Tag Archives: using pop ups to get more email addresses

What’s Up with Pop-ups?

What’s Up with Pop-ups? Popups have been around in several forms throughout the years. Abuse early on in Internet history has given them a bad reputation. However, they have some strategic use when you know how to implement them appropriately they also have some drawbacks. So think carefully before you add them to an advertising campaign.

The Good Side of Popups

Popups give you a way to highlight important information you want to make sure all of your visitors see. For example, if you have a time-sensitive promotion, you can use an interstitial (pop-up) to alert new visitors.

Depending on what country you’re in you may need to show notices for your cookie and privacy policy. A pop-up can act as a way to get notify people visiting your site, rather than hoping they see the agreement button in the header or footer.

Another strategy that works well is using popups as email newsletter subscription forms. When triggered to pop up as people exit the website, these forms are incredibly successful in attracting new subscribers.

The Dark Side of Popups

Google is penalizing websites whose popups negatively impacts user experience, particularly for mobile audiences. Search engine rank is so competitive this move could make it difficult for sites that want to use popups.

There are 3 types of mobile popups that will get you a penalty.

  • Lightbox style popups show up as an overlay but blur out the content underneath.
  • Scrolling popups require moving down the screen to dismiss it.
  • Full-screen popups are no-nos under this algorithm.

Popups have a place in your website marketing campaign, but you have to be aware of their best practices and adhere to them. For example, making it easy to dismiss the popup and targeting specific users, so the popup doesn’t show all the time. Using these 2 techniques will not impede the user experience.

Bottomline

Popups can be an intrusive experience, or they can be a valuable method for driving leads and engagement. Use them carefully and make sure you follow all of Google’s requirements.

Popup Subscription Forms. Should You Use Them?

Popup Subscription Forms. Should You Use Them?
Pop-ups, pop unders, and interstitials. They’ve been around almost as long as the internet, and they’ve had a reputation as an annoyance nearly as long. People have even created software whose sole purpose is to block these interruptions, so it’s safe to say that they’re not well loved. But people keep using them. Why?

How We Use Popups Today

There was a time when the sole purpose for pop-ups was to make sure high paying ads were seen. That’s part of the reason why they’re annoying and frustrating.

However, and these days, popups are primarily used to promote your own email list and similar subscriptions.

Why This Is Better

There will always be people who are annoyed by popups. The fact is most popups today are related to a site they’re already reading, and interested in. So they’re less likely to inspire anger and frustration.

How to Get More Out of Popups

If we want to get more email subscribers, we need to make sure that people are aware of our lists. The best way to do that is to make subscription forms as visible as possible.

Pop ups are great, but there are several ways to get more from them if you do decide to use them:

  • Keep the design clean and avoid garish graphics, ghastly gifs or blaring music.
  • Limit the information you require. This is true of every form on your site, but even more so with popups. If you can get away with just a name and email address, do it!
  • Use persuasive copywriting on your opt in or opt out buttons. Something like “YES! I want to learn how to X” and “No. I have enough Y already” usually works well.
  • Make sure it’s easy to close the popup. If users can’t close them, they might close your site instead.
  • Set up pop ups so they only show once per visit. That way your visitors aren’t bombarded on every page they visit.

The fact is, popups increase opt-ins from 0.4% for a regular sidebar subscription form to 5.5% overall, and that’s a huge gain that’s hard to ignore.

If you want to grow your list, they’re a great way to do just that. While they can be hit and miss, try testing them, perhaps with different messages to see what works for you.

If your site is a valuable resource, and you’re offering an enticing deal in your popup, you’d be surprised at how much a pop-up subscription form can bring.