What’s your opinion about pop-up opting forms?
Do you have one?
It seems that many people do, that’s why I wanted to discuss pop-up opting forms today, as you may have noticed, I have inserted one on my blog after doing some research on the subject.
It’s very interesting that when I did my research about whether or not I should have a pop-up on my site, the first two articles that I read were completely opposite.
But what’s even more interesting is that both were from successful marketers.
One was saying that it was the worst mistake you could ever make, while the other was saying that you would be making a huge mistake if you didn’t have a pop-up.
Who can we Believe?
The article I read that against pop-ups was from a guest on Copybloggers, her name Beth Hayden. Even though I do not know here, I understand that she’s a rather successful online marketer. But what’s really interesting is that when I click on her link at the bottom of her article all I got was an opting page.
Hum, I had to scratch my head here a little.
The other article that I read pro pop-ups was from Dereck Halpern from Social Triggers.
It’s interesting that both of those guys have been featured on magazines such as Forbes and Entrepreneurs and both are very successful entrepreneurs, while having an opposite view about pop-ups.
So, let’s analyze what each one is saying about pop-ups and later I will give my two cent on that as well.
#1 Negative Opinion about Pop-Ups
In her article, Beth Hayden says that pop-ups do work, because they are hard not to notice, and whomever insert a pop-up on their site will see their list grow automatically.
But then, she goes on to say that pop-ups really push people’s buttons, because it’s so annoying, and can actually drive people away from your site.
She also says that besides annoying, some pop-ups that don’t work properly can even actually get in the way of the site working properly.
Then again, she adds that while her list grew while having a pop-up, she actually started receiving emails from people complaining about her ad, and even hate mails.
OK, before we get back on those points, let see another opinion.
#2 Positive Opinion about Pop-Ups
On the other end, Derek Halpern is very direct, and in his video he says this: “If you don’t use pop-ups you’re an idiot”.
Then he goes on to say that people who just leave your site because of a pop-up don’t deserve to be on your site.
Why?
Because, he says that’s a very bad attitude to have anyway, and you wouldn’t want people like that on your list, with or without a pop-up.
He also says that if you have good and valuable information, people won’t be deterred by a simple pop-up between them and the valuable information they know they’ll be getting on your site.
He also explains how people are totally blind to side bar and bottom opting forms and some of them would simply never sign up to your giveaway because of this.
He knows that all too well because he says that some people keep asking him how they can get into his email list, while he has several forms on his blog where they can do just that.
The problem is that they can’t seem to be able to see them.
When you don’t have a pop up, most people won’t pay attention to you opt-in form, because they are too focus on your content to notice anything else.
It’s called focus blindness.
Who’s Right and who’s Wrong?
How do you define who’s right and who’s wrong here?
Well, in order to make my own decision, I had to choose.
Now it doesn’t mean that I’m right, but here is what I think…
Opting Form Blindness
Now, is there such thing as opt-in form blindness as Dereck mentions?
You bet there is.
That I can tell you from my own experience, because I’ve got the same type emails as Dreck has.
Do you see my opt-in form on the side bar?
Well, some people haven’t and told me things like “you should have an opt-in form!”
Oh, really?
Last time I checked, I did!
So, let’s say you have 100 people coming to your blog, but only 20 do actually see that you have an opting form, while maybe 50 would love to be on your mailing list…
Well, you’ve just lost 30 potential subscribers.
Now, I may just be throwing numbers here, but this is pretty much what happens with focus blindness.
It’s just a fact. Some people, even some of those who would love to sign up, won’t see your opt-in form.
Are Pop-ups Annoying?
Sure, pop-ups may be annoying to some extent, but all you have to do, if you don’t want to sign up, is check that that x on the top right hand corner, and it will go away.
Just make sure your pop-up is set wisely.
- Make sure you allow visitors to close the pop-up. Because if they can’t close it, then it may really annoy the heck out of them.
- Consider how many times you want them to see the pop up.
I know of sites that will show me their pop-ups every few minutes or everything time I click on another page.
Now that may be a bit too much, but if you set up your pop up like once a day for each individual that will visit you blog I think that’s fine.
The reasons why you do want your pop-up reappear for the same person is that they (like myself) may want to opt-in later. So you need to give them that choice.
Just keep in mind that pop-ups, like many other things in life, are best in moderation, and could become bad if you don’t use your common sense.
Will a Pop-up Keep your Visitors Away?
As Dereck Halpern says, if your content is onlyt second rate and you do have a pop-up, people may close that pop-up and just move on to someone who offers the same value and doesn’t have a pop-up.
However, if your content is valuable they will simply close the pop-up and won’t care.
I can tell you that many of the blogs that I visit regularly do have pop-ups.
Do I care?
No.
So, based on my own experience with pop-up as a reader, I have to agree with Dereck. If I’m interested in reading their information, I just close the pop-up and proceed to read.
And if I am interested in what they have, it’s a perfect way to remind me about what they offer.
Now, I had to ask question; should “I” have a pop-up?
Is my blog good enough?
Well, I certainly hope so, but just this past week I caught those two tweets…
This person her I don’t even know…
OK, a great blogger to follow, and someone people should check out. Maybe I don’t suck to much.
I’ll take that. Thanks guys.
Enough Drama Already!
I have read blog posts on the subject of pop-ups with some dramatic comments.
One such comment was comparing a simple pop-up that you can actually shut off at a click of mouse to someone trying to sale you soap in the aisles of a Walmart store.
Really, are you going to compare a simple pop-up on a site to someone forcing you some soap in the aisles of a store?
As for me, I’ll take the pop ups, even over the scout girls asking me if I want to buy them cookies when I exit the Walmart store, because I don’t like cookies (yes, I know it’s weird), but that’s why I really don’t need to buy any cookies.
Yet, again, even though I feel bad saying no all the time, does that make me not ever want go back to that store?
No it doesn’t.
Heck, I could give them the money and tell them to keep the cookies. Or, yet again I could just give the cookies to someone.
But seriously here, would I rather deal with a pop up on a site that I enjoy visiting than any of that?
You bet I would.
Then, someone else took the lame excuse (in their comment) that at a time where people access our sites on mobile devices, pop-ups are a bad idea.
Really? If you’re using quality pop-ups, my guess is that you’ll be fine.
My pop-up works perfectly on both my tablet and on my phone.
What about those Hate Mails?
Now, truly, do you want to have any kind of relationship, what-so-ever, with anyone sending anything hateful?
I didn’t think so.
Well, me neither.
Anyone sick enough to send hateful emails doesn’t deserve to be on your list.
And as Dreck says it, anyone complaining doesn’t deserve to be on your blog. Let them get away from you as much and as far as possible.
As for Beth Hayden, does she get less hate mails by linking to an opting form page rather than a blog with an opting pop-up?
That’s a question I’ve got to ask myself!
Focus on the Positive
Now the coach in me, can’t help it, when I read those dramatic theories, this is what I want to tell those people.
- If you get hate mail. Don’t be so bugged down by it. Nobody worthwhile would send you hate mails. Period. Ignore them. Or give them a good psychiatric clinic address.
- If pop-ups were that bad for so many people, there wouldn’t be many more people like Dereck Halpern collecting hundreds of thousands of subscribers, and growing their list every single day with pop-ups.
- There are things that annoy me way more than a pop-ups on blog, such as my comments being ignored, or colored backgrounds or even long paragraphs, and ads all over the place. To me these are way more annoying than pop-ups because I can’t fix them with a click of the mouth,.
Bottom line, yes pop-ups that are not well managed can be annoying, and if the site is not worth the annoyance of the pop-up then move on to something else.
However, if your pop-up is respectful of your visitors, like I think mine is, I don’t’ think it will prevent people from coming to your site and benefit from the valuable content that you’re spending time to create and deliver.
So, what do you think about all that?
What’s your idea about pop-up?
Do tell…
Thanks you so much to Lorraine Reguly for mentioning me as on of her inspiring blogger on her list.
Thank you to LoneMind for including in their list of experts about the subconscious mind.
Sylviane,
Thank you for this worthwhile post…I was actually just discussing this very topic with my boss! I am not a big fan of pop-ups on blogs for the simple fact that I am usually very focused when it comes to finding the information I am looking for and it is very distracting to be reading and have something pop up and block you from what you were reading.
I’m not necessarily saying that pop-ups can’t be utilized…they could be very helpful to gaining more subscribers to your blog. It has just been my experience that people don’t like to be interrupted when they are busy. It is the reason that emails tend to work better than cold calls, because they can read them when they are ready. It is also the reason that the first thing I always ask when I do call people is if it is a good time to talk or if they would prefer I call back at a more convenient time for them.
What we currently do is put an opt-in CTA button at the bottom of each blog post. While this may not be as effective as a pop-up CTA, it allows them to get the information they want and reminds them they have an option for more (in case they didn’t see our opt-in form on the side panel.)
Something to think about as a nice best-of-both-worlds gesture is to have the pop-up appear as they are getting ready to leave the page. I’ve seen pop-ups saying they are sorry to see me leave the page and if I have more questions to click for answers…maybe you can set up your opt-in box to these parameters so that they can read the post they want and have a reminder to opt-in before they leave. This would also probably reduce the “hate mail” factor.
That is just a few of my thoughts on options that could be utilized. You were right though… I wouldn’t leave a page that I was seeking information from just because I received a pop-up I could easily “x” out of.
Thank you again for sharing, I really enjoyed your post!
Sincerely,
Andrea
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Hi Andrea,
I certainly appreciate you long and details comment here. Just like I like them!
I am not familiar with opt-in CTA, but I’ll look it up.
What’s funny though is that while most people who are going to comment here, are going to say they do not like pop up, while thousands of sites that have pop up would probably be ready to report that their pop-up helped grow not only their mailing list, but their business.
It’s like commercials, no body likes them, but they work so well that companies still pay big money to run commercials about their products.
I agree that some people go way too far with their pop ups though, having the thing coming back more than one while I’m there. I made sure mine doesn’t do that. As long as you click off of it, it’s gone for the day!
Thank you very much for your valued feedback.
Have a great day!
Interesting topic Sylviane. I am one of those who despises pop-ups on a site. I find them annoying and a bit pushy. If I am interested in keeping up with the site, how difficult is it to look at the sidebar for an opt-in? Btw, I see yours. My thought it, there are a lot who don’t like pop ups and if they really are interested in your content, they will take 1 more minute to look at your sidebar for the opt-in. Just my 2 cents for what it’s worth. And oh yeah, no, I don’t have any pop-ups on my site.
Can’t wait to see what others say. 🙂
B
Brenda Lee invites you to read..Sometimes That New Path You Follow Leads You Right Back To Where You Began
Hi Branda,
Thanks you for giving your 2 cents on that. Really appreciate it 🙂
Well, as I mentioned it in the post, there is something called “focus blindness” that makes people not even see a opting form on the side bar, or even multiple opting forms.
I understand that some people don’t like them, but it’s just a pop up, really, not a huge deal.
Why people do use pop-ups? Because their work. It’s like commercials, everybody says that they don’t like commercials right? That’s right, most of us don’t like them, but why companies still pay thousands to million of dollars on commercials? Because they work.
It’s the same thing with pop-ups.
So, I’m going to give myself that chance of growing my business with my pop up, because the truth is my blog is really not for my buddy bloggers at the end of the day, but for my potential clients.
This said I do value my readers and commenters a whole lot, but I also need to grow my business with people who could use my services to grow their own business.
Thanks for being first here. I hope you have a great day!
I wish you luck with yours Sylviane.
Hi Sylviane,
Oh the dreaded drama, lol…
I suppose it all comes down to what works for you. Personally, if I don’t have a relationship with a site, or the site owner or blogger and the article is just a bait or not that very good, I’m never coming back to that site.
It’s highly intrusive in my opinion when I’m reading something and then I lose my train of thought and concentration because of a pop-up.I’m probably going to leave the site anyway. It’s really annoying when it happens on every page I visit.
If I’m serious about joining your list or buying from I’m going to do it if it’s available on the page. I added my subscribe call-to-action image at the end of each article. If you’re not going to read the article, why would you join to begin with is my thought? A pop-up isn’t personally going to incentivize me.
It will probably just make think you have to resort to intrusive behavior to get me to do something.
But, that’s just my opinion, not a hard fact. Everyone is different.
Again, if it works for you then do it. I’m only one person. I guess my response is if more people read and come back because I don’t have it vs if I do and they don’t come back or if there are complaints about it… then I would re-evaluate.
If not, then I wouldn’t and I would do what is working. But I wouldn’t make that decision around one person’s opinion either way. Test and measure, right?
I deeply respect you and since you asked I thought I would share my view on the subject.
Great post Sylviane! Keep that fire stoked, lol…
~ Don Purdum
Don Purdum invites you to read..If You Want Blog Readers and Sales, Give Blog Readers and Sales
Hi Don,
I certainly do appreciate your feedback, and I totally agree with what you’re saying. Really!
Yet, again, I didn’t decide to use a pop up because I like them so much, but because like commercials, even though so many people say they don’t like them, they do seem to work.
And interestingly some people even suggested pop ups to me since I’ve redesigned my site 🙂
Actually, if I’m honest I have to say that I’ve opted in at times because of a pop-up and might have not unless it was right in front of me. Now, even if it’s in front of me and I’m not interested, I won’t opt-in even though it’s right in my face.
However, I don’t seem to be so bugged down by pop ups as I hear some people are. I just close the thing and keep reading. Now when it keeps coming back and back again, yes that’s annoying, and I don’t understand why anyone would want to do that. But, still some do 🙂
I agree that pop ups are a bit intruding and as adults we should all be big enough to make our own decision, right? But I guess this is the world of marketing, what works doesn’t necessarily make the most sense for the intelligent thinking beings that ware are “supposed to be.”
Thanks for your valued input Don, and have a great week ahead!
Hi Sylviane,
All this opt-in, pop-up, focus blindness.
🙂
I don’t know a lot about that, but I do know about blindness blindness.
🙂
I always search all around a site, if I really want to follow the owner or join their mailing list, but of course I am using my VoiceOver software to search a site. Sometimes it may miss things that sighted people see and click on easily. Other times it’s no problem.
Different pop-ups may not necessarily work with VoiceOVer. I don’t really know.
I guess you have to do what’s right for your site and your business. It is funny the way things like commercials are hated by so many, yet they work and continue to be utilized. People do what works and what doesn’t is lost.
People find a lot of things annoying and irritating about websites, but they continue to spend hours and hours on the internet.
You will try it and if it works for you, just do it. Others can make up their own minds.
Just wanted to add my two scents and my own joke about the blindness thing, but really I can’t go by what most people recommend, not with my voice software. Just something to think about, that I wanted to bring your attention and awareness to.
Have a great week and I look forward to any other posts you have coming up.
Kerry
Hi Kerry,
And God knows I love jokes, and people with sense of humor, so I really enjoyed yours here. For you it’ none of that stupid “focus blindness” it’s real, which makes us with normal level of vision really dumb, doesn’t it?
I’m glad you’ve brought up commercials. I’ve mentioned this in like 3 comments already. Pop ups are like commercials, everybody says they don’t like them, but they work.
My blog is more focused on bringing me clients now, therefore, I took that step to pop up the volume, so to speak. Will see if it’s worth it or not. Only time will tell.
I certainly did appreciate your 2 cents, my dear. Thanks so much for coming and Wednesday I’ll have a treat post for my readers, so be on the look out! 🙂
Have a wonderful day!
Hi Sylviane,
Oh boy when it comes to pop ups there are so many conversations going on. I do think it is an individual choice. Personally I find them annoying. Now I seen yours and it is not intrusive, I just x it out and keep reading.
The pop ups that have the hidden x on it drive me right off the blog because they make it difficult to keep reading and I loose my train of thought. I don’t like to skim through a blog post because I visit great bloggers, like you and want to read the entire post.
I have been embedding offers within my blog post itself and find that it is converting well. I may try a pop up later on, or may not. Still on the fence! But like anything else, I do like to try things out.
So till then…. wishing you all the best on the pop up you have put in. Keep us posted!
-Donna
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Hi Donna,
It’s so funny, but I think that we were on each other’s blog at the same time, because I came back here as soon as I click out your blog and there you were! LOL!
I hate popups that hide the x to click out of them, and I don’t think that it’s good marketing.
However, discreet ones like mine is, I think, can’t be that much of a bugger, while for me it’s tool that could help me reach one of my marketing goals.
I like what you’ve been doing with your posts, I even copied you and tried that once 🙂 But I couldn’t tell if it did anything, since I did it only once.
So anyways, time will tell. I have noticed that my signing up has already increased after 2 days, so will see how it goes.
I feel that what I offer is valuable, so they have nothing to lose. They can unsubscribe any time as well.
Thank you for giving me your feedback, and you have a great day!
Hey Sylviane,
I had a love/hate relationship with pops. I’ve been to quite a few websites where the popup were annoying and either there was no way for me to click them off or the close button was not in a visible place.
But on the other hand I’ve been to sites where the pop ups were managed quite well and I was able to close it immediately. So you know what I did? From this I put a couple of pop ups on my blog. At first it didn’t work so well, but now I have a new one where it’s a lot more easily managed.
The key is to have them show up in moderation. I have mine show up every 30 days and after my visitors read my content. I had a few people opt in to my last a couple of days after I set it up, so so far so good.
Yes pop ups is a hot topic and you will definitely find people who are with it or against it. I for one have to side with Derek on this as well. There aRe benefits to having pop ups as you both mentioned and those haters should definitely be ignored!
Great topic Sylviane and thanks for sharing!
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Hi Sherman,
For the life of me I do not understand why some people would have a pop-up that you can’t close out. That’s a very bad idea. Hopefully those people will get to their senses on day and stop that.
I’m glad that your trying things out with pop-ups and I hope you’ll write about your findings. I know I will too.
Thank you for coming by and have a wonderful week ahead!
Hi Sylviane,
This is an interesting topic, and you have cited two good examples of the for and against camps.
I think that pop-ups have become more intelligent now, by which I mean there are Opt-in plugins that allow you to control the popups; frequency, positioning, etc. Do you remember the early ones that just came up and you couldn’t get rid of. Or if you did they came back 5 seconds later! They sure had the opposite effect of driving readers away!!
You make a good point that if they didn’t work then successful marketers would not use them.
Based on that, I’m off to switch on my popup!
Thanks
– David
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Hi David,
Yes, I remember those pop-ups, but even the new ones can be set that way, and some people still do, sadly. But as you said, that would have the opposite effect than the one desired.
We know that some people will be annoyed by it, but hey, I’m not going to not try something that is said to work for the sake of a few people that would not opt-in. So I’m in for now and time will tell.
Let me know how it works for you:)
Thanks for dropping by.
Hey Sylviane,
There is never a right or wrong answer when it comes to something like pop-ups.
As I went through training with Marie Forleo last year she suggested we use pop-ups. As she said, and I totally get what she’s saying, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I agree with that to an extent. My issue is that I literally hate them. I find them SO annoying to me so I refuse to put something on my site I can’t stand myself. I don’t care how great they apparently work. I’ll deal with the amount of opt-ins I’m currently getting over putting something on my blog I hate myself.
Do they work? I guess each individual will have to test that out for themselves. Although I can’t stand them, they aren’t the reason I will never visit a site again unless they keep popping up and I can never get the post read. I’ve visited a few of those and I can honestly say I’ll never return.
The other complaint I hear about them is when people are reading the posts via their mobile phones and the pop-ups cover the entire page so that you can’t even see the “x” in order to get rid of the box. They have to shut their phones entirely down so that means those people have just lost a visitor that will never visit their blog again.
From a marketing standpoint and building your list we’ll never know if they work on our sites unless we test them ourselves. So I say you test it on your blog and if it works well for you then keep it. If it doesn’t then get rid of it.
I admire a lot of the top marketers out there but I don’t always agree with their logic or what they happen to share about certain topics. To each his own is all I can say.
Great topic to discuss Sylviane and we prefer to just hear what kind of results you’re getting from having them on your blog.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne,
Oh, no I would not try something just because some people say it’s great (and I don’t care who they are), but I would try it if they say that their getting the type of results I’m looking for.
As you said, we can only know for sure if we try ourselves.
Now, if you hate popups so much, and you were to put one on your own blog, as I coach, I wouldn’t even advise you to do it at all, because you might transmit that negative energy you have about popups to your popup and thus your traffic. So that’s a no-no for you.
Hate is attached to strong negative feelings and energy, so you might also try to change that word/feeling about popups before you tried anything like that, if you ever did. just my 2 cents here 🙂
At the end of the day, you have to do what’s comfortable to you, but I’m happy to know that Marie Forleo also recommend them 🙂
Thanks for coming and have a great rest of the day.
Popups; oh no! lol
I have to admit that I hate them with a passion. I used to stop going to every site that had them, whether I used to enjoy that site or not. By now I’ve mellowed some, though I still don’t like them. I’d been told by someone that popups could be set so that they recognized IP addresses who’d previously visited and wouldn’t show again but that turned out to be false.
Truthfully, the ones that irk me the most are those that pop up before I’ve even had a chance to read the first paragraph. If I’m a first time visitor I’m thinking you haven’t even given me a chance to see if I might like you; those sometimes make me just leave if I didn’t already know them, figuring I can’t miss what I don’t know.
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Hi Mitch,
OK, I kind of knew that your answer was no from the tweet LOL!
Now, I feel that the word “hate” for a pop-up, as annoying as it may be, is a bit of strong word, so for your own sake I’m glad that you mellowed as you said 🙂
The reason why many popusp appear fast is that this online world is a fast world, that’s it, but I’ll try different settings for sure, over time.
Now a pop-up recognizing the IP address is a big lie, because it appears as many times as you set it up. That’s it. I have my once a day. So if you came back in five minutes or an hour from now you wouldn’t see it. But if you came back tomorrow you would.
Pop-ups don’t bite, we just close them 🙂
Thanks for coming and giving me your feedback.
Hey Sylviane
From an LOA perspective, I think any marketing technique we are clear on and feel good about will work for us. Different things work for different people, and there will always be varying opinions. It really comes down to doing what we feel is right for us, and perhaps experimenting a bit. Pop ups only annoy me when it isn’t immediately visible how to close them out..it is as if they are making it hard on purpose
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Hi Kelli,
Totally agree with you. That’s why I was just telling Adrienne, from a coach perceptive as well, that if she has strong feeling against it, then better not use one. For sure.
Some not so smart marketers make those things hard to close, that’s true, but I would never do that with mine. I checked mine even on my phone and it works great. People can close it without any problem.
Thank you so much for your input. Appreciate that 🙂
Hi Sylviane,
Well I’m a numbers kind of girl. Before I tell you my opinion of pop-ups, I would look at the numbers. Out of 18 comments so far, you’ve receive 18 (non 19 from me) responses of people who pretty much intensely dislike pop-ups. Now the good news is most people deal with them. But most people dislike them – you’ve got almost 100%. Because I’m a numbers person, that tells me something, despite what the big wig bloggers say.
My personal opinion – yes I despise them. It interrupts my reading and I too have limited time when I’m trying to get to the comments, read the info or whatever. Usually I’m sneaking in my time so I want to read it and keep on moving. A pop up will keep me from going back to a blog particularly if I haven’t been there before.
BUT the choice is truly up to the individual blogger. Focus blindness – sure I’m sure there is. But I’d ask the question ‘how many people actually have focus blindness.’ So for instance if 100 people come to a blog and only 2 have focus blindness and don’t see the opt-in on the side, then maybe they were just distracted and actually don’t have focus blindness but actually missed it for another reason. If you have 100 people who have focus blindness, then that’s another story and the person would need to look at their opt-in and evaluate this value and where it should be displayed. Maybe I’m too logical, but that’s what makes sense to me.
All that to say – can’t stand them. I’m with Mitch. I hate those that pop up before you even start reading. That will annoy me to no end. Anyway, it is a matter of choice. Most of the blogs I go to nowadays don’t have them so it’s an interesting delimma.
Hope they work out for you and that you get the opt-ins you need.
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Hi Barbara, nice to see you again already 🙂
Well, sure maybe most of the handful people who have commented so far don’t like Pop-ups, but interesting many of the people that do comment here on a regular basis and that do have pop-ups are not her to tell their side of the story.
Also, keep in mind that none of those people are my potential clients. They’re just my buddies for the most part 🙂
That’s why my blog content is now 80/20 rule. 20% of my content will apply to my blogger/friends/commenters and 80% to my potential clients, because I have serious business goals now. No more blogging for fun only. Now I blog with more strategy.
Now, why all the big money markers do have pop-ups? Well, that’s a good question, isn’t it?
So, since I spent big money hiring a coach who’s helping me with my business, my goals are bound to change and so is my behavior (my marketing behavior that is). This year has got to be the year of big money, because I’m taking the bull by the horns. When you’ve done things that don’t work for as long as I have, you’ve got to start things that do work.
So far I’ve got more optings in a few days then the whole last month, so time will tell how things will go, but I’m motivated to make this work. I’ll tell you that.
Thanks for coming. Appreciate that!
Very interesting topic indeed. One of those things that will probably be debated til the end of time.
Personally I agree with Andrea, pop-ups are an interruption. Why they annoy some people.Completely different than compared to a squeeze page, not even the same thing.
I am sure there is blindness for sidebar items, or optin boxes, but one thing I’ve noticed is that there are so many bad option boxes, with little to no compelling headlines or copy. No wonder most people don’t have as much success with them. Not saying they can outperform a pop-up, but it seems people put more effort into their pop-up form than they do their side bar or blog opt-in boxes. If people put the time and energy into the on-site opt-in boxes and split test them, they might likely to be surprised. Course just my opinion.
I think Beth is smart sending people to only a squeeze page. It’s not an interruption and it’s not “annoying”. Sure not a apples to apples comparison. A squeeze page is also not some thing that is Xed out, or has other things “behind” it. It’s a little more focused. Course, we can not always push every one to a squeeze page, so pop-ups are other option.
I have not used pop-ups for a ling time and don’t know if I will. Maybe I am missing out?
Also there has been talk that po-ups are a negative for SEO?
Thanks for the read Sylviane!
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Hi Ron, and welcome here.
You get that right. People will talk about opting forms to no end, but as for me once the post his done with comments I won’t. I will just enjoy mine, if I may say.
I really don’t think my pop-up is really annoying. Once you click it out it’s gone for a whole day, even if you’d come back 10 times to my site that same day, you wouldn’t see it again.
Now, there is a reason why people use them, it’s because they work, and it’s because people want to grow their list, which is my goal at this time in my business. So time will tell if I keep it or not, but for now I sure am.
I appreciate your comment and thanks for coming.
Hi Sylviane
A debate igniting topic and you fully covered the pros and cons of popup optin form.
Three factors actually differentiate a blog from other blogs.
1) Its niche
2) Its target audience
3) Its ultimate objective
So it all depends upon these three factors to either install popup form or not. For example:
a) In a news niche it will never work
b) In a membership site or a narrow audience site like club members it will not work.
c) It the objective of a site is served on arrival of a visitor it will not work.
Above are a few examples I just mentioned to clarify the points. So one needs to justify its installation fully reviewing the above three factors of his blog.
Also popup form means visitor must look into it. So here insisting someone to do this actually means we are assuring him that his biggest benefit lies in filling that form. So the thing which we are offering through it must have the highest benefit to visitors.
Thanks a lot for sharing a post on a very very interesting topic.
Have a great rest of the week.
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Hi Mi,
Well, thank you for your expert feedback, and I totally agree with that.
In my case, I am a coach with some insight that can help lots of people in my target market, so that’s the reason for the pop up, and I really feel that it has all the potential to work. I know time will tell, but being positive about things is also a huge factor.
Thank you for coming and for your input Mi. Really appreciate that!
I have always been contrary to pop-ups, Sylviane.
I mean, when I’m reading a post, I don’t enjoy that window coming in front of my eyes, “forcing” me to take an action.
I have developed a habit, since when I started workign online.
When I browse the internet and I find pop-ups, I close them automatically right away, when I see them.
I do not even read what it is.
It may sound weird, but this is exactly what I do.
I guess in specific niche, and under determined conditions, pop-ups may bring positive results. But still, you need to be prepared to lose a portion of your readers.
Thanks for your post, Sylviane.
Have a great rest of your week.
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Hi Erik,
Well, I hear you, Erik, but I’m also finding that’s more other bloggers that don’t like popups, not so much people who would benefit from my information (my potential customers). As for losing readers, as Dereck Halpern says in his video, if my content is worth it, people won’t mind a pop-up. If they do it’s probably because they didn’t really appreciated in the first place. I really agree with that. I myself go to a site with or without pop=up. No problem, if I like it. so, yes, yes I agree with him.
Do you know Sue Anne Dunlevie? As I went to her blog yesterday, I actually just realized that she has a pop-up just like mine which appears within 10 seconds. It doesn’t bother me at all. I just closed it, and if you know her, you probably know that she’s got lots of visitors.
So, while I understand the argument, I think that in life is all about being positive. If it works for others, I’m convinced that it’s got a work for me.
Thank you for coming, Erick, and I hope that my pop-up didn’t bother you too much 🙂
Erik,
I am with you on this issue! 🙂
Sylviane: I have decided not to having any “popping” things on my sites. I did attend a webinar with LeadPages some time ago, and they had an alternative to a pop-up form, but I don’t remember the name of it now! 😉
Do you pop-up something in the face of person who knocks on your door?
We could talk about this topic on my podcast show… 😉
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Hi Martin,
As I said it over and over on my comments, I get that, but the people who criticize and dislike popups are other bloggers and marketers, NOT the public. Not people that ARE actually my potential clients, and certainly not people who are opting and growing my list. Now, are they?
As any guy who’s making big money such as the one I mention here, Dereck Halpern, Marie Forleo and many more, they do recommend pop-ups. My own business coach whose business is growing is using pop-ups. I know there no way she will stop that.
So, again, I get what you’re saying, but that’s actually not relevant to the market. And I’m not saying here, experts do!
Thanks for your input. Always appreciated.
Hi Sylviane,
Lots of different opinions!!
Sometimes the thing that we dislike is what works and the only way to know is to test. If you feel like using a pop-up, go for it and see how it will work for you.
I don’t like them when they pop-up too much in front of you while you are reading a post. I have been to sites where it pops up several times which I find very pushy and annoying, but in moderation, I would say is not bad at all. I just click the x and I continue.
What bothers me most is the pop-up videos that you can’t stop from anywhere. They are not as popular as the pop-up opt-ins but I stumbled upon one or two and was really annoyed by them. This is what I find really annoying but a pop-up opt-in form is not that bad. I used to hate them but I heard lots of positive things about them which made me change my mind and who knows, I may try them myself. After all, people use them because it works for them and they see positive results using them.
Thanks Sylviane for sharing this debatable topic. Enjoy the rest of your week.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
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Hi Neamat,
I know what you mean about those video pop-ups that you can’t even shut off I’ve seen that too. That’s not good at all.
Like you, I do not like pop-ups that are too pushy. I go to some sites where their pop-ups come back and back again several times while i’m there too. I don’t want mine to be so intruding for sure.
But yes, pop-ups do work, that’s why people use them, and that’s why I wanted to give it a try. Time will tell.
Thank you for your feedback, and have a great and stay warm day 🙂
Nice article Sylviane, and nice presentation to the different angles of the argument.
I’m currently testing different options that can be set on pop ups. For instance, I’m testing what works better – a pop up that appears on the first page a visitor lands on, or do you give them time, and only display the pop up on the second page?
Of course, that greatly reduces the impressions of the pop up, especially if the visitor never goes to a second page, but thats where exit intent comes in as well.
I guess this argument is all down to the blog owner, and what they deem to be acceptable to their audience.
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Hi Richard,
I’m glad you liked my presentation here.
I think that when it comes to pop-ups we should try different things for sure. At the moment I have mine set after 10 seconds, which I know is pretty fast, but so are the online browsers. So, I’ll start with that.
However, over time I will tweak things up.
What’s funny is that the ones who complain are usually not our potential clients or customers anyway, those who are just keep quiet and opt-in. My list has grown already 🙂
You’re right, bottom line is how the owner feels about it, as long as they take their readers in consideration as well.
Thanks for your valued input.
Hi Sylviane,
I have always wondered about the benefits of opt-in forms and this post was very insightful.I am not a big fan of opt-in forms you see, as i feel that they distract the reader. If I am engrossed in reading a really good article and the form suddenly pops up, I will definitely be annoyed.
At times I have come across a few forms that cannot be closed! They just keep sticking on to the screen with the actual content behind them. It might be due to a technical issue for sure but again, it leaves a bad impression on the reader.
Although there are benefits of using opt-ins as it definitely helps you in increasing your subscribers, I will give it a pass for now. The post was very informative and thank you for sharing this with us.
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To be honest, on my own personal opinion there are positive and negative effects of having a pop-up when someone visits a website. You may or may agree with me. If there’s one positive thing that pop-up can bring which will be beneficial to both reader and publisher is that the chance you giving to your reader to subscribe or follow you. Some readers may get interested to your articles and wanted to see more. Giving them option to subscribe right there and then will make their lives easier. Now, there are times that a reader will find it annoying especially if they wanted to get the information they are looking for as soon as possible. But then the pop-up appears. It becomes an intrusive factor to your reader especially if there’s no option to close it. In the end, they’ll just leave.
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Hello there, and welcome to my blog.
Well, just about every single thing in life has its pros and cons. I think it’s all about how we set the pop-up. I would never have one that people can’t turn off, that makes no sense. But I know some people that do. They may be just ignorant or stupid, not sure, but when used wisely it’s not a bad thing.
Thank you for sharing your input.
Hi Sylviane.
I am familiar with the work of Derek Halpern and Beth Hayden, and I agree with you that pop-ups do work. I don’t like them, but know that they are effective. They have worked on me, and I’m hard to sell to.
However, I don’t like them appearing straight away, as soon as I land on the page. That seems a bit pointless to me. I prefer those that strategically appear after a certain amount of time, at a certain point down the page, or just prior to exit.
I know that most of the commenters are against pop-ups completely, but of course bloggers would tend to be. We’re thinking differently from our target audience who are usually indifferent about these things. And they take less than a second to close, when done well.
Anyway, I’ll be watching to see how the discussion continues. Nice topic for discussion.
Nathan.
Hi Nathan,
You’re a smart man, Nathan! That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to some people here. My potential clients are NOT the commenters on my bog :). There are two types of visits to a blog, the usual readers that are your friends and bloggers themselves and your target market.
While I’ve got all those people telling me how much they don’t like pop-ups, my email list has grown 🙂 from people who haven’t even read those comments I’m sure.
I know what you mean. It makes more sense to have a popup later in the game, but I’ll try different things, and for now I have it set at 10 seconds. But I’ll change that around over time. At least it’s super easy to close up even on my phone.
Thanks for your feedback. Very much appreciated.
By the way, last time I went to your blog there were not new post 🙂 Did you blog lately?
I was going to write a new post a few weeks ago, then fell ill with the flu at a time when I had many urgent things to catch up with. I eventually put all that out of the way, then decided to take my site down and rebuild it.
Now I’m getting into a routine of commenting regularly again, then I’ll post again soon.
Nathan.
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Oh, Sorry you were sick with the flu, but I’m glad you’re back on track. I had noticed that you had not blogged in a while, that’s why I asked.
Well, good rebuilding of your site then.
Thanks for getting back with me.
Hello Sylviane,
Its been a while since i stepped in here and i must say that your new design is rocking – i love it 🙂
Now to the topic at hand… Having a pop-up optin form is a good thing and it helps build your list faster. I have tried it out on my other blog (and still using it) and the result so far is great.
The thing is, the pop-up optin box becomes bad if it comes on every refresh of your blog url. using a cookie for the pop-up optin is just the best idea.
Once again, love your blog . Do have a wonderful weekend
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Hi Babanature,
Wow, it’s been that long that we hadn’t connected? I’ve had this new design since lat November.
Yes, I have to say that I LOVE my new design and I know many people who do to. The other day a friend of mine who is an “off line person” told me how much he loves it. So I think we did good on that one.
I’m glad that you can confirm how pop ups can be valuable to build your list. You’re right, it’s all about how you set it up. You don’t want to have it TOO MUCH on people’s face. Balance is always a good thing in everything we do.
Thanks you for coming and I hope we can connect again sooner this time 🙂
I hate pop-up because it’s too crazy and all of my website don’t have any pop-up. When visitors come to your blog and see a pop-up, they hate it for some percents and if there’s nothing that attract them, then they leave and no come back again.
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Hi Alize,
Well, I know for sure that many people don’t hate it because they sign up on a daily basis, and so do they on thousands other sites.
Hate is a strong word (that shouldn’t apply to something like popups anyways), and since I’ve taken it out of my vocabulary and mind, I don’t attract it at all.
Glad you expressed you sentiment on that.
Hi Sylviane,
I saw this post listed on your recent posts and had to read this.
I’ve been on the fence myself about this because I too get annoyed with pop ups. But it’s also obvious that they work.
After reading your post I might give it a trial run, keeping in mind to keep it simple and not overdo it.
Thanks for this info!
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Hi Corina,
I’m glad you came and read this.
I think that popups are annoying when they are out of control popping up constantly for no reason. Mine popups up ONLY once a day for each individual, so I don’t think that’s too bad.
They do work. To give you a very recent example, the other day someone ask me How they could opt-in for my eCourse and they had just been on my post where the opting form is just at the bottom of the post, but they had NOT seen it. That’s exactly as Derek said. That’s why we need popups.
Let me know how it goes for you.
Thanks for coming by.
Hi Sylviane,
Personally I don’t like pop-ups. But after reading this article I may try it out for my blog on experimental basis. A great eye opener and interesting read.
Thanks a ton for all the tips. Have a nice day!
Personally I find popups incredibly annoying. They do cause me to click away faster from a site. The worst thing is that they’re incredibly bad on mobile devices where its harder to make them go away. Anyone with a popup should look at their analytics for mobile/desktop to see if the bounce rates vary greatly and then do a test with/without popups to see if there is a change. My guess is that there will be.
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Hi Sylviane
I like “intelligent” pop-ups. I completely agree with you that there is a complete blindness to our optin pages and an “intelligent” pop-up, which is a pop-up that is well put together and only appears on exit is a must for a blogger who is interested in capturing subscribers. I have now purchased OptinMonster, I only have to implement it on my site.
I also like optin boxes at the end of the post, something like the OptinSkin offers. I used to have something like that but less “sexy” and it worked very well. I had to take it off as it stopped being updated and I don’t like to use plugins that are not being kept up.
I think that when we write good posts, our readers will not mind the pop-ups, providing we use them in good taste. Often the reader, when reminded, will sign up, especially if he or she liked the post.
I love the quote from Derek Halpern
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Hi Sylviane
I love this discusiion on Pop-ups and I tthink the issue here isn’t about the pop-ups but how they are used. Some people use pop-up forms in such a way that it is so desirable while others make pop-up look so annoying. I am not sure why this is so but like you have there are a lot of factors.
I think testing is the key which will help us know what appeals to our audience. Thanks for sharing.
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Hi Sylviane
It’s a fact that your blog posts are so unique and interesting and I enjoys a lot while reading your posts because you explained your post very deeply in a very easy and clear language. Thanks for your support and Happy Blogging 😀
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Hi Chetan,
Well, I’m so happy to heard that. One of the best compliments a blogger can hear (read) in a comment. Thank you so much for saying that, and hope you’ll come back then.
Thanks for coming.