Popups have come a long way over the years. They’ve gone from being nuisances that ruin the online experience to ads that actually reward people for engaging with them. How many times have you been convinced to put in your email address and buy something after a popup ad offers you a discount on your next purchase?
For many freelance bloggers, popups can be an awesome marketing tool that helps you to increase conversions and grow your blog. The key, though, is to use popups correctly. Read on to learn everything you need to know about popups and how you can utilize them to guarantee conversions.
I’ve also written an in-depth guide on the 15 best popup examples guaranteeing conversions which you may want to open in a new tab and take a look at afterwards.
What Are Popups?
As the name suggests, a popup is an advertising tool that, you guessed it, pops up on the screen automatically when you visit a website. It might tell you to sign up for an email newsletter or stick around and check out a particular product offered on the site, for example.
Let’s face it. You’re a blogger. And that’s why it’s almost guaranteed that you’ve encountered a website that uses popups to encourage you to take a specific action (and, if you haven’t, I want to know what kind of popup blocker you’re using!).
What Types of Popups Exist?
There are lots of different types of popups that bloggers can incorporate into their website design. Here are some of the most popular options that you might consider using on your own site:
Click Popups
A click popup gets activated when a visitor to your website clicks on a specific image or piece of text (it might say something like “sign up here”).
These popups help to speed up the process of converting potential prospects and saves them from being redirected to a new page on your blog.
Scroll Popups
Scroll popups appear when a website visitor scrolls down to a specific point on your page.
For example, when they’ve scrolled through 50 percent of a blog post, you might have a popup come up that asks them to subscribe to your email list if they like what they’ve been reading.
Timed Popups
A timed popup appears on your website after a person has been on a page for a specific period of time.
The most effective timed popups typically show up sometime before the 60-second mark (and often closer to the 10-second mark).
Exit-Intent Popups
An exit-intent popup appears when someone seems as though they’re getting ready to leave the site. If they move their cursor toward the close button, a popup will show up encouraging them to stick around or continue checking out. The main driver behind this type of popup is to prevent shopping cart abandonment.
The popup might even offer a small discount to really encourage the buyer to stay on the site longer. Nothing sucks you deeper into an online shopping vortex than the lure of a good deal, right?
Entry Popups
Popups can also present themselves when someone first arrives on a webpage. This is probably the most common type of popup.
Entry popups often feature news about a specific promotion, a special discount, or another offer. The goal is to get visitors excited and convince them to stick around and shop.
Three Ways Popups Can Boost Your Conversion Rates
Popups can be very beneficial to bloggers who are looking to increase conversions. Here are three of the most noteworthy ways that they can assist with this:
1. Everyone Sees Popups
It’s virtually impossible for someone to ignore a popup. They’re like a digital version of those salespeople who work the kiosks at the mall. Unlike banner ads, which most people have learned to tune out when visiting websites, popups have to be seen before you can close them.
Their view rate is 100 percent, after all, and more views generally lead to more conversions.
2. Popups Can Provide Value
The most successful website popups provide some kind of value to the website visitor. If you’re going to interrupt their scrolling experience, you better give them something to help them get over it. It might be a resource on the site that is relevant to them, or it could be a discount on their first purchase.
Whatever the popup offers, if it’s appealing enough, people are generally going to be more inclined to stay on the site and eventually buy something after they see it.
3. Popups Encourage Engagement
Popups also encourage continued engagement. They reach website visitors when they’re already engaging with the site to some degree (clicking on a link, scrolling through a blog post, spending time on a web page, etc.) and can convince them to stay.
Because the person is already doing something on the site, they’ll often feel more inclined to continue doing that thing after the popup appears. This is especially true if the popup provides them with a good incentive, such as a discount.
The 13 Best Popup Examples
Clearly, popups have their place in the digital marketing world. Remember, though, that you need to use them correctly if you want to experience increased conversions and the other benefits they have to offer.
If you’re unsure of how to incorporate popups into your blog, here are 13 great examples from a variety that can inspire you:
1. Chubbies
When you visit the website for the casual clothing brand, Chubbies, and click over to a product page, you’ll be met with a popup offering you some money that you can put toward your order. Currently, Chubbies offers a minimum of $5 toward your first purchase when you sign up for the company’s rewards program. Five dollars might not seem like a lot, but any discount helps when you’re shopping for $70 swim trunks.
There are lots of great things about this popup. It catches your attention right away with the offer of free money (who doesn’t want that, right?), and it has a fun design that aligns perfectly with the Chubbies’ branding. Because this popup shows up specifically on product pages, it also encourages visitors to stay engaged and continue shopping.
It meets them where they are and does a great job of convincing them to take advantage of the discount and actually make a purchase.
2. MooSend
MooSend, an email marketing service, has a great example of an exit-intent popup on their website. When you get ready to exit the site, a popup appears inviting you to sign up for MooSend’s free email marketing plan. This popup is simple and uses bright colors that definitely catch your eye. Its message is clear, too — sign up for this free plan so you can start working on your email marketing strategy.
It also does a good job of emphasizing that the plan is free and doesn’t require visitors to input credit card information, something that would be a deal-breaker to a lot of people.
3. Honest
Honestly (see what I did there?), Honest has one of the best entry popup examples on the internet. This popup wins visitors over right away by offering them free shipping with their first purchase in exchange for signing up for the company’s email list.
It’s simple, elegant, and gets straight to the point. This is something busy shoppers are sure to love (as if the lure of free shipping alone isn’t enough).
4. Cygnett
When you consider the way their CEOs tend to dress, it’s not surprising that tech brands have nailed the idea of minimalist popup ads. Cygnett, for example, has an effective entry popup that is simply designed and uses colors that contrast with the others featured on the website, making it stand out right away.
It also offers a 10 percent discount when you sign up for the company’s email list. This is another excellent tactic to pique people’s interest and convince them to make a purchase when they might have initially just been interested in browsing.
5. Tommy Hilfiger
Like many clothing brands (and many brands in general), Tommy Hilfiger aims to engage website visitors right away by offering them a discount (20 percent off, in this case) when they sign up for the company’s email newsletter. Tommy Hilfiger doesn’t just stop there, though. They also sweeten the deal by offering invites to events and special birthday bonuses.
This popup is expertly designed and taps into people’s patriotism with the brand’s signature red, white, and blue color palette. It’s easy to read and simplifies the sign-up process for visitors who might have been on the fence, too.
6. Fran Denim
Fran Denim, a clothing brand that sells jeans designed for athletic women, has a unique popup that appears from the right-hand side of the screen. The popup enters the screen in a fun way, but let’s be real: it’s probably the eye-catching image of a woman on a motorcycle that gets people interested in signing up.
She’s powerful, strong, and in a perfectly fitting pair of jeans — what more could women who are frustrated with traditional denim ask for?
The fact that it offers 10 percent off in exchange for your email address helps, too.
7. Ulta
The brightly colored popup from Ulta, like the Fran Denim popup, enters from a unique location to draw your eye right away. In this case, the popup appears from the bottom of the screen. With its stunning pink color (a good fit for Ulta’s primary audience), it definitely attracts your attention.
It’s not overly ostentatious, though, and doesn’t stop you from shopping the website if you’re not ready to put in your email address yet.
8. Beautycounter
Beautycounter, a beauty brand specializing in clean, non-toxic skincare and makeup, has a very well-designed popup that appears when you visit one of the site’s product pages. This popup offers 20 percent off your first purchase when you sign up for the company’s email list. It also includes a list of other perks you’ll get after signing up.
Like Beautycounter’s website design in general, this popup is simple and elegant. Its contrasting colors make it easy to read, and allows visitors to quickly sign up or click away if they decide they’re not interested and just want to keep browsing.
9. PaleOMG
With a name like PaleOMG, it’s not surprising that this Paleo-focused food and lifestyle blog (run by blogger Juli Bauer Roth) features an OMG-eliciting pop-up. Food bloggers are some of the best people to watch not just for another banana bread recipe to get you through quarantine, but for popup ad and marketing inspiration.
This popup, which appears as soon as you enter the PaleOMG blog, advertises a sale, something that always catches people’s eyes. Even if you don’t need something (like a workout program, in this case), you’re more likely to go ahead and buy it if you know you can save money on it, right?
With the words “launch sale” written in all caps, there’s no doubt that people will see what’s being advertised and consider taking advantage of it (whether they actually use the workout program is another story, but the blog is at least getting people interested in buying it).
10. ACLU
Not all popups are for email newsletter sign-ups (at least not directly). The American Civil Liberties Union (or ACLU), for example, has a website popup that gives you the option to make a donation to the organization right away.
Admittedly, the popup might be a bit too aggressive for some. However, you can’t deny that it does a good job of emphasizing the importance of donating and simplifies the donation process.
11. ThredUP
ThredUP is an online consignment store with an entry popup that packs a one-two punch. First, the popup lures you in with the promise of up to 50 percent off your first purchase. That, alone, should get people in the virtual door and ready to start shelling out their hard-earned dollars.
The popup also makes it easy for visitors to sign up for an account using Amazon or Facebook instead of an email address if they prefer. Simply designed and simple to use, this popup is sure to make an impression.
12. Later
No one can see “later” to the exit-intent popup that Later, the Instagram scheduling app, uses. This popup utilizes the power of FOMO (fear of missing out) to convince you to sign up for their email list.
It lets website visitors know that more than 3 million people are on the list already. It also lets you know that you could be one of the cool kids if you just leave your email address in the box (if only it had been that easy to be part of the popular crowd in high school).
13. The LA Times
Like blogs, lots of media outlets, including the LA Times, utilize popups to get people interested in signing up for a subscription. The LA Times uses a popup that appears from the bottom of the page, similar to Ulta’s popup.
With its bright yellow color and black “Subscribe” button, the ad contrasts strongly with the serious black and white design of the website and is hard to ignore (which is exactly the point).
Increase Conversions with Popups Today
Stop sleeping on popups!
There are lots of ways that you can use them to increase visitor engagement, decrease your blog’s bounce rate, and see more conversions. Keep this list of great popup examples in mind as you begin designing popups for your own blog.
Pssst.. when you’ve built your email list, use these 3 affiliate email marketing tips to boost your overall blogging revenue. But don’t tell it to anyone else.
Drop a comment below and let me know which popup that inspired you.
