How to Create a Popup?
Are pop-ups annoying ads or an effective marketing tool? Let's check what they are suitable for and see what you can expect when using them. We won't cover particular software for pop-up creation but talk more about pop-up design in general and how you can improve the performance.
Contents
What Are Pop-Ups?
Pop-up is a window that appears on top of the website's viewport at a specific time. The user can't ignore it and has either to agree/disagree with the pop-up's call to action or close the window.
Basically, pop-ups are used to collect leads for e-mail distribution. However, it is not the only solution that pop-up windows offer: you can also share your news, promo codes and offer new products.
Pop-ups can be configured for a specific website or purpose. For example, you can:
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Set the pop-up on the desired page
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Set the pop-up at a particular place on the page when scrolling
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Set the pop-up with a specified delay
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Set the pop-up for a specific user action: when the user clicks a button or wants to leave the page.
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Place the pop-up overlapping the page's content to grab attention completely.
Pop-ups today are more associated with high bounce rates. Explosive growth in conversion rates is less common. Users are ready to turn a blind eye to banners, chats, contextual messages, and newsletters, but incorrectly configured pop-up displays annoy them the most. Bounce rates are on the rise but where pop-ups are misused.
Why Use Pop-Ups?
Pop-up windows help get leads that you can use later for newsletters or any activity you can imagine. Basically, you have personal contacts, and you can ask people anything you need regarding your business. If you want to know their opinion — write them a letter. If you have a huge sale — notify your loyal customers. And if you have something to share with your users — share the news. Pop-ups provide you with personal contacts and befriend you with your customer. It is a good idea to broaden your business as you have an extra cheap media channel for people who already know you. This means that you can create other campaigns on the internet targeted at people who don't know you.
Making Your First Pop-Up
Let's figure out how to make a pop-up correctly: what elements it should contain and what you should consider when creating one.
Pop-Up Type
Before getting into details, make sure to pick the type of your pop-up:
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Entry pop-ups
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Exit pop-ups
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Click pop-ups
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Timed pop-ups
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etc.
Each of them is aimed at a specific action and can be shown after a specific time or action. To achieve the desired result, you should plan your pop-up strategy, thinking about your pop-up type.
Headline and Text
Be as brief as possible. You have to formulate the idea and understand what action you want from the user. There are plenty of activities, and here are some of them:
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Learn about the new product
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Get newsletters
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Get discounts, bonuses, freebies, etc.
Describe your offer shortly in the text and create a popup heading that should be bolder and bigger than other text.
Image
Find an image that represents your brand the message you share with the help of the pop-up. Make sure it grabs attention but doesn't overtake the text. It should follow your guidelines and be relatable to the user.
A small, bright image will grab attention and illustrate your proposal. It's good to add a picture when you're offering a lead magnet: you can show a freebie or items that are on sale right now.
Extra Details
You can segment your users in different ways, and here are some ways how you can do that:
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Leave a text box so the customer can enter the name.
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Place a checkbox so the user can confirm hir or her consent to receive the e-mail. You can also add an option to pick specific topics that they want to read about.
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Place a radio button to specify the gender of your customer. However, this might be questionable since not every business needs that information. You can check this ad campaign to see the issue.
Don't make it way too complicated. If the form is too hard to fill in, the user might just go away. Check other popup forms and analyze those that you like. You might find out that you want simple ones with the most critical information in the form of small text and don't have many questions to answer.
Email Input Field
If you want to get an e-mail from your customer and this is the only thing you're after, then make sure to create a big field that the user will see from first sight. Many business owners neglect this rule and place the tiniest fields for the action they want to receive. Don't be like them, or you won't have subscribers.
You can also add domain options so the user won't type lots of text and simply pick the domain from the list. Also, it is harder to make a typo.
CTA Buttons
Create a CTA button text based on the customer's action to perform. It should be as short as possible but also very easy to understand.
Allow customers to go through your content before releasing the pop-up. It shouldn't be a lot of time; 15-20 seconds is enough.
Timing
You can always use analytics to check how much time people spend on your website and count out when exactly you need to show your pop-up.
How to Format a Pop-up to Be User-Friendly
There are several popup forms that annoy every living soul on this planet. Here they are:
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A pop-up window appears on top of the content immediately after entering the website. You haven't yet understood what this website is exactly about, but the owners have already tried to sell you something. Most users never leave their data if they don't know what the website is about, so give them time to get familiar with your content.
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Several pop-ups at once. As soon as you get to the website, you get bombarded with a whole bunch of different stuff: ads, videos, subscriptions, surveys, etc. The user is most likely to leave the service right after the second pop-up.
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Same pop-ups get in the way from time to time. If the users are not interested the first time, they won't get too excited after receiving the tenth pop-up with the same offer.
But you can make pop-ups more effective and friendly!
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Ask users whether they agree that you'll mail them after they leave their e-mail.
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Make the pop-up engaging and responsive so the user can write down the data.
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Make sure that the user can see how to close the pop-up. Many times the red cross is hidden, and you simply can't get to the website and close the website itself.
Tips on Tuning the Pop-up Window
So, here's a shortlist of how to create a pop up.
1. Pick a time to show the campaign when it is not "overlapped" by other pop-ups like a banner with a discount.
2. Offer a gift for the subscription like free shipping. The motivation to subscribe will be higher.
3. Think over the design. Subscription forms with a white and gray background are boring. Make a striking design to attract the user.
4. Set up segmentation. Segment users at the subscription stage so their contacts will be immediately distributed between the necessary lists on your mailer.
5. Make a pop-up plan. You can set up several pop-up windows. To do this, make a plan at what time and on which pages the pop-up windows will appear. You can change them depending on current issues, holidays, discounts, etc.
Conclusion
Pop-ups are suitable for increasing the conversion of any website. They allow you to increase sales, the number of readers, customers, subscribers, traffic and turn one-time buyers into constant fans of the brand. This tool also allows you to competently test changes without additional financial investments. Just pick the type of pop-up, the placement, and the relevant message, add a CTA and enjoy the positive results.
And remember, if done right, the pop-ups don't annoy people. If you follow the rules we have written earlier, you'll be fine. If you are still in doubt, you can always ask us any question, and we will gladly help you with pop-ups.
