The Secret of a Successful Pop-up

Nowadays, pop-ups are underestimated. Everyone thinks they do not work because they are disturbing for others… Truth is, pop-ups work. It’s all about knowing how to create it well.
Alain Marceau
1 December 2023
Omni-Channel Marketing Campaign
7 min 10
intercepteur   le secret d un pop up qui converti

Nowadays, interceptors (or pop-ups) are often underestimated. Everyone thinks they do not work because they are disturbing for others… The truth is, pop-ups work better than we think. It’s all about knowing how to create a pop-up that works. To give you an idea, the average pop-ups have a conversion rate of around 3%, but the best pop-ups can convert up to 50%! So, it’s worth the effort. Here are some tips to help you set up an interceptor that converts.

First, if your pop-up is annoying, it’s not done well. A good pop-up is supposed to help the visitor and meet his needs by making an irresistible offer. Not only must it be irresistible, but it must also be presented in a good context, at the right time, otherwise it becomes an irritant. In the world of pop-ups, the line is very thin between disturbing and engaging.

Let’s take a simple example: you barely walk into a shop and immediately an employee comes to you to present you the offer of the day. You will probably want to change store immediately … It’s the same principle for pop-ups. A visitor takes about 10 seconds to decide whether to stay on your website or not. So, if you attack him with a pop-up as soon as he arrives, chances are he feels jostled and goes to another website to find what he’s looking for.

If, for example, you present a pop-up a few seconds after arriving on your site, the visitor has already been able to assess the relevance of your site to his needs … So you have more chances to convert because if visitors are still on your site after this delay, it’s because it has value for him.

Here are some examples that work very well, for you to understand the importance of the context:

  • While reading one of your blog posts, a pop-up appears to suggest signing up to receive blog updates
  • You have a specific page on relationship marketing. You pop up the visitors on this page to offer them a complementary webinar on relationship marketing in exchange for their email address
  • A pop-up that offers a discount coupon appearing on a specific product page
  • On your white paper purchase page, a pop-up appears to offer the first chapter for free

Do you understand better now? You must also choose the right moment to expose your offer to your visitor.

Basically, your interceptor must have a good timing! Wait until the person is committed enough to consider converting to your page without even seeing your offer. This is when your pop-up will make its effect.

Of course, this delay is unique to everyone. Only you can know the right moment to make your offer. This is obviously not an exact science, but you can help yourself with the Google Analytics tool. One of the statistics gives you the average time spent on a page of your site. So, it can help you determine when to show your offer.

Also, by running A / B tests, you can test different delays and choose the one that works best at the end of the test. You can even go further in personalizing your pop-up, following your visitors behaviors and provenance. For example, you offer a discount coupon to those two categories of visitors:

  1. Those who did a specific search in the Google search engine
  2. Those who arrived directly on a specific page by doing a general research

Having already researched the subject, there are two categories of visitors who are more serious in their approach. By offering them a discount, they will have a greater propensity to convert because this offer meets their immediate needs.

Content

Okay now, let’s move on to the content. Think of your pop-up as a conversion funnel but smaller. Be clear and precise in your title, but also in your description. Make sure that everybody does not register by mistake but by choice. Give your visitor all the relevant information so that he does not have to guess, only make a decision.

Add some personnality

At the end of the day, all pop-ups are alike. We must add a touch that arouses interest out of the ordinary. Look at this example of the Wait But Why blog:

It’s original and catchy. You can also easily understand the brand personality. We do not see pop-ups like that every day, that’s for sure! So, take go to the next level and find the tone that matches your brand personality. People will be more tempted to sign up.

Frequency

Then, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, pop-ups are fundamentally irritating. Try not to show the same pop-up several times to the same visitor in the same day. This creates a frustration and is the best way to lose a subscriber for good.

So, use cookies to identify visitors who have already registered and do not show them your pop-up again and again. Nothing is more annoying than saying no to the same offer over and over, especially if you have already said yes.

Same thing goes if a visitor said no the first time, do not show him your interceptor on every navigation page, the only chances he subscribes one day to your newsletter will be gone. Let at least one day (minimum) between each offer appearance to the same person.

Keep in mind that it is not because someone says no once, that the answer will automatically be no another time. So put the odds on your side and do not abuse your pop-up against the wishes of a visitor. Give him time to determine the value of your site. Some needs more time than others…

Be consistent

Finally, make sure your call-to-action button matches your title and description. Keep your promise until the end and be consistent, otherwise you may be rejected quickly.

Exit pop-ups

If you are doing an interceptor for visitors who are about to leave your website, bet especially on your offer. This kind of pop-up is tricky to do because the reason it pops up is that you have not managed to keep your visitor on your site any longer.

The visitor did not find anything on your site that meets his needs. It is therefore necessary that your offer retains enough attention so that it decides to finally stay on your site and continue to navigate. That’s why it’s important to make your best offer. An offer he cannot refuse. If you succeed in converting a visitor who is about to leave into a potential prospect, it is because you have succeeded hands down.

What happens with Google and my SEO?

Several questions surely arise from the beginning of the article: does the pop-up affect the SEO of a website. In fact, what Google does not particularly like is when something affects the user experience. Basically, the less enjoyable the navigation experience, the more your SEO will suffer. Do not deliberately create a pop-up that takes the whole page and impedes navigation.

On the other hand, if you make your pop-up keep your visitors on your site instead of running them away, Google will become your friend. So, if you follow our tips listed above, you will increase your audience’s engagement. You will then reduce your chances that Google penalizes you. Remember, Google loves what creates engagement!

Moreover, if you want to know if your pop-up is effective, compare your website rebound rate before and after the pop-up installation. If it increases, it is bad sign, and you will probably be penalized in SEO. Make changes, always keeping a close watch on your bounce rate until it starts going down.

What about mobile pop-ups?

Obviously, if you keep the same mobile interceptor as on a computer, Google will probably penalize your site if it’s not already done. Here are some examples of mobile pop-ups that will definitely be penalized:

Source : https://blog.kameleoon.com/fr/pop-in-pop-up-seo/

Choose instead a less intrusive banner as we can see on the mobile sites of Amazon and Instagram below:

Source : https://blog.kameleoon.com/fr/pop-in-pop-up-seo/

It’s simple, be discreet on mobile. The size of the screen is already greatly reduced and the visitor is exposed to much less information than on computer. That’s why you can afford to make a smaller pop-up. You will convert just as much, if not more.

To wrap up

To conclude, the perfect pop-up probably does not exist. But it is possible to approach perfection, here is a list of things to remember when doing an interceptor. The (almost) perfect pop-up should therefore:

  • Appear in the right context
  • Wait a certain delay before displaying your offer (give the visitor time to evaluate the quality of your website)
  • Be clear and direct
  • Add your personality (it does not have to be a large amount of personality, but at least a minimum)
  • Show the value of your offer (especially if it’s an exit pop-up)
  • The call-to-action button fits your promise (title and description)

By following all these elements to the letter, you ensure the effectiveness of your pop-up, you increase your engagement rate and your SEO will not suffer. In addition, once your pop-up is mounted and configured, you do not have to retouch it. You simply let your prospects list of grow with time. What more could you wish for?

Find out how your company can benefit from Dialog Insight.

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