Pop-ups are user interface elements: boxes or windows that appear while you browse the internet to grab your attention.
They are generally used to display ads or notices.
What does pop-up mean?
The term comes from the verb to pop up, meaning to “appear out of nowhere“. In fact, all pop-ups share one feature: they open without the user explicitly asking for them.
Their main purpose is to attract new users.
Keep in mind that besides the most common pop-up ads, there are also pop-ups designed to request or provide additional information.
Types of pop-ups
Let’s start with a simple fact: every business wants to win new customers.
Adding pop-ups to your website is a strategy that should not be underestimated.
They can be used to collect newsletter signups, run surveys, promote offers or special content, and much more.
Here are the main types of pop-ups available.
- click pop-ups are triggered when the user clicks a link, image, call to action or specific word;
- timed pop-ups appear after the visitor has spent a few seconds on a site. To choose the right delay, we suggest running some preliminary analysis in Google Analytics;
- scroll pop-ups appear when the visitor reaches a certain point on the page, usually past the halfway mark;
- entry pop-ups show up as soon as a page loads. They are generally not recommended because they interrupt the user’s browsing;
- exit-intent pop-ups appear just as the visitor shows signs of leaving the tab, for example by typing a new search into the address bar.
How to create effective pop-ups
As we have said, pop-ups are often annoying. Sometimes they slow down browsing. More often, they are seen as real obstacles standing between users and the content they want.
So can you make them more appealing? Absolutely.
Just follow a few useful tips. For example:
- add a headline and subheadline to make it immediately clear what the pop-up is about. Above all, this avoids wasting your readers’ time;
- keep it clean with a simple but eye-catching design;
- do not forget the call to action to prompt the user to act without hesitation.
And if you do not want to take any chances, the advice is always the same: work with web marketing specialists.