Email pop-ups are ubiquitous in the online world. It seems like almost every website you visit there is one willing to collect your email address in exchange for a discount, newsletter, or other incentive. While they can be a powerful tool for building your email list and increasing conversions, poorly designed pop-ups can quickly turn visitors away.
Unfortunately, many pop-ups fall short of this mark. Intrusive scheduling, irrelevant offers, and clunky designs can quickly turn visitors from potential subscribers into frustrated clicks. Poorly designed pop-ups can damage your brand image and hinder your lead generation efforts.
But well-designed pop-ups can be powerful tools. By offering clear value, appearing at the right time, and respecting user experience, popups can effectively capture leads and grow your email list.
In this article, we will equip you with design knowledge and strategies for email pop-ups that not only drive conversions but also leave a positive impression on your visitors.
Contents
Reasons Why the Worst Designed Pop-ups Annoy Visitors
Intrusive timing and appearance
This is a common reason that many users do not consider before creating an email popup. For example, hitting visitors with a spinner pop-up before they even see your website disrupts their browsing flow and makes it feel intrusive. It’s also about showing a popup when someone enters your page.
This comes off as aggressive and belittling of their intentions. It prevents them from exploring your content and understanding your value proposition before you ask for their email.
Websites that use large pop-ups that block the content users are trying to access are annoying and hinder their progress. This forces users to take an unintended detour by closing the pop-up window before continuing with the intended task, causing frustration and slowing them down.
Additionally, pop-ups that overlap basic buttons, menus, or calls to action make it difficult or impossible for users to interact with the website as intended. This disrupts the natural flow of their experience and hinders their ability to achieve their goals.
Lack of relevance and value
Most pop-ups annoy visitors because they fail to offer value in exchange for their valuable attention and email addresses. There are three primary ways a pop-up can lack interest and value, causing visitor distress.
Showing Generic Offers: These do not cater to individual needs. For example, a generic pop-up video offering a 10% discount on dresses at an online clothing store does not appeal to someone specifically interested in shirts, hats, or shoes.
Sometimes these offers can often seem impersonal and spammy. They suggest a lack of effort in understanding the visitor’s interests. Additionally, too many generic options can overwhelm visitors and make them less likely to engage.
Stating unclear benefits: Offers that do not effectively convey the value proposition can easily annoy the visitor. Visitors need to understand what they are getting in return for their email address. If the benefit is unclear, visitors may question the legitimacy of the offer.
Visitors can also quickly close their tabs if more mental effort is required to engage. A mobile pop-up that cannot be easily deciphered is likely to be blocked by a visitor performing multiple actions on their phone.
Incompatibility with content: A pop-up with irrelevant content prevents the visitor from focusing on the page they are actively engaging with. It often feels irrelevant and out of place. For example, a pop-up offering a discount on shoes on a blog article about gardening creates a jarring disconnect.
This type of mismatch between content and pop-up messages shows a lack of attention to detail and personalization and undermines trust and credibility in the brand.
Pop-ups are difficult to close
Having to click through multiple layers of website pop-ups or going through a multi-step process just to close them feels like being stuck in a maze. It’s unnecessary and time-consuming, which increases the feeling of being forced into something you don’t want.
Some popups have multiple buttons, and some are disguised as “fake” close buttons that lead to other actions you don’t want.
Imagine you’re engrossed in an article when a pop-up appears, a small “X” lurking in the corner, forcing you to look for it while trying not to misclick and trigger the action you’re trying to avoid.
It’s a frustrating interruption that feels like a game of hide-and-seek, leaving you in a reactive, frustrated state. Nobody wants to experience this.
Excessive pop-up frequency
People’s cognitive resources are limited. Constantly opening windows overloads our attention, causing fatigue and frustration. Visitors can feel trapped, especially when aggressive close buttons or pop-ups with multiple steps appear frequently.
The excess of pop-ups screams desperation and diminishes the credibility and professionalism of the website. Visitors may perceive these as an information-gathering tactic that undermines trust and is potentially reputation-damaging.
Basic Principles of Creating User-Friendly Pop-ups
Non-intrusive pop-ups are designed to improve user experience and engagement without annoying or annoying visitors. Here are some principles to follow when implementing non-intrusive pop-ups:
1. Timing
Display pop-ups at appropriate times using targeting rules such as exit intent. This allows you to show a popup only when the user has spent a certain amount of time on the site or is about to leave the site. It can be annoying to interrupt the user’s browsing experience with a pop-up window.
2. Compliance
Make sure the content of the pop-up is relevant to the user’s current activity or interests. Use what you know about your audience to personalize the offers they see. Personalize the message based on user behavior or demographics to increase relevance.
3. Value Proposition
Clearly communicate the pop-up’s value proposition. There is no need for uncertainty or ambiguity. Whether it’s a discount, exclusive content, or helpful information, let users know what they’ll get by interacting with the pop-up.
4. Ease of Dismissal
Make it easy for users to close the popup if they’re not interested. This shows that you respect their time, even if they don’t interact with your pop-up. Add a clear and prominent close button and make sure users can find it easily.
5. Frequency
Limit the frequency of pop-ups to avoid overloading users. For example, if you designed a popup, you can set your display frequency to show only once a day, every few days, or always.
It all depends on the strategy you adopt, but remember that displaying pop-ups too frequently can annoy visitors and lead to a negative perception of the website.
6. Aesthetic Attractiveness
Design pop-ups that are visually appealing and fit the overall aesthetic of your website. Many popup creators offer full customization options; so you can use high-quality images, fonts and colors to make the popup visually interesting.
7. Mobile Optimization
Make sure your pop-ups are optimized for mobile devices. Mobile users have limited screen space, so it’s important to design responsive and unobtrusive popups on small screens.
8. Testing and Optimization
Continually test different popup designs, timing strategies, and messaging to determine what works best for your audience. Use A/B testing to compare the performance of different variations and optimize accordingly
9. Respect User Preferences
Respect user preferences regarding pop-up windows. Provide an option for users to opt out of seeing pop-ups in the future if they find them annoying.
10. Compatibility
Make sure pop-ups comply with relevant regulations such as GDPR or CCPA, especially regarding data collection and user consent. Be transparent about how user data will be used if collected via pop-up.
Best Practices to Follow in Popup Design and Content
1. Timing is very important
Avoid bombarding users with pop-ups as soon as they enter your website. Give them some time to engage with the content first. Delay the appearance of pop-ups until users have spent a reasonable amount of time on the page or have scrolled down a certain percentage.
2. Exit intent triggers
Use exit intent technology to display pop-ups when users are about to leave your website. This can be less intrusive because it doesn’t interrupt browsing experiences.
3. Provide value
Make sure your popup offers something of value to the user, like a discount, exclusive content, or a useful resource. Interact with the pop-up and let them know the benefit they will receive.
4. Clear and concise messaging
Keep the content of your pop-up short and concise. Explain the purpose of the pop-up and what action the user should take. Avoid using excessive jargon or unnecessary information.
5. Use attractive design
Design your pop-ups to be visually appealing and consistent with your website branding. Use high-quality images, colors, and typography to attract attention without being obnoxious.
6. Make it easier for them to be fired
Give users a clear and easily accessible option to close the pop-up if they are not interested in it. This could be a prominent close button or a subtle “X” icon in the corner.
7. Consider mobile usage
Make sure your pop-ups are optimized for mobile devices. It should be responsive and easy to interact with on smaller screens, without obstructing the user’s view.
8. Test different elements
Try different variations of your popups to see which ones perform best in terms of engagement and conversions. Test different designs, messages and triggers to optimize performance.
9. Set target rules
Limit the frequency with which pop-ups appear to prevent users from feeling overwhelmed or annoyed. Set rules to control how often a popup is shown to the same user within a certain period of time.