5 BEST PRACTICES FOR WEBSITE POP UPS

Website pop-ups are a great way to capture customers’ emails, advertise your hotel offers and get important information across. There are, however, a few things that you need to consider when adding pop-ups to your hotel website in order to drive the best possible results..

Here’s our top 5 best practices for effective use of pop-ups:

  1. Consider all Google guidelines. Failing to do so can significantly harm your website ranking and your direct bookings. One of the most important requirements is to make the pop-up easy to dismiss. Make sure to also avoid triggering a pop-up on the first-page load from search engines. Google wants to make the searched content more accessible on both mobile and desktop which means that rankings could be affected if an element displays on top of the main page content.
  2. It’s important to avoid elements that are significantly harming your UX. Carefully study your website analytics to evaluate whether your pop-ups are harming the user experience in exchange for capturing their emails. A few things to consider are the bounce rate, the returning visitors’ ratio and time spent on your website after the pop-up appears.
  3. Be extra careful how the pop-ups appear on mobile devices as with the smaller screens the chances are that some of the most important information could be covered up by the pop-up. Treat mobile differently and create a separate mobile design which takes into consideration the screen size and the user mobile experience.
  4. Allow the user to be able to browse the website before you show the pop-up and limit the number of times it appears in one session. The best practice is to show the pop-up 60 seconds after the user has started the session. Make sure to enable exit-intent pop-ups, too. By detecting when someone is about to navigate away, you can present the visitor with one final message right at that pivotal moment.
  5. Create relevant content. Use personalised messages that are appropriate for your visitors. Don’t forget to test different options to find the one that works the best for your hotel.

Now that you know the above 5 best practices you are ready to start using pop-ups effectively as part of your digital marketing efforts!

Bonus Tip!

Use an exit pop-up to list the advantages of making a direct booking! Whether it’s free upgrades, a glass of wine upon arrival or an extra room night when they book four, find a way to entice your customer to book directly with you.

Need consultation about your hotel marketing? Make sure to give us a call!