Thanks to their dubious reputation as annoying distractions, you may be reluctant to create website popup and popover ads for your own website. Fear not however, there’s lots of evidence that popups increase online conversions in everything from newsletter signups to sales. (Just search for “are pop up ads effective” on Google.) There are businesses use them to great effect without alienating either existing or potential customers.
So with that concern out of the way, here’s a guide for creating website popup and popover ads of your own. Below, you’ll find 5 website popup definitions you need to know before you get underway. Following that, we’ll list 20 of the best website popup creation tools so you can get started.
5 Website Popup Definitions You Need to Know
2 Types of Popups
Popup
Popup is the generic term used for website popups. More specifically, they are the type of popup that appears on top of your current browser page. Popups can appear like a highlighted image, however, they can also extend from any side of a webpage including the top and bottom.
Popups used to appear in new browser windows or tabs, but these days they’re typically modal, which means that they run as part of the page your visitor is browsing and cannot be blocked by popup blockers.
Pop Under
A pop under is a type of popup that appears in a new window underneath the web page you’re currently browsing. They’re less obtrusive since they open in a new window. However, they’re also more easily blocked by popup blockers.
3 Ways to Trigger Popups
Time-Driven Popup
A time-driven popup appears after a visitor is on your site for a set amount of time, giving them some space to learn what your site is about before being hit with an ad or offer.
Behavior-Driven Popup
The behavior driven popup appears after a certain condition is met. For example, a behavior-driven popup may appear after a visitor gets to their third page on your site, scrolls 66 percent down one of your pages or opens a specific page.
Exit Popup
The exit popup shows itself when a visitor browses to a site different than yours. It behaves just like a regular popup and is a great opportunity to extend a special offer to entice visitors before they’re gone.
20 of the Best Tools to Create a Website Popup
Whether your website was built from scratch or on a platform such as WordPress or Drupal, you’ll find a tool that fits your needs in the list below.
One point of interest: Many email service providers (e.g. AWeber, MailChimp, Constant Contact, etc.) offer their own version of mailing list signup popups. We have not included them in the list below, so you may want to head over to your provider to learn more about what types of sign-up form options they provide.
Best All-Round Popup Tools
While they offer integration with many of the top website hosting platforms, these tools can also be used on stand alone websites.