If you keep finding yourself building features your clients ask for that quietly make their websites worse, this one's for you.

Welcome to another episode of Websites Made Simple with me, Holly Christie.

In this episode, I'm talking about popups — why they're usually doing the opposite of what your clients think they're doing, what to say when a client is dead set on having one, and what to do instead to keep conversions high without frustrating visitors straight off the page.

We get into:

• Why popups interrupt the user experience in the worst possible way
• How popup design often looks spammy and quietly damages trust
• The SEO problem that popup plugins don't tell you about (hint: it's your H1)
• Why exit intent popups feel like surveillance — and why that's a problem
• How caching plugins can break popups entirely anyway
• What slide-ins are and how to use them without being annoying
• Floating buttons — how to use them properly (and what not to do on mobile)
• Dedicated signup sections that convert without the disruption
• How to push back when a client is dead set on having a popup

Check out my new offer: https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk/sparks-group-mentoring/

It's a supportive group mentoring session for website designers and developers to bring their questions, roadblocks, ideas, and "is it just me?" moments.

Come and find out more at https://websitesmadesimple.co.uk or email me at hello@websitesmadesimple.co.uk

Skip to the good bits:

00:00 Why popups might be hurting your clients' websites

01:11 Welcome and intro

01:39 Why popups interrupt the user experience

03:26 Popups block content and the SEO problem

06:01 Exit intent, popup frequency and the surveillance feeling

08:11 Slide-ins as a smarter alternative

10:30 Floating buttons done right

12:00 Dedicated signup sections that convert without disruption

14:23 How to push back when clients ask for popups

15:28 Wrap-up and how to get in touch

Mentioned in this episode:

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