BlogmyQuery – BMQ

Your website is the virtual front door to your business, and for that reason having a website that manages to engage and retain customers is vital. But what about attracting customers?

That’s where SEO comes in. Even though you may have a well-designed website, that’s not enough. If it’s not optimised for SEO, you’ll fail to attract high quality traffic. In an increasingly competitive digital landscape, it’s essential to perform well in the search results, for your targeted key terms.

To help boost your SEO, make sure you avoid these 9 web design mistakes:

Web design and SEO

A website needs to do more than just look good. While it’s important to maintain consistency in your web design with your brand image, not every web design choice will positively impact your SEO.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your website and content to increase search engine positioning. Implementing an effective SEO strategy helps to drive more high-quality traffic to your site.

To determine the ranking of pages in search results, Google (and other search engines) use bots to crawl pages on the web. The crawlers go from page to page collecting information about the contents of pages.

The information collected by crawlers allows Google to index these pages. Then, when providing listings for a search query, algorithms determine what order web pages should appear in search results.

The many ranking factors that can influence your positioning in the search results mean it’s increasingly important to focus more on the user experience of a website. Even the smallest of mistakes could significantly impact your SEO. Make sure you avoid these mistakes:

1. Poor navigation

Poor navigation affects both the user experience and your SEO. Good navigation is the hallmark of a positive user experience, and without it you are likely to see a high bounce rate.

It’s important to make sure that users can easily navigate their way around your site and find the content they are looking for. Visitors to your site will not jump through hoops to find something and will just leave your site if they get frustrated.

When navigation is one of the most important elements of a well-designed website, make sure it’s easy for users and crawlers to easily navigate and find content. You can improve navigation by:

• Implementing a clear and well-structured navigation menu or bar
• Create internal links throughout your site
• Create an XML sitemap
• Avoid using long pages or infinite scrolling
• Create a clear site structure

2. Not optimized for mobile

By the end of 2021 mobile devices accounted for 54.4% of website traffic worldwide. As more people use their smartphones to browse the web, it’s important to make sure your web design is fully optimized for mobile.

Considering how popular mobile devices are becoming, Google has now started to favor mobile-friendly websites. Google now uses a mobile-first indexing approach. This means Google will often use the mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking.

Google offers a free tool to check whether your web page is mobile-friendly. You can also check to see what your site looks like on different devices.

If you are using Chrome, right-click and select inspect. Then, at the top left of the inspect window, you’ll see an icon with a tablet and mobile. Click on that and you can change the dimensions, size and throttling of the display view.

Here’s an example on the Noupe homepage:

The best (and recommended solution by Google) is to use a responsive web design. All your pages use the same URL and content across all devices, but the site design responds based on the display size.

3. Slow loading speeds

Loading speeds have become increasingly important for web users. The longer it takes for your page to load, the more likely people are going to abandon your site and never return. Slow loading speeds will leave an unfavourable impression on your business.

Page load time is a ranking factor meaning that your SEO will be affected by slower loading speeds. Not only does it irritate users, but it also affects search engine indexing with crawlers being able to index fewer pages in their allocated crawl budget.

The general consensus is that your website should load within 2 – 3 seconds. You can check your page speed using Google’s free tool. To improve your page speed, consider:

• Optimizing images
• Minify your code
• Remove render-blocking JavaScript
• Enable GZIP compression
• Use a content distribution network
• Remove unnecessary plugins

4. No titles and headings

Headings should be used on all web pages, ideally before any other content. Not only do headings provide navigational pointers to different content on your site, but they also help crawlers understand the contents of a page when gathering information for indexing.

A heading should be identified on a page through an H1 tag and should encapsulate what the page is about. They essentially tell everyone the summary of your page’s content. After using an H1 heading for titles, you should use header tags for all subsequent headings.

All subsequent headings after your title should use H2-H6 tags. It then makes it much easier to tell what topics and subtopics are covered in a piece of content.

Not providing any titles and headings is a bit like a book without a title or chapters, so don’t forget to include them.

5. Thin content

Content that provides little or no interest or appeal to your users is classed as thin content. As well as providing nothing of any value to your readers, thin content can hinder your SEO.

Pages with thin content include:

• doorway pages (pages that are used to manipulate search engines to rank for a certain keyword)
• pages with little or no content
• content that has been automatically generated
• pages with keyword stuffing
• thin affiliate pages

As Google seeks to provide meaningful and relevant results to users, pages that use thin content will be penalised in the search results. Instead, if you want to rank highly in the search results, make sure your content has lots of rich information and keywords are used appropriately.

6. A balance between content and whitespace

A well-designed website will manage to strike the right balance between content and whitespace. Overloading your pages with content could be slowing down your speed, and it also creates a negative user experience.

Now that user experience is also a ranking factor in Google’s algorithms, you should be pulling out all the stops to try and create a meaningful experience on your site. Whitespace is something that can help you achieve that.

As well as finding the right balance between written and visual content, you should find the right balance between content and whitespace. Using whitespace is not wasting space as it allows your content to breathe. It’s also worth noting that whitespace can be any colour too, not just white!

Minimalist web designs focus on a less is more approach by utilizing whitespace.

7. Missing or unclear call-to-actions

Call-to-actions (CTAs) help guide your users to key areas of your website and can improve conversions. CTAs can be used for lots of different purposes on a site, whether to download a piece of content, submit a form, or make a purchase. Without them, a user is more likely to drop off your site, losing you a potentially valuable lead and increasing your bounce rate.

The CTAs you incorporate into your site need to be strategically placed in locations where a user is more likely to act. They should also adopt a language and tone that matches your brand.

Using certain words and phrases at the start of a CTA can also help improve conversions through positive affirmations and speaking in the voice of your customers. Most importantly, the choice of color can make a big difference. Consider the psychology of color when using colors in your web design.

8. Annoying pop-ups

Pop-ups are a form of online promotion used for advertising or generating leads, usually in a small window. But pop-ups have gained an unfavourable reputation with web users for being irritating and disruptive, causing a bad user experience (which can also affect your SEO).

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t use pop-ups at all, just be careful about how you use them. When used successfully, pop-ups have an average conversion rate of 11.09%, helping to boost subscriptions, increase content offer downloads, and reduce bounce rate.

If you want to implement pop-ups without them being annoying and damaging your SEO, consider:

• Using them to help enhance user experience, for example with ‘exit intent’ pop-ups.
• Keep your pop-ups clear and to the point. Keep a consistent style and theme within your pop-ups as the rest of the page.
• Don’t use pop-ups for the sake of it. Instances of high traffic and high bounce rate could be an effective example of when to use a pop-up.
• Optimise for mobile
• Test to find the right placement and time to display pop-ups.
• Use slide-ins and slide-downs instead of pop-ups, as these tend to be less intrusive

9. 404 pages

A 404 page is an error page that is displayed to users when they have reached the requested domain, but no information is available on the searched URL. 404 pages are also displayed when broken or dead links are clicked on.

While most websites will incorporate a 404 page into their design, not all manage to work effectively at keeping users on their site. Many 404 pages will just display an error message without giving any guidance or instructions to keep the user on your site.

A 404 page is a fantastic opportunity to keep a visitor on your site and try and convert them to a customer. Include links to other similar content, provide an invitation to subscribe to a newsletter, or include a search bar for your site. If nothing else, at least provide a link back to your homepage.

By avoiding these 9 web design mistakes, you’ll be able to improve the design of your website, enhance the user experience, and keep your SEO in check! And remember, as user experience becomes increasingly important in SEO, it makes sense to focus on keeping your users happy. If you can do this successfully, you’ll be rewarded with increased conversions and improved rankings!

The post 9 Web Design Mistakes that Harm your SEO appeared first on noupe.

Well, they certainly sound like they’re all about the same thing.

When you design the user interface, surely what you are dealing with is user experience. Is it that simple? Or are there significant differences between the two? What consequences would such a difference have for design? Will there be any more questions in this paragraph? What do you think?

Let’s put both user experience and user interface under the microscope and see just what we’re dealing with. 

The Key Difference Between User Experience and User Interface Design

There’s one key specific difference between the two forms of design. Let’s look at website design. 

In this arena, UX takes in the entire user experience and uses this to design the website on the basis of feel. UI however looks at specific design elements, usually visual elements, and assesses how they direct user behavior on the site. 

So, there we are. Wasn’t too tricky, was it? Thanks and goodnight. 

Alright, then, you’ve got me. Nothing’s that simple. We need to dig into what we mean by the two terms before we know for sure what the difference boils down to. 

User Experience Design

Right, so User Experience design is about certain elements, but chief among these is that it is an approach that emphasizes how human users comprehend the user environment they’re put in. For instance, with contact centre call recording systems, the designer will be interested in the user state during each of the component tasks, from initial recording to playback and analysis. 

It’s all about what happens to the user and how the user is made to feel when they are given a product to manipulate. 

Here’s a word from somebody who knew a thing or two about UX design. 

‘You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology. Not the other way around’

Steve Jobs

What’s interesting here is what the turtlenecked tycoon doesn’t say. He doesn’t even mention the need for the product or the problem it’s trying to solve. For him, the key ingredient in design is how it impacts on customer experience. This is why his products are so enjoyable to use. 

Sure, the iPod solved a problem. It meant no more jiggling around between CDs (or even cassettes) while on the move. But the key impact that it had was born of the fact that it was a joy to use. From opening the packaging to using the earbuds, it was such a cool experience. 

UX design may be closely linked with technology, for instance working to prioritize landing page speed because of the effect it has on the user. But it’s not limited to the technology sector. 

Any product or service that a user has a relationship with can be shaped with the principles of UX design in place. It just so happens that it’s the arena of technology in which UX design has really taken off. This is because of two things:

1. Technology has become so ubiquitous that it’s important for it to be designed well. Everyone, or just about everyone, needs to be able to use it in the desired manner. If its design prohibits universality, then at best you have ‘Some User Experience, otherwise referred to as ‘SUX’ (observed engineer Billy Gregory). 

2. Technology has the potential to be really very unusable indeed. This is because, at heart, it’s completely alien to most non-technical users. There are some more primitive machines, for instance a spinning wheel, in which the process is fairly intuitive and one can muddle through a construct of the process in one’s head. 
   
   But a lot of the workings going on in devices or systems, such as eCommerce platforms, today are way way beyond what the average user can comprehend in any meaningful sense. So the design has to render an extremely complex array of processes and data flows down into a simple to grasp and use an item. 

What does a UX Designer Do?

The UX designer will factor several elements into their thinking. Remember, they’re concerned with how the product or environment or process or whatever it is being designed will impact on the user. 

For this to succeed, they often break down operations into task analyses. How easy is it, for example, to access the royalty free music youtube artist of a user’s choice? Can we make it a little easier? 

A UX designer will effectively act as the mortar at the center of the product team. This is because the feel of a product is key to its success. 

For this reason, then, a UX designer will interact with product developers to give them feedback on how their product is succeeding or otherwise. A UX designer will be part of the design process from the very first wireframing stage, through prototypes, testing, and iteration, to the finished product. 

UX designers will also interact with marketers to make sure that the product and its promotion are of the same voice. 

But a UX designer’s job doesn’t end there. They also are involved in data analysis regarding competitors (How do the competition’s products feel?), and customers (do we have a good idea of who our customers are and what they want?)

They will then also be involved in assessing usage data once the product is out there. It’s often down to the UX designer to improve upon the product’s usability or to jettison it in favor of the next step. 

We’ll finish on UX design with this nice quote.

‘User Experience Design is the science and art of designing a product so that it’s easy to use, fits expectations, and meets business goals.’

Susan Weinschenk, CEO, The Team W 

User Interface Design

UI is actually an older discipline than UX, but it can be trickier to define, due to the misinterpretations that have cropped up over the years. Here’s one immutable factor: UI is just about digital products. Its only valid usage is in the sphere of interaction between user and technology. 

UI design is all about looking at the device or system and making all the processes that affect the user as straightforward as possible. This means, in particular, an emphasis on optics. So, for a website, UI design will look closely at the fonts, colors, and icons used, as well as the spacing and overall layout on the screen. It will seek to make the important information as prominent as possible. 

The key aim of UI design is to enable the user to get where they want to go without having to think too much. If they have to claw their way through a process while referring to instructions galore, then the UI design has failed. 

What Does a UI Designer Do?

A UI designer will perform a lot of the functions that are covered by a UX designer, in terms of product inception and development, but will come at it from a predominantly visual perspective. So the UI designer will have a solid grasp of color theory and the effects on the user of certain forms of typography and design patterns. 

They will also be adept at utilizing the potential of different devices with different screen sizes. For instance, they will be very aware that online call conference solutions need to demonstrate good visual design on phones as much as on big screens. This need to make visuals work on all screens is emphasized by the rise in mobile website access.

While we’re on websites, it’s quite often the case that UI designers will have an extremely influential role over the eventual look of the whole site, and are in fact seen in some quarters as in the process of taking over the traditional web developer role.

Or, to focus on databases for a second, a UI designer will want to see to it that what can be an off puttingly data-heavy area, will benefit from great visuals so that users aren’t put off. Consequently, Elasticsearch Documentation, for instance, will be as friendly-looking as a UI designer can manage.   

It’s Not Either/Or

Here’s the thing about the difference between user experience and user interface. They may be different, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to use both. Far from it. It’s in a combination of the two that really exciting user-centered design takes place. Whatever your output, whether a smartwatch or a killer means of meltdown and spectre testing, it will benefit from a blend of UI and UX. 

Let’s consider an app that gives you suggestions on what to cook for dinner. 

It may be fantastic at factoring in what ingredients you have and coming up with something delicious for you to put together from them. It may be super-quick at doing it too. It may even help you by putting in grocery orders where necessary. But if its colors clash and its font fail to stand out, then its design is lacking. 

In short, it has good UX design, but terrible UI design. 

It’s easy to conceive of the converse. Let’s say your business provides a hosted VoIP solution. The phones look amazing. But they’re impossible to use. That’s a great UI and awful UX. 

So, a blend of both is what’s required. 

To Sum Up

You should now be clear on the difference between UX and UI. If not, try this analogy: 

In other words, UX is all about the way the product feels to used in its intended setting. How easy is it to eat cereal with a spoon? UI is more about how the product comes across in the first place. How much do you want to use the spoon to eat the cereal? 

Put like this, it’s easy to see how co-dependent these pursuits are. If you’re going after one and not the other, you need to re-think your approach. So, wake up and eat the cornflakes.

The post UX vs. UI: Guide to Distinguishing User Experience and User Interface Design appeared first on noupe.

The year 2021 was a difficult one for the print industry. Due to lockdowns and restrictions, market demand for traditional print applications has decreased. Other applications like labeling, light packaging, and wide format have grown in popularity. Businesses that were quick enough to pivot into new markets saw rapid development.

The sector, on the other hand, is displaying strong signs of economic revival. The year 2022 is expected to be significantly better. We anticipate that there will be several chances for print enterprises to diversify and increase their offerings. Those who do will play a larger part in the success of Trends to Watch in Wide-Format Printing for 2022 as rising trends.

As the new year begins, we take a look at some of the hot themes we expect to see this year. So, what might we expect in 2022? Let’s take a closer look:

The market continues to be dominated by sustainability efforts.

Manufacturers are investing more in developing truly sustainable solutions, rather than merely appearing green. Consumers request that PSPs supply alternatives, such as recyclable materials and media produced from recycled water bottles, even if the cost is higher.

Manufacturers are developing ground-breaking solutions, like the Elements Andes Recycled Satin Canvas SUV, to get eco-friendly applications into the hands of consumers. Other businesses are working to increase their already stringent sustainability criteria. HP was named to the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World ranking for the sixth time in a row earlier this year.

As more businesses implement eco-goals before the end of the decade, it appears that the sustainability movement will continue for some time.

Personalization has been enhanced.

With the opportunity to personalize everything from mugs to hats to reusable shopping bags, printing is already a personalized service. People are looking to personalize their at-home workspaces as they continue to work from home or split their time between home and the office.

According to CraftJack.com, 41 percent of those who work from home have purchased art and décor or printed photographs to improve their backgrounds, with an average purchase price of $195.

Consumers are seeking ways to create a professional workstation out of their homes, whether by requesting bespoke backdrops, putting wall graphics, or adding unique wall décor.

Election Signage Is Necessary During an Election Year

An election requires more temporary signs than any other event. The campaign season offers a plethora of applications that might keep commercial printers and print service providers busy through November, ranging from the yard and large commercial signs to bumper stickers and direct mailers. Begin making plans for the approaching election season as soon as possible. 

Diversification

The word “pivot” was one of the most overused in 2020, yet it was overused for a purpose. When businesses began to close, many companies and workers were forced to pivot, and in-person activities and going into the office were replaced by virtual trade displays and working from home.

PSPs who diversify into other print-related industries see continuous growth, success, and client loyalty. It has never been more important to learn new talents and diversify one’s portfolio.

Purchasing New Equipment

Spending money on new equipment is one of the most difficult decisions a business owner must make. However, with recent color trends, booming sustainability interest, a growth in larger customized projects, and diverse portfolios on the horizon for 2022, purchasing new equipment may not be such a difficult option after all.

Features of Wide-Format Printing:

Wide Format Printing has numerous features as it is rapidly increasing its popularity due to its feature and functions. Let’s discuss web2print solution and its features:

Key Features

Highlights of the wide-format printing web to print software solution that includes a variety of key features. Wide-format printing needs the special web to print features and here’s the list for you:

• Multi-store Setup with Centralized Administration
• Readymade Templates with Custom Height & Width
• Quotation Workflow
• Offer Products in any Shape and Sizes
• Options based Pricing
• Complete Support for B2B Customers
• Inherent Artwork Approval Workflow
• Color Management

Detailed Features of wide-format Printing

Printing technologies grow in lockstep with technological advancements. Previously, wide-scale printing was uncommon due to high wait times, inefficient costs, and a scarcity of resources.

With their speedy turnaround times and available printing materials, these sorts of printers now offer a cost-effective printing web2print solution to organizations, which is why large-scale printing is becoming more common in every office environment, regardless of size.

Wide-format printing, also known as large-format and grand-format printing, is used for printing projects that require a greater size than the standard 8.5 inches by 11 inches; some of these printers can even print up to 18 inches by 100 inches and are known as plotters.

Originally, pens inside the printer were used to produce the design on the paper or vinyl. This was the kind of old-school technology that wasn’t cheap and required a long time to complete. There are now inkjet and laser wide format printers available that can complete the work swiftly and efficiently. Nowadays, there are many banner design software available that helps in creating banners or other things to print and customize.

Technology advancements have also enhanced the environmental quality of these printers; the ink available is getting more environmentally friendly with each technological advancement. It also comes with readymade Templates with Custom Height & Width.

Wide-format printing is classified into two types: printer-only and multi-function. The goal of a wide format printer only is to print whatever files are provided to it through a computer or USB drive. The other type, multifunction wide format printers, have a scanner on top or to the side of the printer.

Multi-purpose wide-format printers with a scanner mounted to the top are often smaller than those with a standalone scanner. The size of your office and the purpose of the printer should determine which type of printer is appropriate for your company.

Print job automation is a simple and convenient approach to avoid waste, cut expenses, free up office space, and save time. A web to print software, such as print MIS, provides workflow improvements and automatic alerting for routine repairs and maintenance, preventing unexpected turnaround time and improving customer experience.

Businesses with wide format printers have more freedom when it comes to getting exactly what they want because these printers offer greater diversity in the sort of printing job and how it’s done. It gives complete Support for B2B Customers as it is more reliable. A wide format printer, whether it’s a promotional poster or a giant banner design, gives users the ability to manage the final product aesthetic without relying on a third party.

Conclusion

As with the advancement in printing technology in recent years wide printers have come on a large scale. They have gained much popularity due to their functions. There are numerous options and advantages to wide format printing. With so many alternatives, businesses are able to print whatever they need, such as giant maps, blueprints, posters, or large adverts. Wide-format printing is the solution for your “bigger” projects, whether for your workplace or a client.

The post 2022 Trends to Watch in Wide-Format Printing appeared first on noupe.

Industries have one focus alone- to deliver intuitive user experiences. This is why it becomes crucial to focus on enhancing the visual appearance, bringing the work of the UX designer into prime consideration. They work towards designing the interface in the best way possible.

Here we are not going to discuss the roles and responsibilities of a UX designer though! Despite these being quite important, here the bigger focus would be on understanding if UX design is limited to apps that are digital products?

To understand this read further.

Is UX UI Design Services Limited to Digital Products Only?

The answer is no. Despite the sole focus of UX UI design services being the digital realm itself, they also lay prominence on voice gesture, light, etc.

Hence, as a business finds a designer, they also look at their portfolio. This includes their past projects across multiple domains and industries.

All this helps the business to understand if user experience outside the online is considered during UI UX design and development.

Now we know what the business wishes to understand. It is equally important to understand the thought process of a designer when they embrace UX UI design services for their non-digital products.

Tactics Adopted during UX Development to Build Non-Digital Products

Have a look at this image below:

In the image, you can observe three elements of a product design which include-

• Process Design
• System Design
• Interface Design

It is in fact extremely important to understand these elements before you go on to ideate the strategies. This aids in delivering a unique experience to users, especially while interacting with an app.

System Design

System design refers to creating a balance between the business and customer needs. This supports in gaining an insight into the price to be set for the product.

Process Design

This refers to ideating the steps that would go into fulfilling a particular order or achieving a goal while using your website. This involves considering and placing focus on the customers’ as well as the business needs, side by side.

Interface Design

Last, this process involves creating a usable, and engaging interface. This will help customers remain engaged.

So now that you have understood the basic tactics adopted during product design; understand the steps to help your non-digital product stand out, particularly when implementing UX design services.

The above image gives an insight into what goes behind the creation of a product, especially during the design stage.

To understand this, it is recommended to follow these steps:

Steps to Follow During Product Creation in Design Stage

Conducting End-to-End Assessment

In this stage, the entire customer journey is placed in focus. This will help the designer gain insight into the overall end-to-end experience that users would feel while interacting with the product, so to speak.

This includes gaining clarity around these areas as well-

• Your end product.
• Reason/reasons why you want to build the product/products.
• Identifying the audience for whom you want to build the product/products.
• Understanding how successful your product would be.

These steps would make your solution stand out among competitors in the long run.

Create a Unison between Design and Business Goals

This is the next step. Here, it becomes critical to ensure that the goals you want to achieve through your design are in sync with your business objectives.

Try Understanding Real-World Insights

Understand the areas of concern for users. This will help you to build a solution that can seamlessly address them. Therefore, draw on data. This will provide you with real-world insights and understanding of whether or not you are successful in doing what you want to or not.

Along with these steps, keep these points in mind while performing UX design services for non-digital products. This includes avoiding some mistakes.

Here are the same listed below:

Prevent Feedback Deficit

Remember, feedback counts. It is extremely crucial to the survival of a business, especially if you are a designer. Hence, remember to give prominence to this area. In other words, remember to look at what users have to share about the product and its design. This will help you succeed in the best manner possible.

Keep Check on Errors – Place Focus on Checkout Page

Would you use a product whose design is poor? No, right? I thought so. Hence, make sure to keep the focus on errors as and when they happen. This is particularly within the checkout page. Doing so will ensure that you are aware of what is working, and what is not. Thereafter, it will help you locate the strategies that would make the design more appealing.

CTA – Careful Please

Though you may have multiple CTAs or Call to Action, remember to keep clarity. In other words, keep the hierarchy as transparent as possible. This will help users to take the necessary actions that they want. Therefore, place focus on the color and size of the design so that CTA becomes easy to achieve.

Simultaneously you need to remember some other points as well. This includes-

• Ensure the design can make task performance extremely simple.
• Work towards making the design such that it enhances productivity.
• Make communication transmission simple through your design.

On successful completion of these steps, you will be able to create a product that is in sync with the best UX practices. This will drive value for your non-digital product and streamline success in the best manner possible. Simultaneously, it will build a good customer base too.

Ending Words – Focus on Design in Your Non-Digital Product and See the Magic

Design is everything. This is if you want the user experience to be pleasant. Therefore, it becomes necessary to ensure you keep a minimalist design focusing on adding minimal content. This will help you capture the maximum number of users for your product and maximize ROI.

Hence, while ideating a strategy for your non-digital product, focus on the meaning of product design first, and understand the strategies to help the design stand out and the product gain a wider target audience.
Especially when you embrace mobile app development, if you know the techniques to deliver the best-quality UX design services for non-digital products, you can include the same strategies in your app building strategies to build a high-quality app that is intuitive and visually appealing both at the same time.

The post Implement UX Design Services for Non-Digital Products – How to Do It? appeared first on noupe.

eCommerce is a booming industry today, but navigating the online space can be tricky. With so many options that users can shop in, you need to keep your site attractive to keep users interested.

However, maintaining users’ attention is more challenging than it sounds, and this is where eCommerce pop-ups come in. 

What Is The Definition Of A Pop-Up In eCommerce?

An eCommerce pop-up is essentially an overlay that you place on your website to stop visitors and show them an offer. 

One familiar example might be a pop-up offering a discount for your first online order if you subscribe to the site’s email newsletter.

How Do Pop-Ups Benefit eCommerce?

Pop-ups can be useful for your eCommerce strategy for many reasons. 

Increase Conversion Rates

If you’re struggling to increase sales, you can add an exit pop-up and offer visitors perks like free shipping, discount codes, and other promotions that will convince them to come back to browse through your products.

Grow Customer Database

Email marketing is a great way to boost customer engagement and strengthen relationships, so you can use pop-ups to collect emails from new site visitors. Use the best contact management practices to stay on top of all your email correspondence. 

Reduce Cart Abandonment Rates

Many times, customers add products to their cart but leave without finishing their order. In these cases, you can use psychological marketing by displaying a pop-up that shows their items have a limited-time discount or are only limited in stocks.

It creates a sense of “fear of missing out” (FOMO), which prompts them to check out their cart.

Collect Customer Feedback

Pop-ups can also come in handy for collecting feedback to help you improve the shopping experience and customer service quality. For this use, the pop-up should be a short questionnaire with multiple-choice questions, star ratings, and direct questions to keep the process short.

Provide Targeted Content

Another big benefit to using pop-ups is the ability to provide targeted content to your visitors based on their browsing history, length of time spent on a page, and other factors. The pop-ups work like ads, where you set specific parameters to activate what pop-ups will appear on a specific user’s screen.

Boost Customer Loyalty

Pop-ups are great for boosting customer loyalty since they allow you to give your shoppers incentives like gifts, promo codes, free or discounted shipping, and the like. 

Types Of Pop-Ups

There are many types of eCommerce pop-ups that can be used depending on your objectives and needs. 

Email Sign-Up

This is perhaps one of the most familiar types of pop-up, which entails asking visitors to write down their email address, usually in exchange for a small incentive like a discount. It is useful for growing your email list and encouraging purchases.

Sale Promotion Pop-Up

Whenever you have promotions, it helps to put them into a pop-up to inform customers loud and clear and encourage them to make a purchase. Common sales promotions you’ll find in pop-ups include discounts, limited-time offers, giveaways, and seasonal campaigns.

Coupon Pop-Up

Coupon pop-ups are as the name suggests—they’re pop-ups offering visitors a coupon or coupon code to get a discount for their order. 

Some variations will combine this with an email sign-up pop-up, wherein users type in their email to get the coupon code, while others simply display the coupon to incentivize immediate purchases.

Updates, News, & Notifications Pop-Up

This type of pop-up intends to keep users informed, so they don’t miss out on any important announcements and updates. It could be about an upcoming product launch, promotion, webinar, or even new content to attract customers and generate more interest for your brand.

Welcome Pop-Up

This is a pop-up that shows up immediately or shortly after your web page loads. It’s designed to target first-time visitors and capture their information so that you can nurture the lead. 

Exit-Intent Pop-Up

Targeted to visitors who are about to leave the site and used to convince them to stay or take a particular action. The most common use cases for exit pop-ups would be to prevent cart abandonment, remind users of benefits, collect feedback, and recommend alternatives.

The Do’s Of Pop-Ups

To guide you, here are some of the top things and handy tips you should consider when designing your eCommerce pop-ups.

DO Use Power Words

Your goal is to trigger a certain emotion from users when they see your pop-up. Thus, you can evoke that emotion and get a quicker response from them by using powerful words.

DO Make Your Pop-Ups Look Distinct

As the term pop-up suggests, you want these banners to pop when they show up on users’ screens. Use bright colors to draw in the viewer, yet pay attention to how the colors you chose to go together. Better yet, make sure the popup’s color palette matches your brands for full continuity. 

DO Offer More Than Deals

Pop-ups may be effective for promotional deals like discounts and vouchers, but there are many other ways to benefit from them. You can also share relevant content, give targeted recommendations, and provide feedback forms to make use of the full potential of pop-ups.

The Don’ts Of Pop-Ups

Pop-ups can drive huge conversions if used correctly, but getting it right can be tricky. 

DON’T Display The Same Pop-Ups All The Time

It would be more effective to personalize your pop-ups and tailor them to visitors based on their cluster or behavior. For example, you can segment the ads among first-time visitors, repeat customers, and abandoned customers. 

DON’T Show Irrelevant Pop-Ups

The risk of bounce rates increases if you display irrelevant pop-ups to visitors, especially if it’s their first time checking your site. Pop-ups may be useful, but only to the extent that they provide something valuable to the user, or you might just drive them away from your store.

DON’T Use Generic CTAs

The call-to-action (CTA) is one of the most critical elements in your pop-up, so you shouldn’t overlook them and use a generic message. Your copy is just as important as the design, so much that in some cases, it could be the factor that determines whether a user engages with your pop-up or not!

Tips For Fantastic eCommerce Pop-Ups

While there’s no one way to answer this question, here are some tips that you can use to help you through the process. 

• Display your ads at the right time. It’s important to know what pop-ups are appropriate for each stage of the buyer’s journey so that they serve their purpose instead of becoming a distraction or annoyance to users. 

• Use eye-catching imagery. The visual aspect of your pop-ups may affect whether a user chooses to read your offer or skip it. Your pop-up should match how your site looks and feels, so avoid using tacky fonts or spammy language. You can even create a moodboard to showcase all your ideas. 

• Add social proof. Whenever possible, incorporate social proof into your pop-ups. This can be ratings, short testimonial quotes, success indicators like the number of products you have sold, and other forms of proof to show users that they can trust you. 

• Target pop-ups based on the audience. Segmenting your pop-ups to match your audience’s demographic and buying behavior is important to ensure that you show them something relevant and useful to their context.

• Monitor and measure results. Think of your pop-ups like any other marketing strategy. You must monitor them continuously and measure their effectiveness to ensure you’re getting your desired results. 

• Avoid being intrusive. Make sure you allow visitors to look through your site a bit before displaying any pop-ups. One way to do this is through a time-delayed pop-up that only shows up when a user starts to browse your products, so they aren’t bombarded immediately after entering your site.

Pop-Up Design Styles

You’ve got design options ranging from the most minimalist to the most complex, fun, and gamified. 

Here are some of the common types of pop-up designs that you can use: 

Yes/No

This design is as its name suggests—it’s a pop-up prompting the user to say yes or no to a question or offers that you’re posing. If the user isn’t interested, they can opt to “Continue Reading” instead.

Lightbox

It is perhaps the most common pop-up design for eCommerce sites. The pop-up appears over the web page and darkens the background to highlight the pop-up and grab a user’s attention.

Gamified

Gamified pop-ups are some of the most effective designs because they’re fun and engaging. Here, you’re essentially adding a mini-game to the pop-up, which users can play to get a prize like a discount or an incentive.

Floating bar

Floating bar pop-ups are more subtle than other designs since they resemble banners that rest at the top of your web page. However, you can still personalise them in a way that makes them pop and stand out once a user visits a particular page. 

Yes/Yes

The Yes/Yes pop-up design is similar to Yes/No in that users get a yes or no option for the offer. However, the main difference is that with the Yes/Yes design, the two options will bring users to the same place.

For example, Bluehost used a pop-up to bring users who sign-up to the Bluehost website to grant them their free domain. 

Lead Magnet

As its name suggests, it’s a pop-up that contains a lead magnet, which is an offer you promote on your site—usually a free product or service in exchange for contact information. 

A unique way you can use this pop-up is to invite visitors to attend a webinar you’re hosting. 

Survey

It’s designed to invite users to take a survey so that you can learn more about their interests. Surveys are most ideal if you’re trying to get customer feedback or doing market research for a new product or service you might be planning.

Our Favorite Examples

We’re rounding up some of our favorite examples to give you an idea of how you should create your pop-ups.

Soaked In Luxury

At first, glance, Soaked in Luxury seems to be doing the same thing as many other players, but the biggest difference you’ll see is their CTA. 

Where most fashion eCommerce sites would ask you to sign up for their newsletter, Soaked in Luxury offers them a chance to win ?700. No doubt, it’s an extremely effective way to catch a visitor’s attention and convince them to give you their contact details in no time at all.

Amazon

Known as the King of eCommerce, Amazon has established a solid footing in the industry, so you know that they’re doing something right. 

One of the things you’ll notice first when you visit their site is a pop-up prompting you to sign in or create an account. It may seem like a small and almost inconsequential thing, but it’s a subtle way to notify visitors of what they should do when they enter the Amazon site.

Kellogg’s

When their website loads, you’ll see a lightbox pop-up design inviting you to sign-up for their family rewards to get special discounts, collect points for rewards, and get exclusive coupons and access to recipes. 

The pop-up is highly effective in building customer loyalty and solidifying Kellogg’s position as a household name in the cereals industry. 

Colgate

Colgate uses their pop-ups strategically to ensure that they get as much information as possible from every new site visitor. Once their page loads, you’ll see a lightbox pop-up asking you to sign up for their newsletter so that you can get emails for discounts, savings, product updates, and other promotional offers.

Subway

Subway has a uniquely designed pop-up displayed at the right side of the screen instead of the usual center. It’s also the usual email sign-up form, it’s eye-catching without disrupting the viewer from the center of their screen because of its position.

Final Thoughts

Pop-ups are a valuable tool you can use in your eCommerce strategy to drive sales, increase conversions, and capture a larger customer base. However, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” strategy for designing and implementing your pop-ups. 

Given this, it’s important to plan your pop-up campaigns carefully before launching them.

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