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How to use PopUps without annoying your
visitors.
By Merle
At the risk of losing you before we even get started, I'm going
to say a "dirty" word: Pop Up (as in Windows). If you're
like me, you've been popped more times than a firecracker on the
4th of July...but that's no reason to click away in disgust.
There is a method of using pop ups that won't annoy your website
guests and can actually benefit you in a variety of ways in the
long run. Impossible, you say? No! If you implement a pop up correctly,
your guests won't be annoyed at all.
Let's face it: the majority of people who put pop ups on their
sites go about it all the wrong way. Most of them are triggered
upon entry to the website, when a visitor is trying to focus on
what the site has to offer.
In this instance, the least you can say about the pop up is that
it is annoying and distracting. (The most you can say is something
I'll leave up to your imagination!)
The visitor who has just entered your site is trying to see what
you have to offer and does not want to be bothered with another
window. Odds are, she'll close it without even glancing at what's
being presented.
This is the wrong way to use pop ups. Why would you want to bombard
someone as soon as he sets foot in your front door? It's like
coming home from a long day at work, walking in the front door
and being confronted by the wife, the kids, and the dog, all vying
for your attention. You wouldn't like it -- and this is exactly
how your visitors feel when you pull the same stunt on them when
entering your site.
So if making a window pop up immediately upon entering your site
is wrong, how do you make it right?
The best way to use a pop up is upon exit. Translation: when your
guest is ready to leave your site -- then, and only then -- is
when your pop up box should appear. At this point, your message
will be better received and not seen as an obtrusion. You might
compare it to someone coming over for a visit and on his way out
the door you say, "Hey, don't forget about this." It's
a gentle reminder.
So, how can you use this beneficial reminder? Here are the most
popular :
1) To remind them to subscribe to your ezine
2) To offer a free download such as an e-book or some other
free offer.
3) As a final sales pitch for your product or service
4) To offer a free course by autoresponder
Remember, you never want to have more than one pop up window (something
porn sites are famous for). Nothing makes a surfer madder than
having two or three windows open up and possibly crash his browser
in the process. You can even set it up so that only first time
visitors see the pop up window. By using a script that sets a
cookie you can ensure that your popup never appears to the same
user more than once.
And that's only one of the options you have when adding pop ups
to your site. There are software programs you can download that
will make them easy to configure, as well. An example of this
would be
http://www.codelifter.com/pop5index.html
They do offer a free demo and if you like it you can purchase
it for a mere $20.00.
There are also plenty of free online pop up generators you can
use that let you design pop ups to any size and specification.
Some of them are:
http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/0-7701-8-4561792-1.html
Scroll down to the link that says "Tip- Window Maker"
http://www.linkcounter.com/go.php?linkid=220844
Pop Up Making Wizard
http://www.makingprofit.com/mp/free/popgen.shtml
Making Profit's Online PopUp Generator
If you're looking for an easy script you can just cut and paste
take a look at
http://wsabstract.com/script/cut65.shtml
So next time you decide to add a pop up to your website, make
sure you keep the above pointers in mind and your new windows
will work for you instead of against you!
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Merle - http://www.EzineAdAuction.com
"Where some of the BEST Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made"
Buy & Sell Ezine Ads in a live auction setting! Publishers
sell off your excess inventory and Buyers pick up some Fantastic
bargains. Go now.
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