How Popups on Your Website Affect Your SEO

Google is cracking down on websites that violate its new policies. So just how will popups on your website affect your SEO?

It’s happened to all of us. You start reading an article online and just when it gets good, a popup covers the entire page. You must exit out of the ad in order to see the content you’re reading, and often the option to close the popup window is hidden. This is an annoying experience, to say the least. But when it comes to your own website, some marketing companies may try to convince you that it’s a good idea to feature a timed popup message on your website. In our experience at Ad House Advertising, we’ve seen how certain practices can positively or negatively affect a website’s SEO. Here’s a look at how popups really perform, and what they do to your organic ranking.

Some marketing companies will tell you it’s a good idea to prompt users to action once they’ve been on your website for a set amount of time, or reached a specific point in the content on the page. They believe that these intrusive calls to action will effectively influence your prospective customer’s behavior. There is significant data to show that popup prompts convert. Using popups, it is true, you may be able to quickly grow your email newsletter subscriber list, but there is also data that shows these subscribers are much less engaged than users that opted in on their own. These users may receive your emails, but chances are, they won’t open them, much less actually purchase your products or services.

Popups negatively affect user experience and perception of your brand. 70% of US users are annoyed by popups, according to a survey conducted by SearchEngineLand. Especially on mobile, when the option to close a popup may be difficult or impossible to access, many users will just leave a site entirely. Popups impact user experience so much that Google implemented some new policies at the beginning of this year. If pop-ups break the following rules, your website will be penalized:

• Popups should not cover up the main content of your website.
• Popups cannot appear at the top of the web page, forcing the user to scroll down to find content.
• Popups cannot cover the entire web page.

Google has been making changes that reward mobile-friendly sites and sanction websites that are not. Featuring popup ads that break those rules will not only hurt your organic search ranking but will also lower your quality score, making online advertising more expensive.

At Ad House Advertising, we use various strategies to help our clients reach their prospective customers and prompt them to action. Without the use of popups, we have been able to help many Albuquerque and Rio Rancho businesses boost their brand image and increase conversions and sales. We would be happy to show you some case studies and discuss a marketing plan that can grow your business. Ask for a free consultation today!

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