The epoch of popping-up messages originated in the late 1990s. Since then, technological advancement has resulted in a huge diversification of such lightboxes. You will come across these tools on both mobile and desktop platforms, where they have become proven lead magnets and wonderful solutions to reduce such issues as abandoned carts.
Overall, there are different subdivisions of types of pop ups, which are unique in terms of their performance and content. The more you know about the lightbox popup basics, the smoother the transition to more advanced solutions and mixing the styles will be. Forearming starts with forewarning. Let’s roll straight into the topic!
Popping-Up Layouts by Action
Given how universal and multifunctional lightboxes are, each feature can be preferred as a parameter for classification. Several types are distinguished by unique timing, exit, and arrival conditions:
- Entry lightboxes — this varietal implies its action type through its name. They appear on the site soon after a visitor enters it. It can happen immediately or a few seconds after a particular initial action is done. Such layouts don’t have to be full-screen options. On the internet, brands use entry pop-ups that don’t overlay the web content and are pinned as bottom or top elements of the composition. If you want to use their potential to the full, the choice of the CTA message has to be appropriate. Since customers don’t have enough time to get acquainted with the domain and its peculiarities, enthusiasts can inform end users about their seasonal promotions for all the products or other similar occasions.
- Sidebars occupy the smallest number of pixels compared to other types of pop-ups. For instance, a typical sidebar popup reaches around 350 by 660 pixels. A full-screen alternative can easily fill the 900 by 700-pixel window. This minimalistic style is the most natural design component for typical web architecture.
- Timed popping-up messages—in this case, creators adjust their arrival time. For instance, after a customer visits a particular menu, the offer to subscribe for a discount appears in twenty seconds. The optimum display time is up to a minute after a certain action is performed. Usually, designers choose smaller limits to cope with the problem of abandoning visitors.
- Exit popups—This format will also help increase the percentage of customers who remain on the platform. They entice users with additional offers, making them change their opinion and not leave a target website.
All these lightboxes are pretty applicable, but their genuine power will be revealed only if brands consider their own priorities and customer behavior. For instance, popping-up messages that appear on rarely-visited parts of the interface won’t work as expected.
Worthy Designs for Modern E-Commerce Projects
Timed and exit lightboxes can be combined to create a perfect component for a site’s email signup campaign. Stay creative when it comes to styling popups:
- Popup animation — this feature is compatible with numerous types of pop-ups. It will enhance their visual attraction and transform a plain interface into a more interactive alternative. The same happens when lightboxes are gamified. For instance, spin-the-wheel layouts are popular for offering coupons and making customers sign up.
- Yes/no — such formulas make consumers’ experiences more confident and less demanding. They are great components for presenting checklists or video tutorials in exchange for email addresses or feedback details from end users.
- Floating bars — it is one of the samples of how accurately to place popups on the page’s top. When you make them dynamic elements, they are transformed into elegant popups.
- Product recommendations — after a person adds a goodie to the cart, a site can open a popup and show what items will suit this decision, cheaper substitutes, and so on.
- Bulk orders — as one of the opportunities to sell more to end users, creators can offer special upsells so that buying a pair of goodies will be more beneficial than their original intention.
- Cart abandonment — adjust your popup’s timing correctly and let it appear right after an individual closes their cart. The message can vary from a typical “Are you sure?” to additional deals to prevent the cart-leaving operation.
- Mobile popups—The best recommendation is to design desktop and mobile popups separately to match the requirements of different operating systems and screen resolutions. For instance, image lightboxes are less typical and productive in this field, unlike click-on messages.
Conclusion
Whatever popping-up message or window style enthusiasts might prefer, the one feature has to coincide — their call to action is meant to be clear and straightforward. Even if you are playing with the triggers, overwhelming content and poor-quality lightboxes are forbidden. Testing their performance by particular UI and UX reasoning is highly recommended. After such practices, interested parties will be able to create a list of multi-operational pop-ups that suit their certain needs from both short-term and long-term perspectives.
