What's Popping? 4 Types of Pop-ups You Should Have On Your Website
CONGRATULATIONS! You are the 1000th reader of this post → click here to claim your prize! While modern, pop-up blockers protect us from those kinds of messages nowadays, in the earlier days of the World Wide Web, an average internet user was a “lucky winner” almost every day. When I think about it now, this is probably one of the reasons why people started feeling animosity towards flashy pop-ups. All of those irrelevant fake offers that were in the way of the content we were trying to get to are the prime suspect for why some marketers today are hesitant to use them in their marketing campaigns. That and, well, this: If you Google “pop-ups”, you are not going to get an Ultimate Guide for Creating Pop-ups at the top of search results. You are getting tips on how to block pop-ups and advice on why you should or shouldn’t allow them. While this presents pop-ups in a bad light, you should still not be scared to use them. Because if you look at the numbers, with an average conversion rate of over 3%, pop-ups still work, and that is the only argument they need to prove they are not obsolete. However, we can’t ignore the fact that pop-ups can be annoying for the user. The trick is knowing which type of pop-up to use, in what context, and at what time. Let’s try to find some answers by looking at four different pop-ups you should implement at your website. If you stick with me until the end, as a bonus, I will throw in some common mistakes you really need to avoid if you want to generate leads with pop-ups while still preserving smooth user experience; it is because I like you guys. How Many Types of Pop-ups Are There? Before we get down and dirty, let’s briefly discuss pop-up types. There are a few different pop-up classifications out there, and most are based on the following characteristics: When they appear - Immediately on page load after you spend X seconds on the page when you try to leave or after you scroll to a certain part of the page after you click on something. How they appear - Slide-in at the side of the screen, sit at the top or the bottom of the screen, pop-up in the middle of the screen, or taking your full screen. What kind of content they offer - Normal or interactive. We are not here to debate semantics and naming conventions. The one thing that is important to know for the rest of the article is that we are going to mix and match different characteristics to find pop-up types that can play an important role in your weapon arsenal. 4 Types of Pop-ups That Still Work Keep in mind that the pop-ups we are going to mention here are not the only ones you should consider implementing at your site; they are just the ones that often perform the best and carry a minimal amount of risk. 1) Exit-intent Pop-ups The first on the list, to no one's surprise, is the exit-intent pop-up. One of my all-time favorite exit-intent pop-ups was something Chanty used a year back (not sure if they use it anymore). I couldn’t find the original, so here is the snapshot of that pop-up that was used in this infographic from Visme, which also features many useful tips on what you should watch out for when designing exit-intent pop-up. While the above example shows what I like to call “full screen” pop-up if the message is simple and you have no graphics you want to use, a standard box with a blurred background can still get the job done. Here are two great examples from Limble CMMS and Optinmonster. While exit-intent pop-up can be used for any kind of offer, from personal experience, I would recommend using it less for standard content offers (like e-books and checklists) and using it more for newsletter sign-ups, discount codes, free trials and other “stronger” offers that have enough weight to engage someone who is on their way out. Why Do They Work? Another plus is that they help you catch people that are kind of interested in what you have to say and/or offer but not ready to make a big commitment just yet. What this essentially does is give them a reason to stay engaged with your brand.