The complete guide to pop ups

wishpond EBOOK The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups wishpond.com wishpond EBOOK TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Pop-Ups: What is a Pop-Up? CHAPTER Pop-Ups: Types of Pop-Ups, and Why They’re Good CHAPTER Pop-Ups: Best Practices You Need to Know CHAPTER Pop-Ups: Pop-Up No-Nos You Need to Avoid CHAPTER Pop-Ups: Making your Pop-Up Relevant CHAPTER Pop-Ups: Pop-Up Elements You Need to Test CHAPTER Pop-Ups: Conclusion 11 15 18 22 26 wishpond EBOOK Chapter 1: What is a Pop-Up? The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups wishpond EBOOK A pop-up (in the terms we're talking about it in this article) is also called a “modal window” Basically, it’s “any type of window that is secondary to a parent window that usurps the parent’s control.” The easiest way to think about it is as as a window that pops-up upon a certain trigger (more on that below) and stops visitors from interacting with the page until they complete a certain action Something like this: wishpond EBOOK Why are they both controversial and awesome? They’re controversial because (when done badly) they can be extremely annoying, stopping you from bouncing from a page you want to bounce from They’re in your face, loud, and shocking They also work, and that’s what makes them awesome for your business (when done correctly) Case studies have shown 1,000% increases in email subscribers over a month of using pop-ups Many business (socialtriggers, for instance) have utilized them to increase email subscribers lists by tens of thousands wishpond EBOOK There are a couple primary reasons why they work: Readers and visitors to your pages have short attention spans They may not subscribe or submit lead information not because they don’t like what they see, but because they’ve been distracted, are bored, or you don’t have a clear call-to-action button Pop-ups interrupt their leaving, putting an engagement opportunity front and center Readers and visitors (particularly to your blog site) are focused on your valuable content, which means they may not notice something obvious Pop-ups break through that focus Anybody who is trying to leave your page will so no matter if there’s a pop-up or not People who may want to engage but were distracted or didn’t notice your “ask” have a far higher chance of following through if you integrate well-designed, timely pop-ups wishpond EBOOK Chapter 2: Types of Pop-Ups and Why They’re Good The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups wishpond EBOOK There are five main pop-up strategies, and they should each be tested by your business to determine which works best for you Here’s how they break down (from the Wishpond pop-up tool): wishpond EBOOK Types of Pop-Up Defined: Click Pop-Up: Different from the other pop-up types below, click popups are an option for your page’s links Rather than opening a new tab, clicking on one of your links will open a pop-up This makes it far more likely that your page visitor will learn something, close the popup, and stay on the original page (and possibly convert!) Scroll Pop-Up: Scroll pop-ups work by “popping-up” only when your landing page or blog visitor has scrolled a certain amount down your page I recommend you don’t show your scroll pop-up before the halfway point of your page wishpond EBOOK Timed Pop-Up: Depending on your business (many affiliates have found more success with a 10-15 second pop-up), timing your pop-ups can have a huge effect on conversion rates Most case-studies agree that the optimal time for your pop-up is less than or equal to 60 seconds after a visitor has entered your page Test this for yourself Exit Pop-Up: Exit pop-ups are the most common (and my favorite) kind Generally, they appear only when the cursor of your landing page or blog visitor reaches the top pixel of your page This, almost exclusively, means they’re interrupted before they have a chance to hit the “back” or “forward” buttons, create a new tab, head to their bookmarks, or type in another url The “Wait, before you go” pop-up I showed above is an example of an exit pop-up 10 wishpond wishpond EBOOK EBOOK Chapter 4: Pop-Up No-No’s You Need to Avoid The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups 15 wishpond EBOOK Pop-ups are effective so long as you’re not making people hate you Here are a few pop-up no-no’s ● Hiding (or having a “technical difficulty”) on the exit buttons on your pop-ups This makes your visitor feel forced into an action (give them an out!) ● Don’t use pop-ups that look like a browser box These freak people out (they think their computer is having an error) and will create serious distrust ● Don’t have your pop-up cover the entire browser and screen, leave grey, darkened space around it ● Don’t include more than one or two form fields in your pop-up More will just increase bounce rates ● Don’t spam your possible leads One pop-up per visit is more than enough 17 wishpond EBOOK Here’s an example of a good pop-up: Why it’s good: ● ● ● ● ● ● ● A clear and relevant USP/Headline Short and succinct list of benefits and value Single form field increases chance of engagement Obvious, color-contrasting CTA button Privacy statement makes it clear that we won’t spam you Grayed-out background focuses attention on the pop-up Obvious exit button calms pop-up viewers 18 wishpond EBOOK Chapter 5: Making your PopUp Relevant The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups wishpond EBOOK Often the best way of communicating an idea is to give you a real-world example (also encourages you to believe the things I’m saying ) So here’s a case study you might enjoy: AuthorityHacker recently created a pop-up for their client, a wellness company called Health Ambition Initially the pop-up featured only an email list prompt to subscribe to their newsletter Conversions were 59% The next pop-up they ran prompted visitors to download a generic ebook on “7 Better Breakfasts” no matter what page the visitor was on Conversion rates on the page increased by almost 100% Awesome But they kept pushing, not satisfied with doubling their conversion rates (despite the fact that a 1% email opt-in rate on a blog is pretty damn solid) 20 wishpond EBOOK They tried one more time, this time personalizing their pop-ups When a visitor was on the “juicing” subject tab of their blog, the pop-up that appeared featured a “juicing-specific” recipe ebook Conversion rates increased by 320% to 3.2% (that’s more than a 540% increase from their original opt-in rates!) 21 wishpond EBOOK Here’s what I recommend for making your pop-ups relevant: ● Create different pop-ups (and content) for each of your product pages, as well as each subject you discuss on your blog ● Engage with a 3rd party pop-up provider to create pop-ups specific to your landing pages ● Feature the subject of your pop-up front and center (in the headline) ● Include an image that communicates the subject relevant to both your pop-up and the content or product Your landing page pop-up is far more likely to resonate with your site traffic if it speaks to the thing they’re thinking about in that moment And that means an increase in conversions, leads, and dollars for your business 22 wishpond wishpond EBOOK EBOOK Chapter 6: Pop-Up Elements you Need to Test The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups 14 wishpond EBOOK It’s not only enough for you and your business to test pop-ups as a strategy, you need to test them against each other In fact, you may find that one design, format, or strategy of pop-ups decreases your page’s conversion rates, but another will double or triple your lead generation, sales, or email subscribers So don’t be too hasty with dismissing pop-ups Test it first (and, I hate having to this, but I just have to mention that Wishpond’s pop-up creator makes it a one-click step…) 24 wishpond EBOOK Here are ideas for testing your pop-ups Test your headline: The first thing someone sees when your pop-up “pops-up”, you need to test it for size, color, location as well as copy Test your design: What colors resonate best with your landing page visitor? Something that contrasts with the page the pop-up is on, or the same color scheme? Test fonts, colors, font sizes, as well as overall message Test your image: As I mentioned in “relevancy” above, your pop-up may be more successful if it includes an image Test people, products, or abstract images that communicate your subject 25 wishpond EBOOK Test your form fields: Form fields are an art in themselves What “ask” generates the highest conversion rates? In what order? Test to see if you should have your form field above or below your headline To the right or left? Aligned or asymmetrical? For more on form fields, check out my article “Optimizing your Landing Page Form Fields for Conversion” Test your CTA button: See what copy resonates most with your popup viewer I’d avoid the standard “submit” and get a bit creative with it Also test colors, shapes, and sizes Test your copy: Like your landing pages, your pop-ups should communicate value quickly and obviously Test including a short list of everything subscribers stand to gain from converting 26 wishpond EBOOK Test your exit options: Do you receive complaint emails if you take away the “x” at the top right of your pop-up but include a “no thanks” option at the bottom? What about if you include the “x” but take away the “no thanks” option? What’s the conversion effect of allowing users to close the pop-up simply by clicking on the grey background? Test the “neg”: Many businesses have found success by including two buttons in their pop-ups: one that reads something like “yes, I’d love to free access resources” and another that reads “no, I don’t want free stuff.” 27 wishpond EBOOK Chapter 7: Conclusion The Complete Guide to Pop-Ups wishpond EBOOK So what is the conclusion of all this? Should your business use popups? Yes, absolutely 100% Should you test them first, implement them slowly and carefully and A/B test them at every step? Yes, absolutely 100% If it’s not already clear that you need to test the hell out of your pop-ups (and even the idea of them) I don’t know what more I can When used correctly they can have a serious effect on your conversion rates, increase your email list, boost lead generation and sales and result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased revenue Or they can be the reason your business is being investigated by the feds for violating anti-spam laws 29 wishpond EBOOK In order to make this easier on yourself, you really need to find a popup provider who makes it simpler Implementing the code required for well-designed, optimized pop-ups is mind-boggling for most people A/B testing is equally difficult (especially as most of your favorite A/B testing tools (Optimizely, for instance) haven’t yet integrated pop-up testing into their software If you want to experiment or test out pop-ups in your own website, check out Wishpond’s tools, or sign up for a free one-on-one chat with one of our customer success leads Thanks for reading! 30 [...]... prompts to people who have already converted ● Do the same with non-subscribers who have been to your site multiple times and closed your pop- up multiple times (this is called spamming, and is one of the reasons pop- ups get such a bad rap) ● Fade the window behind your pop- up to double the focus 15 wishpond wishpond EBOOK EBOOK Chapter 4: Pop- Up No-No’s You Need to Avoid The Complete Guide to Pop- Ups 15... emails if you take away the “x” at the top right of your pop- up but include a “no thanks” option at the bottom? What about if you include the “x” but take away the “no thanks” option? What’s the conversion effect of allowing users to close the pop- up simply by clicking on the grey background? 6 Test the “neg”: Many businesses have found success by including two buttons in their pop- ups: one that reads... recently created a pop- up for their client, a wellness company called Health Ambition Initially the pop- up featured only an email list prompt to subscribe to their newsletter Conversions were 59% The next pop- up they ran prompted visitors to download a generic ebook on “7 Better Breakfasts” no matter what page the visitor was on Conversion rates on the page increased by almost 100% Awesome But they kept pushing,... making your pop- ups relevant: ● Create different pop- ups (and content) for each of your product pages, as well as each subject you discuss on your blog ● Engage with a 3rd party pop- up provider to create pop- ups specific to your landing pages ● Feature the subject of your pop- up front and center (in the headline) ● Include an image that communicates the subject relevant to both your pop- up and the content... landing page pop- up is far more likely to resonate with your site traffic if it speaks to the thing they’re thinking about in that moment And that means an increase in conversions, leads, and dollars for your business 22 wishpond wishpond EBOOK EBOOK Chapter 6: Pop- Up Elements you Need to Test The Complete Guide to Pop- Ups 14 wishpond EBOOK It’s not only enough for you and your business to test pop- ups as... color-contrasting CTA button Privacy statement makes it clear that we won’t spam you Grayed-out background focuses attention on the pop- up Obvious exit button calms pop- up viewers 18 wishpond EBOOK Chapter 5: Making your PopUp Relevant The Complete Guide to Pop- Ups wishpond EBOOK Often the best way of communicating an idea is to give you a real-world example (also encourages you to believe the things I’m saying... Guide to Pop- Ups 15 wishpond EBOOK Pop- ups are effective so long as you’re not making people hate you Here are a few pop- up no-no’s ● Hiding (or having a “technical difficulty”) on the exit buttons on your pop- ups This makes your visitor feel forced into an action (give them an out!) ● Don’t use pop- ups that look like a browser box These freak people out (they think their computer is having an error)... Entry Pop- Up: Far rarer, entry pop- ups appear as soon as a visitor arrives on your page Entry pop- ups are interesting as they appear after someone has clicked on a link they’re interested in, meaning they don’t always cause a bounce (even if they don’t cause a conversion) It’s important that you only have one type of pop- up per page Don’t integrate a timed pop- up with an exit pop- up, as it will (rather... reads something like “yes, I’d love to free access resources” and another that reads “no, I don’t want free stuff.” 27 wishpond EBOOK Chapter 7: Conclusion The Complete Guide to Pop- Ups wishpond EBOOK So what is the conclusion of all this? Should your business use popups? Yes, absolutely 100% Should you test them first, implement them slowly and carefully and A/B test them at every step? Yes, absolutely... strategy, you need to test them against each other In fact, you may find that one design, format, or strategy of pop- ups decreases your page’s conversion rates, but another will double or triple your lead generation, sales, or email subscribers So don’t be too hasty with dismissing pop- ups Test it first (and, I hate having to do this, but I just have to mention that Wishpond’s pop- up creator makes it a