Strategies to Avoid When Using WordPress Popups

For some webmasters popups are out of question at all because they are very irritating to users but when you consider all the advantages popups have, it isn’t that easy to decide you won’t be using them under any circumstances. It is true that popups can be very irritating but fortunately, there are many ways in which you can avoid this. Here are some strategies to avoid when using WordPress popups.

Don’t Show It On Every Page

You might think that the more exposure a popup gets, the better. However, this isn’t the case for sure. When you show popups frequently, or even worse – on every single page a user visits, this is one of the worst turn offs. Users will hate this for sure. This is why, you need to make a more merciful display schedule – i.e. once in 5 or 10 pages, or even better – display a popup only at specified events (such as clicking a particular link) that show the user is interested in the content he or she is reading. Most WordPress popup plugins support this (see the screenshot below), so take advantage of this functionality.

Make It Easy to Close the Popup

This is a rule that goes without saying but since (unfortunately) I have seen some sites that neglect it, I think it makes sense to include it in the list. When the Close button is obscure, or even worse – missing at all, you won’t make your visitors pay more attention to the popup and the message inside. The only thing you can make them is leave your site in a split second.

Don’t Use Rich but Slow to Load Popups

Similarly to the constant display of popups, some webmasters make another common mistake – to make the popup rich but very slow to load. With the powerful WordPress popup plugins that exist today, it is isn’t difficult to include rich content in a popup but when this leads to a fat popup that loads for ages, or even crashes slowlier computers, the effect is just the opposite. This is why you do need to make your popups lean and fast loading.

Don’t Make the Popup Huge

By definition, a popup is very, very visible – it pops on top of all other content and gets the focus. Even with a small popup, there is hardly a way for the user to skip it. You can put a lot in a 200 x 300 px popup (or a smaller one) and this is the optimal size. A popup is visible anyway – there is no need to make it huge because this irritates users more and all equal, takes longer to display.

Think of Popup Alternatives

Finally, if no matter what you do, you see no positive results from your popups, or if you/your users are simply fed up with them, the world doesn’t end here. Popups do have alternatives, such as sidebar ads, footer ads, or even intext widgets that can still deliver your message. Experiment with these alternatives and see if the results are better.

Ada is the Blogger Relations Manager at WinkPress – one of the best sites about WordPress, its themes, and plugins. The tips on our site will help you to create great WordPress sites. Visit the site to learn more about WordPress popup plugins.