The complete guide to pop ups

wishpond EBOOK

The
Complete
Guide to
Pop-Ups
wishpond.com


wishpond EBOOK
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
Pop-Ups: What is a Pop-Up?

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CHAPTER 2
Pop-Ups: Types of Pop-Ups, and Why They’re Good

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CHAPTER 3
Pop-Ups: Best Practices You Need to Know

CHAPTER 4
Pop-Ups: Pop-Up No-Nos You Need to Avoid

CHAPTER 5
Pop-Ups: Making your Pop-Up Relevant

CHAPTER 6

Pop-Ups: 8 Pop-Up Elements You Need to Test

CHAPTER 7
Pop-Ups: Conclusion

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Chapter 1:

What is a
Pop-Up?

The Complete
Guide to Pop-Ups

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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:

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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.

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There are a couple primary reasons why they work:
1. 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.

2. 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 do 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.
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Chapter 2:

Types of
Pop-Ups
and Why
They’re
Good

The Complete
Guide to Pop-Ups

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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):

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5 Types of Pop-Up Defined:
1. 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!)
2. 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.

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3. 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.
4. 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

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5. 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 than
doubling the chance of a conversion) simply come across as spamming something you really don’t want.

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Chapter 3:

Best
Practices
You Need
to know

The Complete

Guide to Pop-Ups


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One of my primary recommendations for pop-ups (especially on product
pages) is to offer a discount or a bribe. Here’s Neil Patel’s (a huge lover
and champion of pop-ups) from his website Quicksprout:

An offer in your pop-up works just as it does in a retargeting campaign:
communicating extra value to a possible lead or customer who has shown
interest in your business but not quite engaged.
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Discounts like Neil’s work fantastically, as viewers feel like they’ve been
picked out for something exclusive.
Ebook promotion also works (especially when the content is relevant, as I’
ll talk about in depth below). Although your ebook downloads are most
likely featured on the side of your blog page anyway, putting the value of
a comprehensive guide front and center increases the chance of your
readers engaging.

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Here are a few more pop-up best-practices:
● Display the exit “X” prominently.

● Utilize a third-party pop-up provider to ensure that your pop-ups
don’t show on every single page or more than once per unique
visitor.
● Ensure you’re utilizing cookies and tracking software so you don’t
show subscriber or lead 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.

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EBOOK

Chapter 4:

Pop-Up
No-No’s
You Need
to Avoid

The Complete
Guide to Pop-Ups

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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.
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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
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Chapter 5:

Making
your PopUp
Relevant

The Complete
Guide to Pop-Ups


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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)...

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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!)
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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.

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EBOOK

Chapter 6:

Pop-Up
Elements
you Need
to Test

The Complete
Guide to Pop-Ups

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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 do this, but I just have to mention that Wishpond’s pop-up
creator makes it a one-click step…)

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Here are 8 ideas for testing your pop-ups.
1. 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.
2. 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
3. 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.

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