Pop up

A pop up is an overlay window that appears on a website on top of the content to draw the user's attention to a specific message. Typical contents are newsletter signups, discount codes, cookie notices, lead forms or exit intent offers. Pop ups exist as modal layers, as small side slide ins and as external browser window variants.

Use and triggers

Pop ups are usually triggered by time or behaviour, for example after thirty seconds on page, scrolling past fifty per cent or on exit intent when the cursor leaves the browser window. They are also often shown after certain clicks or on first visit. Clean frequency capping is important so that users are not interrupted again on every page change.

Pros and cons

Pop ups achieve the highest signup rates of all lead formats, often five to ten times higher than static sidebar forms. The downside is their disruptive effect, especially on mobile, where badly implemented pop ups can ruin the user experience. Google also rates intrusive interstitial pop ups on mobile pages negatively for SEO ranking.

Practical use

In day to day marketing, pop ups are the central tool for newsletter list building when traffic from SEO, social or paid ads brings visitors. If you use pop ups, keep them subtle on mobile, prefer exit intent over instant display and always combine them with a clear value proposition, otherwise most signups land in the list without genuine interest.