Have you ever wondered how to improve your website’s conversion rate? Have you wished to increase your email subscribers list? Are you struggling to boost your sales, despite generous discounts? What you need is a pop up website.
What is a pop up?
A pop up is a window that appears over a web page. It may appear at different positions, and at different times. Unlike a splash page that appears only on the landing page as soon as the user visits the website, a pop up can be shown on any web page at any time. Pop ups can be useful in any type of website, but it's more valuable in e-commerce or subscription-based online shops.
Why should you build a pop up shop
- Pop ups appear right in front of the user. There is no way they can ignore it. This is the place to show that compelling offer that can convert an indecisive user.
- You might have heard people complaining that pop ups are annoying and interruptive. But that's not entirely true. Pop ups shown at the right place and right time actually enhance the user experience.
- Pop up is a great tool to direct the user’s attention to a particular product that you want to advertise about. There are other ways like showing featured products, sidebar advertisements etc. But, nothing works like pop up advertising when it comes to grabbing attention.
- Users are more likely to opt-in for your email subscription through a pop up, than by any other means. Sumo conducted an analysis of almost 2 billion pop ups. They found that the average conversion rate was 3.09%, and the best was around 9.28%. That means, with 100 visitors a day, you can achieve anywhere between 92 and 278 conversions a month. Aweber reports that the email subscription rate soared up by an amazing 1,375% by moving to a pop up from a sidebar form.
Essentials in a pop up window
A typical pop up window will contain a clear message with a Call To Action (CTA) and a simple exit strategy. Don't get overwhelmed with these jargons. Let's look at them one by one.
What's the purpose of your pop up? To sell a product? To grow your email subscription list? To inform something mandatory? Whatever be the purpose, say it straight away in simple yet catchy words.
- Exit strategy
Pop ups should be easy to close. Irrespective of whether your users want to respond to the CTA or not, they should be able to exit the window in a single click and go back to what they were doing. Making it difficult for the user to exit the pop up can have a huge negative impact on your website traffic.
- Additional message
Occasionally, pop ups need additional information depending on their purpose. You might have seen some pop ups examples, in which along with email opt-in, there will be an assuring text that the user’s email address won't be shared with anyone, and they won't be spammed. Though it sounds like a commonplace message, it goes a long way in gaining the user’s trust with their email addresses.
How to make pop ups like a pro
- Let there be harmony
Your pop up design should be complementary to your web page, and not look like an intrusion. The colours, background image and tone of content should all match with the rest of your site.
- Size matters
It is better to show smaller pop ups that hide only a part of the web page. This is not just user friendly, but also SEO compliant. Since 2017, Google has introduced a penalty for pop ups that hide the entire web page, since this stops the search engine from accessing the actual content.
- Know your user
Be sure to show only relevant pop ups to the right kind of users. You can achieve this by waiting till you get to know the user a little. Don't show a variety of pop ups as soon as the user enters the home page. Reserve it for when the user is viewing a related page. For example, in a personal care products store, show offers on hair care products only when the user is browsing through the hair care product catalogue.
- Wait for the right moment
Time your pop ups right. This is very important in generating successful conversions. For example, instead of showing an email subscription pop up as soon as a user enters your content page, wait till they spend a few minutes. By doing this, you can be sure that the user is genuinely interested in your content. Such users are more likely to opt-in when you ask for their email address. On the other hand, rushed pop ups have poor conversion rates.
- Host your guests for longer
Exit intent pop ups are an excellent way of timing your discounts. They show up when the user is about to leave. They don't interfere with the user when they are looking at the actual content of your website. Rather, they stop the user from leaving your site. More the time users spend on your website, greater the conversion rate, and higher will be your ranking in search engines.
- Try a variety of intent pop up strategies
You can time your pop ups to show –
- when the user reaches the end of the page
- when the user starts scrolling
- when there is some activity like commenting
- when the user has been inactive for a while
- Deliver value
By its own definition, pop ups appear suddenly when the user is not expecting to see it. So, make this intrusion worthwhile by offering something the user just can’t say no to. Imagine you are looking for a winter coat. You don't want to sign up to a newsletter in the middle of browsing through the catalog. But, a discount on select winter clothing? Yes, you would want to see it now.
- One at a time
Remember to show one pop up at a time. This is important particularly when you have to promote more than one product on your website. The trick here is to find the right target audience and show them only that product which is most relevant to them. Or, if you have to show multiples, time them apart so that the user does not get swamped by a storm of pop ups.
- Respect your user’s decision
Don’t show the same pop up repeatedly to a user. Repetition is a definite recipe to drive users away from your website forever. If the user has seen your pop up once, irrespective of the outcome, refrain from showing it again at least for a day.
Learn how to make pop ups within minutes
Last year, Strikingly introduced pop ups that are totally customisable and simple to implement at the same time. Gone are the days, when you had to take a techie’s help to add a pop advertisement on your website. With absolutely no line of code, you can set it up by yourself in a matter of minutes.
You can see numerous pop up ads examples in Strikingly users’ websites. Now it’s your turn. Just follow the step-by-step guide below to build a pop up and let your conversion rates go through the roof!
This guide assumes that you already have a Strikingly account, and know-how to build a basic website in it. Don't worry if you are a newbie here. We have a well-documented walkthrough for you. Follow it and get your website up and running.
Now, let’s get into business.
- Go to Strikingly MY SITES page, and click ‘Edit’ on the website in which you want to add a pop up.
- In the website editor, click on ‘Settings’ in the left side tool panel.
- Select PROMOTION -> Pop-Ups, and then click on the ‘ENABLE POP-UPS’ button.
- Now you can customize your pop up, according to your needs. Select the type of pop up that you want. In the pop up examples in this guide, we are going to use an Email Form.
- Now select the layout of your pop up advertisement. You have options of placing the image in the centre, on top or at the bottom. You can also see a preview of your pop up on the right.
- Upload an image and change the text as you wish. You can try different formats of your text and see a preview of how it looks.
Image taken from Strikingly website.
- Select ‘Name’, in case you want to capture your subscriber’s names along with email addresses. Click ‘Save’ and then ‘Publish’. Voila, your pop up website is live!
Remember to sign up for a PRO account, since pop ups are advanced features that are available only to PRO users. If you are using a free account, refer here to upgrade your account for pop ups. Strikingly is all for experimenting. You can try out the features in PRO for free during our 14-day trial period. Host a PRO website today, and see for yourself how it can benefit your business.
