How To Create Your Own First-Visit Pop-Up Window?
It's a proven fact that the use of popup windows is a highly effective marketing technique that produces great results. However, they can be very irritating to your visitors. How can you use this powerful marketing technique without offending your visitors? Compromise and use a popup window that only displays the first time your visitor enters your site.
Your first step in creating your popup window will be to create an HTML document that will contain your window contents. The key to using this technique effectively is to give your visitors a reason to respond to your offer. For example, if you're using your popup window to gain new subscribers to your publication, offer a free gift just for subscribing. This will increase your response considerably.
Below, is an example popup window that you can use to gain new subscribers. It is set up with "tables" and will adjust to fit your new window. Copy and paste the following code into your HTML and edit as needed:
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Claim Your FREE Gift</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff">
<CENTER>
<TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" ALIGN="Center">
<TR>
<TD BGCOLOR="red"><P ALIGN=Center>
<FONT face="Verdana,Helvetica" SIZE="3" color="white">
<B>Claim Your FREE Gift!</B></FONT>
</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
<TD><B><FONT face="Verdana,Helvetica" SIZE="3"><BR>
Subscribe to YOUR PUBLICATION for a wealth of information
to assist you in YOUR PUBLICATIONS SUBJECT. <FONT color=
"red">ALL new subscribers will receive YOUR FREE GIFT.
</FONT></FONT></B><BR>
<BR>
<FORM METHOD="POST" ACTION="YOURFORM.cgi">
<CENTER>
<TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" ALIGN="Center">
<TR VALIGN="Top">
<TD>
<INPUT type="text" name="email" value="you@domain.com"
size="20" onfocus="value=''">
<INPUT TYPE="submit" VALUE="Subscribe"></TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
</FORM>
<P ALIGN=Center>
<BR>
<A HREF="javascript: self.close()"><FONT face="Verdana,
Helvetica" SIZE="2">Close Window</FONT></A><BR>
</TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
</CENTER>
</BODY>
</HTML>
Save your new document as "popup.htm" and upload it to your server where you store your HTML documents.
Your next step will be to place the following script, courtesy of Brian Terry <secretwebriches.com>, within your HTML after your <BODY> tag.
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!--
function GetCookie(name) {
var arg=name+"=";
var alen=arg.length;
var clen=document.cookie.length;
var i=0;
while (i<clen) {
var j=i+alen;
if (document.cookie.substring(i,j)==arg)
return "here";
i=document.cookie.indexOf(" ",i)+1;
if (i==0) break;
}
return null;
}
var visit=GetCookie("COOKIE1");
if (visit==null){
var expire=new Date();
window.name = "thiswin";
newwin=open("popup.htm", "dispwin",
"width=350,height=350,scrollbars=yes,menubar=no");
expire=new Date(expire.getTime()+7776000000);
document.cookie="COOKIE1=here; expires="+expire;
}
// -->
</SCRIPT>
If you saved your new window document as anything other than "popup.htm," you'll need to change the "popup.htm" text within the script to your new file name. You can also change the width and height settings to whatever you'd like. However, make sure that all of the information within your window is visible.
Popup windows provide Internet marketers with a great way to gain new subscribers, introduce new products and announce special offers. Their response rate is outstanding. With the use of this great script, you can use the power of popup windows without continuously nagging your visitors.
Pop-Up Windows: A Nuisance or a Gold Mine?
How many times a day do you see them as you surf the Web? Pop-up and pop-under windows have become a widely used marketing tool. But do they work? Are they just a nuisance, or are they really the gold mine that all the "gurus" claim?
After doing a good deal of research, I've discovered some pretty interesting facts. After implementing my own pop-up campaign, I've had some enlightening moments. Allow me to tell you what I've discovered, and you can make up your own mind.
I started by looking to one of my favorite marketing research resources, (http://www.marketingexperiments.com). They actually spent over ,000 testing pop-up windows and compiling the results. Their experiment included using pop-ups for a biweekly ezine publisher and a computer products retailer.
The results were astounding! The ezine publisher got 100 more subscribers during a one-week period WITH the pop-up window than WITHOUT. The computer retailer received over 3,700 new subscribers by using a pop-up window. That was enough to convince me to look further into using pop-ups on my own sites.
(NOTE: One thing the experiment was careful to point out is that copy plays an enormous role in the success or failure of the pop-up. I wholeheartedly agree!)
Using my KT & Associates site (http://www.ktamarketing.com) as the guinea pig, I added a pop-up window (to show on exit) giving information about my copywriting course. Then I waited and watched. Success didn't take long!
While I do not conduct the "controlled" experiments that MarketingExperiments.com does, I do have some basic data to offer you. After an 11-day period, I checked my site statistics and was very pleased! I had gotten a number of page views (not "hits" - "page views") using the pop-up window. I had also seen a 50% conversion rate. (Meaning that 50% of those who clicked to my copywriting course site purchased the product.) The pop-up was working great!
What were the factors that made a successful pop-up window? For the folks at MarketingExperiments.com, it was an offer of some sort. The computer retailer offered the opportunity to win a prize. The ezine publisher offered the chance to enter a sweepstake. However, that leads to another issue (that I won't get into at the moment) of attrition. After the contest is over, and the prize is awarded, will the subscribers unsubscribe?
For me, I offered something of interest to my visitors. They came to my site seeking marketing and copywriting information. It made sense that they would be interested in the course. Viewers never read every single word of your Web site, so the pop-up window gave me the opportunity to tack a "PS" onto their visits. Sort of stating, "Oops! You might have missed this. Don't you want to take a look before you go?"
There are several things to keep in mind when creating pop-up windows (based on my opinion).
1. Do make your pop-up window visible on exit, not entry, of your site. The reason being that when people enter your site and a window flashes up immediately, it blocks their view of your index page. It also can be annoying. Allow them to browse around a bit and then, when leaving, have your window pop up.
2. Do make your message short and sweet. Giant, flashing signs and windows tend to give an overwhelming impression and cause your visitor to back away. Keeping your message short and your pop-up window small are less obtrusive and, therefore, more widely accepted.
3. Don't use multiple pop-ups on your site at the same time. That is one surefire way to send your visitors packing.
4. Don't put pop-up windows on every page of your site. Regardless of what the so-called marketing gurus tell you, it will backfire due to the annoyance factor.
While I can't tell you what would work for your site or your particular target market, I do recommend that you experiment a little with pop-up windows. You might just find another inexpensive marketing method that will increase your cash flow!
Pop-Under Windows - The Latest Pop-Window Trend
Although there has been a great deal of controversy over the use of pop-up windows, the fact remains; pop-up windows are highly effective. The latest pop-window trend to hit the Internet is the pop-under window. Pop-under windows are less intrusive than the pop-up windows and are believed to be even more effective.
If you spend any time surfing the Internet, then you've probably encountered several examples of pop-under windows. A prime example is X10.com's pop-under ads for their wireless video cameras. X10's pop-under ads were popping up on prime media sites like MSN, the N.Y. Times and Alta Vista. Their main advertising objective was to increase their website traffic. And, they have done so with a high rate of success.
Unlike pop-up windows that load over your web page, pop-under windows quietly load under your web page. Your visitors probably won't even see the pop-under window until they're finished at your site and close the window.
The effectiveness of pop-under windows most likely stems from the timing. When your visitor first enters your site, their mind is on what lead them to your site to begin with. Pop-up windows will most likely cause a higher percentage of your visitors to instantly close your window before viewing its content. That's what makes pop-under windows more effective -- your visitor is through visiting your site and their mind is clearer. They will be much more likely to take the time to look at your offer when they don't have another objective on their mind.
Pop-windows provide Internet marketers with an effective alternative to the declining effectiveness of banner ads. However, studies have shown that most Internet users find these windows very intrusive. How can you effectively use these windows without losing your visitors? Below are a few guidelines to assist you.
1) Make sure that you don't use more than one pop-window per page. If you've ever visited a website that bombards you with pop-windows, then you know how irritating that is. Sometimes it seems like each window you close launches two new windows. This is a prime example of how NOT to use pop-windows. Nothing will cause your visitor to leave more quickly.
2) Try to use a script that utilizes cookies. This will enable you to decide how often your window should appear instead of it continually launching each time the page is entered.
3) Make sure you always provide your visitors with an easy way to close your window. Consider adding a button or link to the bottom of your window to enable your visitors to instantly close it when they're finished.
4) Make sure your window is large enough to view your information. If your window is too small and you have disabled the scrollbars, part of your message will not be visible to your visitors.
Here are a few tips to help you increase your offer's response rate:
* Use a powerful headline that demands attention
* Enlarge your headline's font size
* Include your offer's most important benefits within your headline
* Use incentives to increase your offer's response rate
* Keep your message short and to the point
* Ask your visitors to take action
If you would be interested in adding a pop-under window to your site, I highly recommend the "Pop-Window Generator" at Willmaster.com. This powerful online utility will enable you to fill out a simple form and instantly generate the pop-window code for your pages. This generator will enable you to select the type of pop-window, set the length of cookies, and completely customize the look and feel of your window. The only requirement to use this free utility is that you must be a subscriber of WillMaster Possibilities. This is a great publication and I highly recommend subscribing.
(http://willmaster.com/possibilities/members/)
You can also find a pop-under JavaScript here:
(http://wsabstract.com/script/script2/popunder.shtml)
If you're considering adding a pop-window to your site, please do so with caution. The last thing you want to do is drive your visitors away. If done correctly, pop-windows can be a very effective marketing tool.
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