Ads are seen as a necessary evil. But believe it or not, there are advantages and disadvantages of pop-up ads on your website for your business and customers. Before you decide to have pop-up ads appear on your website, you have to run the decision-making process from the perspective of a business owner and your site visitors.

In this article, we’ll discuss what pop-ads are, how they work and summarize their pros and cons. You’ll have a better understanding of how this type of ad can be used to grow your business and what can be done to mitigate some of the disadvantages of pop-up ads.

What Are Pop-Up Ads?

A pop-up ad or pop-up advertisement is exactly what it describes – an ad that pops up as a window on a website that you’re checking out. It can appear without warning or a window can open when you hover your mouse over certain areas on the web page.

The pop-up ad can also be triggered as you’re about to leave the web page. As your mouse is moving out of the page, a pop-up will appear with the heading “Wait, before you go!”

The Pros And Cons Of Using Pop-Ups On Website

Why are pop-up ads used on websites?

  • To generate leads;
  • To support a specific marketing campaign;
  • To give updates on the latest developments;
  • To improve customer engagement;
  • To promote ads from a 3rd party where the website owner derives earnings via commissions.

These pros are great for businesses as well as your target audience – if the pop-up ads are done properly. But if the pop-up ads are poorly designed and planned out, they can severely affect User Experience.

Advantages Of Pop-Up Ads On Website

The idea of being “forced” to view ad content doesn’t sit well with consumers. So why do websites still use them? Because apparently, there are pros to using pop-ups on your website.

Here are the advantages of pop-up ads:

1. Immediate Visibility of Your Ad

Once the pop-up ad appears on the screen, the site user will get to read it before he chooses the option to click out. If you believe the study of Microsoft on the attention span of humans, you only need 8 seconds to capture the interest of your site user.

A well-conceptualized and expertly designed pop-up ad might get the job done for your website within that time span. For this reason, you should consider hiring professional web design services to create your pop-up ad.

2. Ad Design is Customizable

To dampen the negative effects of pop-up ads on User Experience (UX), have your ad customized to suit the preferences of your target audience. Review your onsite analytics to get a better idea of who your audience is and what they would like to read on your website.

Likewise, make sure the pop-up ad doesn’t become an inconvenience for your site user. Simple features such as making it easy to click out of the pop-up ad or keeping the window small enough that it won’t overwhelm the reader will do wonders in restoring trust in your brand.

3. Low-Cost Type of Advertisement

WordPress offers several plug-ins that install pop-up ads on your website. Generally, these pop-ups don’t cost much and you can even come across free versions.

The trade-off is that the free pop-up ad plug-ins have limited features. Thus, if you want more features for your pop-up ads, you have to be willing to pay a higher price.

4. Get Customer Feedback Immediately

As mentioned earlier, pop-up ads can be used to improve customer engagement. If you want a pop-up designed for the purpose of getting immediate feedback this can be done on your website.

For example, a pop-up ad can appear on your Contact Us or FAQ page to make it easier for customers to communicate with you. Customers will appreciate having a feedback mechanism in place because it will help them relay any comments, issues, or concerns they might have about your product.

5. Improve Traffic Conversion Rate

We saved the number 1 reason why websites incorporate pop-up ads – they can significantly improve your website traffic conversion rate.

How much improvement? On average, a pop-up ad can improve the conversion rate on a website by 3%.

That number might not sound enticing but if your digital marketing game is on point and you’re able to drive massive amounts of traffic to your website, a 3% site conversion rate is big.

However, there are studies that show a well-designed pop-up ad can increase website traffic conversion rate by 40%, which is huge!

Remember, to ensure that you get the most out of your pop-up ads, you must first generate the traffic. Second, the pop-up ad must be well-designed and properly received by your target solution.

The best solution is to hire an agency that provides professional and comprehensive website design services to get your pop-ad done right.

Disadvantages of Pop-Up Ads On Website

When you look at our list of pop-up ads’ disadvantages, you might think “Well, there are more pros than cons of having pop-up ads on my website”. The truth is, the consequences of having pop-up ads on your website might outweigh the number of benefits.

Here are the disadvantages of having pop-up ads on your website:

1. Negatively Impact User Experience

Ads in any format can be annoying and pop-ups are no exception. Similar to your experiences in TV and other video streaming channels, pop-up ads can negatively impact User Experience.

The site visitor clicked on your URL because he’s looking for useful information that can resolve a problem or address a current need. Reading an ad is the last thing on his mind.

For the website visitor, a window popping up unexpectedly can be viewed as intrusive and dampen user experience. And the Internet’s biggest search engine heard all of the complaints about pop-up ads.

In 2016, Google started cracking down on websites that incorporate pop-up ads perceived as “intrusive” and provide poor User Experience. These websites will be penalized by Google in the search rankings.

2. Create a Distraction From Your Content

Think about the time you were about to get to the main point of the video you were watching for the last 10 minutes on YouTube when out of nowhere you see the “Ad in 1 second” notification appear on the lower right-hand side of your screen.

Annoying, right?

The same thing can happen to readers of your web page. The sudden appearance of your pop-up ad will throw them off the train of thought they were following on your content. This can be a very frustrating experience for your target audience.

3. Unfavorable Perception of Your Business Brand

One pop-up ad can be tolerated by the site visitor but not multiple ads that pop up everywhere on the page.

Multiple pop-ad windows will make your website look spammy. You’ll be perceived by your audience as overselling your business. It will seem like you care more about your business goals than the experience of your customers.

Definitely, not a good look for your business brand.

Going back to our example of ads appearing on YouTube, you want your customers to respond favorably to your pop-up ad because they were convinced by the content and not because they want the harassment to stop.

4. Inconvenience Leads to Pop-Up Blockers

Consumers will take the law into their own hands. If they get fed up with all of the pop-up ads showing up on your website, they’ll install pop-up ad blockers to stop the onslaught.

As the owner of the website, coming across these ad blockers will tell you that your audience doesn’t like to see ads. Given this situation, you’ll have a hard time recovering the investment having these pop-up ads made.

Conclusion

Pop-up ads can help your business earn more money by converting interested consumers into paying customers. However, you must always consider the experience and convenience of the audience in the ad’s design process.

The design of the pop-up ad must incorporate the needs of your audience, should not distract from the content, and feature a quick and easy way to close the window.

If the person who sees the pop-up ad aligns with its message, you might get the desired result within a few seconds.

Thus, in order to realize the full benefits of a pop-up ad, leave its design in the qualified and experienced hands of a reputable web design agency. Otherwise, you might put your brand at risk and leave thousands of dollars of potential revenue on the table.

Last Updated on July 8, 2024