How to Use Pop-Ups Without Affecting Your SEO

Pop-ups are a controversial topic in the world of SEO. Some people believe that they can help your SEO, while others believe that they can hurt it. So, what’s the truth?

In general, pop-ups won’t hurt your SEO. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can use pop-ups without affecting your SEO.

Find here 8 great points that will not harm your SEO even after adding pop-ups to your site.

1. Drop the “Entry” Pop-Ups and Use Exit Pop-ups

Perhaps, the most disturbing thing is the interstitial that has popped up as visitors land on a specific website. Often, they skip the website as soon as a pop-up appears. It will, involuntarily, break the flow of browsing the matter online. So, switch to exit pop-ups rather than those at entry time.

Exit-intent pop-ups appear when someone is about to leave your website. These pop-ups can be effective in getting people to stay on your website.

However, you need to be careful with exit-intent pop-ups. If they’re not done correctly, they can be very annoying and can cause people to leave your website.

2. Detect the Differences Between Spammy and Relevant Interstitials

Google’s mobile interstitial penalty attacks intrusive interstitials on the first shot. According to the general rule of thumb, if your interstitials are unsolicited calls, decline the user experience, or undervalue your mobile page. Google will counterattack that website. Therefore, be 100% sure and add non-spam stuff to your site.

3. Turn Towards the Timed Pop-Ups

Timing is crucial when it comes to using pop-ups. Avoid using intrusive pop-ups that appear immediately after a visitor lands on your website, as this can lead to a high bounce rate and negatively impact your search rankings. Instead, consider using timed or exit-intent pop-ups that appear when the user has had enough time to engage with your content.

4. Keep your Eagles’ Eyes on the “Gray Area” Interstitials

Some pop-ups, like “language selection”, are also interstitials. And according to Google guidelines, they can attribute a negative impact on a website. Thus, make sure to be safe rather than feel apologetic later on. Some more examples are-sticky sidebars, live chat boxes, share buttons, and coupon pop-ups. So, be cautious!

5. Incorporate “Hello Bar” by Neil Patel

It is a small tool from Neil Patel. The Hello Bar is a bar that stays either at the top or bottom of the screen, keeping the important content of the site untouched. It will not hide the relevant matter on the website. Here, Google is happy with this tool. Just ensure to add for a limited time, not scrolling till the end.

6. Make Use of Authorized But Intrusive Interstitials Warily

Some of the interstitials are interfering but not restrained by Google. These are page-to-page interstitials, and the interstitials on exit. For the latter one, insert a no-index tag in your code, and you will not step into the wrong zone. To date, these are not penalised by Google. But, no one knows what a new update will bring. So, make the UX good without violating the Google algorithms, and be safe.

These six effective weapons will allow you to use pop-ups or interstitials on your website without hurting SEO. Utilise these tools and magnetise customers with this amazing stuff.

7. Personalize Your Pop-Ups

Personalized messages tend to perform better than generic ones. Use data you’ve gathered about the user’s browsing behaviour or demographics to create targeted and relevant pop-up messages that resonate with them. This can help increase engagement and conversions while minimizing any negative impact on SEO.

Make sure your pop-ups provide genuine value to visitors rather than being purely promotional or sales-oriented. Offer discounts, exclusive content, or helpful information that encourages visitors to interact with the pop-up in a positive way.

8. Make sure your pop-ups are mobile-friendly

It’s important to make sure that your pop-ups are mobile-friendly. This means that they should be easy to close on mobile devices. If your pop-ups are difficult to close on mobile devices, people are more likely to find them annoying and will be less likely to convert.

Google launched an update called the “Intrusive Interstitials Penalty” in 2017, which penalizes websites with intrusive pop-ups that hinder mobile usability. Avoid using intrusive pop-ups on mobile pages, especially those that cover a significant portion of the content.