A Law Firm’s Guide to Pop-ups

Pop-ups are the windows that act out their name by popping up on your screen at the most unexpected times. Some are small, and some are nearly full-screen size. The large ones can be the most annoying to users, as they cover up the page that they’re trying to read. Is there really a good reason to build them into your law firm website? Or do you make more enemies than friends by using them? Here are a few of the pros and cons of pop-ups.

Types of Pop-ups

Familiarize yourself with the three types of pop-ups before delving into pros and cons to better understand how you can use this tool.

Of the three types of pop-ups, the in-page pop-up is the least hindering to visitors and the most effective for your business. This is usually a small box with a form encouraging visitors to fill it out with their name and email.

The new-page pop-up works just like what its name says: When clicked on, it opens the content in a new page. This type of pop-up isn’t commonly used and is poor on mobile devices.

The full-page pop-up is the one that visitors to your site dislike the most. Maybe they’ve just opened your page and are trying to read it when a pop-up window covers up nearly the entire screen. These are often used by sites wanting visitors to sign up or pay for access to the site.

Pros

As the site owner, you may choose to use pop-ups in a variety of ways. One positive way is to use one as a “contact now” window after the client has viewed a particular practice area or page that indicated they’re in need of your law firm’s help. This method works well as it won’t drive away potential clients.

Another use of pop-ups is to encourage visitors to sign up for your newsletter, blog, or other offers like webinars or ebooks. Just remember that the most effective pop-up is short and to the point and the print should be large enough to avoid squinting.

Some statistics show that pop-ups can bring in profit to your practice. Some people will click through your pop-up and turn to your law firm for its services. An average conversion rate can be as high as 9.28 percent. This means that if you have 150 visitors each day to your law firm’s site who click through, in just one month you’ll have 418 sign-ups. With 418 pop-up submissions your law firm will have many new contacts to add to its database to continue marketing to individuals who are interested in what your law firm offers.

Top of the line pop-ups can peak at an incredible 50 percent conversion rate. Of course, to achieve these results, you’ll have to master precision timing, appropriate size, location and the right context. An effective pop-up will be placed on a page with content that is not only related to the pop-up, but that leads the client to make a decision to choose your law firm’s services.

Cons

The biggest con is that visitors to websites are annoyed by the pop-ups. Some will exit the site and not come back. Some pop-ups, if they’re too gaudy, can look scary by giving the impression that they contain viruses or Trojan horses. So, if you create a pop-up, keep it clean, simple, and classy. Some automation tools will also allow you to create pop-ups with very specific parameters that can help improve conversion rates. For example, you can allow your pop-ups to only appear on certain pages or only to returning visitors or only after a visitor has been on your site for at least a minute.

Pop-ups can also lower your SEO ratings or slow down the site’s load time. If a page takes too long to load, a potential visitor will close it and go to another site offering similar information or services. This is why when utilizing pop-ups on your law firm’s website it’s even more important to test and optimize your site’s page speed.

Takeaway

When used judicially, pop-ups can be beneficial to your law firm. While it’s essential to optimize and automate your pop-ups so that they only show up at the right time, to the right people on your law firm’s site, they can be well worth any effort they take to make. There’s no doubt that pop-ups are attention grabbing which entices visitors to provide your law firm with their contact information. If your law firm needs help implementing new digital marketing strategies, we’re happy to help.