leaders in our field and we will ensure that you find what to eat. In addition, with every meal you order you’ll get a 10% discount for your next meal. Your friend also eat at this restaurant often, and have recommended it more than once. If you want to hear about additional sales in the future, leave your details and we’ll contact you.” Which restaurant would you choose? It’s safe to assume that you’d pick the third.

The pop-up is the hostess for your website. It provides you with the opportunity to explain to the user – Why surf your site? Why should he browse the different items? What can you give him that he won’t find anywhere else? A discount? Free delivery? Who’s recommended you – a recognized fashion blog? The New York Times? His good friends?

Example of a modern pop-up
Example of a modern pop-up

The modern pop-up has changed its form: It knows that the user is deterred by pop-ups, and the moment the user sees one the site will lose credibility in the user’s eyes. This is why the pop-up works from a friendly place.

There are different types of pop-ups, which can appear in different places on the website: They can appear on the entrance to the homepage, in a certain category, on the purchase page or when the user leaves your website. Each pop-up has a purpose of its own, and its appearance will look different on each part of the website.

These are the iron rules of pop-ups today:

– They no longer pop up and don’t appear as a separate tab. Today the pop-up is an integral part of the website – it appears within the website. (There are those who make a differentiation and call the old style of ad “pop-up” and the new style “pop-in”, though for convenience sake I’ll keep calling it a pop-up).

– It is minimalistically designed, doesn’t shout out with font and color to get the user’s attention, and doesn’t call for bold actions such as “click here”.

– It will offer users added value: a discount, information on the website, presentation of a new online product, expert recommendations or recommendations by Facebook friends, an offer to download or receive by mail a unique file or invitation to take some action on the site (for instance “vote now” or “help us decide”).

– The same added value comes with a condition: Interested in getting what we’re offering? Sign up for the website/sign up for our newsletter/like our page. The added value depends on the conversion, and as the value is more tempting, so are the chances that the user will perform the conversion.

– Its message must be clear, understood and as non-deceptive as possible: explain exactly what you want and expect from the reader. Any attempt at cleverness will distract the user, and very likely annoy him.

– Emphasized button for closing the pop-up. This can be a large X, it can be an arrow pointing “Continue to Site”. It’s important that the button be obvious enough. This can be to give the feeling that no one is forcing you to use the pop-up, and it is merely a tool serving the website.

If you are interested in increasing the conversion rate on your website, a pop-up is a proven tool whose embedment will do wonders. However, when you characterize it, you must walk on a very thin rope, but when it’s tastefully designed, it can only do well for your business.

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