Pop-Ups: YES Or Hot Mess!

Today we’re going to talk about pop ups Don’t start cringing and don’t even think about “X”ing out of today’s post. They aren’t my favorite either – both as a subscriber and as an online marketer – but I use them. Because they work!

Pop-ups have gotten a bad rep over time because they are overused. I can’t stand getting to a website and being greeted with several layers of pop-up ads and forms. I’m certainly not advocating that you do that.

I’m not even saying that you need a popup form that pops up on every single page of your website each time. Instead, what I’m suggesting is that you use popups in a smart way.

Using Pop-Ups The Smart Way

Annoying your readers, particularly your regular blog readers, is never a good idea. Thankfully, popup opt-in forms have come a long way, and you can set them up to only appear for first-time visitors or only once every few days.

In other words, you have a lot of control over when the forms pop up, and when they don’t. Use it to your advantage.

Start by creating the pop-up itself. Think of it as a mix between the opt-in form you have on your sidebar and the opt-in page you created the other day. Ideally, your popup form will include a strong, attention-grabbing headline, a compelling image, a short list of why someone should sign up and, of course, the form fields and subscribe button.

Keep it short and sweet and remember you only have a second or two to grab your visitor’s attention before he or she is ready to “x” out of the popup.

Next, think about your target market, look at what your competitors are doing, and come up with a plan for your pop-up form settings. Here are a few different things you can do. Refer to your autoresponder service help files for specifics.

• Have the popup appear for each new visitor to your site.
• Periodically, it reappears for returning visitors.
• Set it to not pop up until someone’s been on your site for 30 seconds (or longer).
• Create a banner pop-up that constantly reminds your visitors of your offer without feeling intrusive. These are also called “Hello Bars”.
• Set it to pop up when someone moves away from your site (this is also called an exit pop up).

Figure out what you want your pop-up to do and what pages of your site you want it to appear on. Then go into your autoresponder settings, set it all up and follow the instructions for adding it to your site.

The Rundown

As with anything else list related, it’s a good idea to test different popups and different popup settings. It would be interesting to figure out, for example, if your pop-up performs better when it comes up right away, or 30 seconds or even a minute after someone first lands on your site.