A few years ago, pop-up windows was the rage in Internet
marketing. It seemed like every time you opened a web page you
got bombarded with offers for this or that. It got to the point
where surfing the Internet was almost like playing a video game,
that is, for every pop-up you tried to close, one or two more
would open. This is precisely why we have seen the decline in the
use of pop-up windows on the Internet today. Surfers simply won’t
even look at the pop-ups anymore, as they’re conditioned to close
the pop-up before ever reading the ad. Very often, a surfer will
even leave your site if there are too many pop-up ads. They
simply do not want the hassle of closing those windows while
trying to obtain the information that your site has to offer.
This information, while valuable, is not as valuable as the
surfer’s time. Recent studies have shown however, that even with
these set backs, pop-up windows are still an effective method of
Internet marketing.
Is there some way that pop-up windows can be less irritating and
still be effective? Yes! What if the pop-ad was seen upon exiting
your site instead of entering? This would allow the surfer to
obtain the information needed from your site, thus feeling that
they were able to come and go quickly without being hassled by
other ads and offers all the while making the surfer happy. You
have left the surfer with a positive attitude and therefore more
likely to respond to the pop-advertisement. This is being
accomplished more and more by using what is being called pop-
under windows. When the surfer comes to your site, the ad is
opened discretely behind your web page. Then, upon leaving your
site, after obtaining all the information that they need, will
see the ad and therefore be more likely to respond. Since the
surfer has the information, he has achieved his objective and is
now open to do other things; ideally respond to the pop-under
advertisement.
Not all pop-windows are created equally. There are some things
that you can do to make your pop-windows, whether pop-up or pop-
under, more effective. The pop-window should be easy to "escape"
from. If the surfer does not want to see the ad, but has a hard
time closing it out, they will likely become frustrated and may
leave your site all together. You should either use a button that
will allow the surfer to close the window or be sure that the
"x" is easily visible. Another good idea is to use a script
that utilizes cookies. Cookies will prevent pop-windows from
overloading the surfer since you can decide the frequency of the
pop-windows, rather than each time a page is opened. Also be sure
that there is not more than one pop-window per page.
When creating a pop-window, you will be asked to fill out a short
information form, select the length of cookies, and choose the
layout of the pop-window. When choosing the design of your pop-
window, you can increase the effectiveness by creating a large
headline that includes benefits that will be most appealing to
the customer. You should also consider using incentives, and
lastly, do not ask the customer to read a long and drawn out
advertisement. Keep the message simple yet powerful and your pop-
ads will be sure to generate profits for your site.
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