Pop-ups are annoying! That’s why they have a hard time. But why do you still find them on so many websites? Because they work. If you do it right, even for attracting new newsletter subscribers.
In one study, Sumo looked at 1,754,957,675 different pop-ups. The top 10% of pop-ups achieved a conversion rate of 9.3%. The average conversion rate of all pop-ups was 3.1%.
What exactly is a pop-up?
When you are on a website in the browser and suddenly a new window opens, it is a pop-up window. This new window visually overlays the actual page.
There are three types of browser pop-ups:
- Standalone browser windows (a new tab is opened).
- Visually independent windows, which are embedded on a page (overlays)
- A browser dialog box (mostly gray)
Nowadays overlays are unmissable in everyday life. They differ in size, positioning, and behavior: Modal overlays visually cover the entire screen and virtually force the attention of the website visitor.
When do pop-ups open?
To open a pop-up, fixed if-then rules are created:
- The user opens a page
- The user leaves a page
- The user clicks a button or hyperlink
- The user moves the mouse over an element
- The User scrolls to a certain point
- The user spends a certain amount of time on the page
- The user uses a certain device
- The user comes from a certain region
- Combination of different conditions
- The user has set a cookie
- and much more
What are pop-ups used for?
The most common use scenarios of pop-ups are:
- Cookie consent management (“cookie banner”)
- Generation of leads (promotion of lead magnets such as newsletters, whitepapers, etc.)
- Promotion of products
- Promotion of other pages (e.g. content)
- Surveys and polls
How can I use pop-ups without being annoying?
In 90% of all cases, pop-ups present an irrelevant offer or are served at an inopportune time. In many cases, the offer and the timing are flawed.
However, if both fit, you will get the visitor to react in a certain way. Even more: it is the most reliable way to trigger the desired action.
The key is intention: users come to a page for a specific reason. Maybe they read the page description in a search engine result page (SERP). Or perhaps they read the text in which the page was linked. This intention is decisive for the page visit. Pop-ups with irrelevant offers are annoying. The primary conversion goal of the page is then not achieved.