The Pros & Cons of using Popups on your Website

Popups are an invaluable part of a digital marketing strategy. But still, the usage of popups has been a debatable topic since the time they were introduced. It is basically due to their spammy implementations. There was a time when the popup was seen as a sneaky way to advertise illegal software downloads, but today you can see popups on many websites. Even though it raises concern for many business owners due to the fear of losing customers. They believe that popups can create a bad user experience and annoy their visitors. The truth is that popups can be very effective if used properly and implemented with the best practices. There are many different types of popups that if used appropriately will really work well in generating leads for small businesses and big as well.

If you are a business and are still concerned about using popups on your website and think that the risk can outweigh your rewards. Then as a Web Design company with Jacksonville web design service, we will make sure to take you through all the pros and cons of using popups, so that you are fully informed to make a sensible decision. So, here we begin!

PROS OF USING POPUPS ON YOUR WEBSITE

You can see popups on every website today, that is because they do work. Professionally implemented popups will have a positive effect on your website’s overall performance. There are many advantages of using popups like generating leads and increased conversions. Moreover, if done correctly web popups can far outweigh their shortcomings. Some of the reasons that prove the use of popups beneficial for your website are listed below.

1. Popups Increase your Brand Visibility

Whether it is a start-up or an established organization, every business has a motive to gain maximum visibility. The first thing that the visitor will see when they arrive on your website is a popup. So, popups prove to be more effective than banner ads in attracting the attention of your visitors. A popup usually appears at the center of the page, so it plays an essential role in capturing the attention of the browser. In bonus, it cannot be ignored by the user visually and they will definitely have a glance over the content that your popup displays.

Popups allow businesses to expand beyond their customer base and reach a maximum number of targeted audiences and thus increase their brand visibility.

2. Popups help to Build your Email list

Sale is a complicated process and a customer is less likely to make a purchase after his first visit. So, we use email marketing to continue the conversation after the first visit of the customer and ultimately increasing our conversion rate. As we all know that email marketing is the most effective marketing channel and the second most effective lead generation technique after a website. Additionally, it helps you to build a relationship with your customers and the credibility of your business as well. So, it proves to be a great way to promote your business.

To achieve all these goals, you need an email list and popups are a great way to build one. You can use an exit-intent popup for email subscriptions when a user is about to leave the browser. You can also offer giveaways like eBooks and white papers or incentives like discounts and in return ask for an email address. This way you can automatically build your email list. These popups usually give very positive results and work like a charm.

3. Popups help to Increase the Conversion Rate

4. Popups Reduce the Cart Abandonment rate

Approximately 70% is the average e-commerce cart abandonment rate that means out of the total 10 visitors almost 7 people add an item to the cart and leave the store without making a purchase. The use of popups is highly effective to reduce this rate. They prove to be very essential in convincing the visitors to complete their purchase.

Scarcity marketing plays a very important role here. When a customer is about to leave, he or she is prompted with an exit popup showing a countdown. This creates a fear of missing out on an offer or limited stock in your customers. So, it drives the customer to take immediate action and click the CTA button on the popup. After the customers click the CTA button you can offer him a discount code that is only valid till the countdown hits zero or else, he loses the opportunity. Apart from a discount code, you can offer any other incentive like free shipping or discount on the next purchases. This will definitely evoke the customer to reconsider abandonment and reduce your cart abandonment rate.

5. Popups can be Leveraged for Instant Customer Feedback

Popups are a great way to improve a customer experience by giving the visitors a chance to voice their opinion by asking for feedback. By using customer feedback popups, you can easily solicit quick, and easy feedback from your customers. These popups can include multiple-choice questions that a customer needs to answer before exiting are even it can be a single direct question about their experience.

If placed correctly, it is a fantastic way of collecting feedback and getting valuable insights without disturbing the customer experience. You can place this popup on your FAQ page where the users can easily get in touch with you and share their concerns, inquiries, or complaints. This way, you can easily know how the customers feel about your product and services and even address their problems quickly, if they faced any. Just make sure to limit the number of questions so that the user should not get impatient and close the tab.

6. Lead Generation and Data Capture is Easy with Popups

Leads and customer data are most essential for any business for its success. One of the most common uses of popups is to generate leads. A ‘Sign Up’ form in a form of a popup encourages users to enter their personal details. It can also provide an option for subscribing to email updates or social media alerts. But this technique won’t be effective until you have something appealing to offer to your potential customers. If not, then there are chances that they will simply close it and move on.

According to data, it was found that more than 2 crore email addresses were collected in a span of 1 and a half years with popups. Great number right. As email marketing provides the highest source of ROI, those email addresses are an invaluable source of data for any marketer. Not only email addresses but you can also collect other data like phone numbers for telemarketing, business data, etc. Popups are incredibly effective in generating leads and if you fail to use them strategically then it is sheer negligence of your business potential. Popups can work really well if different popups such as exit-intent popups, inline forms, slide-in scroll boxes, coupon wheels, content locker, and quiz or survey are used at the right time and place.

CONS OF USING POPUPS IN YOUR WEBSITE

Popups are a great way to drive traffic, generate leads, and improve conversions but only if implemented properly. Poorly implemented popups can also decrease your site’s reputation and drive away visitors. Some of the cons of popups if not executed correctly are listed below.

1. Popups can be Intrusive

Popup ads are indeed more likely to be noticed than any stationary banner ads but they can also be considered intrusive. For some web surfers, popup ads can feel like they are having a service or product’s ad forced upon them. Especially, when they are trying to read or view something on your website and it the ad pops up. As the popup ads detract from the website’s main content, users may find them distracting. This can drive away visitors and increase your website’s bounce rate.

Moreover, people tend to avoid websites where they see a regular occurrence of popups. Though popups are effective in one way, the unfriendliness that the users feel towards the intrusion can harm the reputation of the brand and you may lose the attention of serious users. This will lead to a low brand reputation as the user may feel negative towards your brand. So, make sure to use the popup windows in a limited way and avoid their excessive use on your webpage.

2. Popups are of No Use if the User uses Popup Blockers

People can choose whether they want to watch your popup ads or not, this may sound disappointing to many businesses but that is the truth. Now, all popular browsers are equipped with pop-up blocking technologies.

So, it is obvious that a popup ad will serve no purpose if the consumers will never see it. Many browsers have specialized software to prevent the ads from appearing on the page and if a particular browser

3. Popups are Universally Hated

Except for the digital marketing industry, you will rarely find people enjoying the experience faced with the popups. For business, popups prove to be very essential, but that doesn’t mean it is the same case for consumers. They can be a constant source of frustration and sometimes even anger for consumers, especially when multiple popups are scattered all over your site.

Most people expressed their dislike for popups due to many reasons such as they feel like advertisements are forced down their throat, they think popups are associated with viruses and spyware. This has tarnished the reputation of popups in people’s minds and it can take a long time to change this negative reputation.

Conclusively, we can say that if you follow all the best practices of using popups then you can definitely overweigh the rewards over the risks. A popup ad that doesn’t look intrusive and nagging is well appreciated by the people. Moreover, well-timed popups with relevant messages targeting the right audience can provide all the above-mentioned benefits. So, we would always suggest considering the usage of popups in your website but the final decision is yours.

If you want to get an idea about what are the things present in the top-ranking that make them successful, and that you can implement for your website here is an article on 10 things successful websites have in common

We hope that this article must have helped you in understanding all the benefits and shortcomings of using popups on your website and now you can make your sensible decision on whether to use them in your website or not. If you need any advice on, how can you effectively use the popups in your website, you can contact a website design company and begin achieving your goals.