Website pop-ups are a frequently used, yet irritating, web design tactic. These are boxes, messages or even full size screens that appear when you load or are browsing a website. And for users in the EU, there is also the GDPR/cookie popup to deal with too. This can seriously disrupt the browsing experience, and as a result, pop-ups can have a negative effect on your website, and your sales or sign ups. So, how do you know when to use one? And what are the disadvantages of website pop-ups? Well, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester, we are Manchester’s leading web design professionals. From Wigan to Southport, we work with companies across Manchester and the surrounding region to deliver high quality web design solutions that really get results. As a result, we have produced this guide to the disadvantages of website pop-ups, and what you can do to ensure your popups will be successful, instead of detrimental.
So, what are the disadvantages of website pop-ups?
So, what are the disadvantages of website pop-ups? Well, there are several, including:
- interrupting the browsing experience
- overwhelming the user
- reducing professionalism
Website pop-ups interrupt the browsing experience
The whole purpose of a website popup is to interrupt the user and make them pay attention to a particular message. This can distract the user from their original task, and it may be enough to drive your user away, and to the website of a competitor. In fact, anything that disrupts the user from the purchasing or signing up journey, runs the risk of losing the potential customer altogether.
To turn this disadvantage into a positive, you should consider only using website pop-ups for things that really matter. This could include discount codes, and other offers that the customer will benefit from. For example, if you want to offer a discount for customer that signs up, this could be a good popup to show users at the beginning of the journey. It will seem less invasive, and be more persuasive.
Overwhelming the user
When a website first loads there can be a number of messages or popups all shown at once. There will often be at least two. One to notify the user of cookies, and this will require acceptance to continue to the website. The other may be a browser popup offering to show notifications for the website. These are two potential obstacles that your website users must overcome, before they even look at your website. As a result, offering any of your own popups at this point can be very overwhelming for your potential customers, and they may simply just leave.
To make sure your website popup doesn’t have a negative effect for your website overall, it can be a good idea to wait before the popup is triggered, instead of showing it immediately. This will give your users time to deal with the two initial pop-ups, and can help improve the user experience. You should also make sure that your popup is very easy to close, with an obvious option to return to browsing.
For more information or advice, or for high quality, professional web design solutions, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design Manchester.