Okay, I may have borrowed that line from Will Shakespeare, but it's still a big question for anyone running a website. Should you have a popup? And if you already do, is it actually working for you or working against you?
Here's the honest answer: popups do work. The data backs it up, year after year, people genuinely sign up when they see one. But there's a big "but" attached to that. It only works if it's the right popup, in the right place, showing up at the right time. Get that wrong, and you're not building your email list, you're chasing people off your website.
Let's talk about why so many popups miss the mark, and what to do instead.
Why we even bother with popups
You've probably heard this from a coach or two: get people onto your email list. It makes sense. Social media platforms change their rules constantly, and you don't actually own the data sitting on them. Your email list, on the other hand, is yours. So popups exist to capture that data while someone is on your site.
That part is fine. The problem is in the execution.
The dating analogy
Think of your website like a first date. You want to get to know someone before you ask them to commit to anything. I visit a lot of websites, both as a consumer and as part of my work, and I cannot tell you how many times I've landed on a page and been hit with a popup before I've even had a chance to read a single sentence.
I'm literally talking to my screen at that point, saying "let me read some of your website first before you ask me to sign up for your newsletter."
You wouldn't propose marriage on a first date. Don't ask for an email address in the first second either. Give people a chance to like you, trust you, and want to know more before you make the ask.
Make the offer worth something
Here's a question worth sitting with: what is your popup actually offering?
If it just says "sign up to my newsletter," that's not going to entice anyone. It's boring, and frankly, it's a one-sided deal. You're asking for their email address and giving them nothing specific in return.
A popup should be an exchange. They give you their contact details, you give them something of real value. A checklist. Top tips. A specific resource tied to what they're already reading. If someone's on a blog post about gluten-free recipes, offer them your top tips for gluten-free cooking, not a vague invitation to "join the list."
When you put thought into the offer, people notice. And they're far more likely to hand over an email address they actually check, rather than the spare Gmail account they keep just for things they don't really want.
Timing and context matter more than you think
Two things to get right here: when the popup appears, and what it's offering compared to what someone is actually reading.
On timing, one second on your site is too soon. Give people room to explore before you interrupt them.
On context, your popup needs to match the page someone is on. If they're reading about gluten-free food and your popup is offering something completely unrelated, like a holiday deal in the Bahamas, that's going to confuse them. Confusion doesn't lead to signups. Clarity does. Every popup should feel like a natural next step from what someone is already reading, not a jarring left turn.
Test that it actually behaves itself
This one matters more than people realise. If someone closes your popup, it should not reappear every time they click to a new page. I've tested websites where this happens, the same popup, page after page, even after being closed. If I were a real visitor, I would have left and never come back.
Check your popups regularly. Make sure closing them actually works, and that they're not popping back up uninvited.
Don't forget mobile
Your popup has to look good on a phone. Not just okay, genuinely good. I've been on a website where a popup took over the entire screen and I could not find a way to close it. I had to shut down the whole browser just to escape it. I never went back.
Most of your visitors are on their phones. If your popup swallows the screen and hides the exit button, you're not building a list, you're losing customers.
Consider the exit intent option
If you'd rather not interrupt someone mid-read, there's another option called an exit intent popup. It triggers when someone's about to leave your site, like moving toward the back button or closing the tab. That's a much gentler moment to make an offer, whether it's a newsletter, a checklist, or a quick "before you go, did you see this?"
I'll admit it, even I've signed up for things through a well-timed exit intent popup. It works because it respects the visitor's time and only shows up when they're already about to leave anyway.
Why this belongs in your strategic website review
If you're reading this thinking, "okay, but I still don't know what popup I need or where it should go," that's exactly the kind of thing worth working through together. Whether you should have a popup at all, whether your current one is pulling its weight, what it says, how it looks on mobile, all of that fits neatly into a strategic website review.
Popups are a strategy, not an afterthought. They shouldn't be something you set up once because a coach told you to and then forget about. They should be aligned with your goals, your values, and what your visitors actually need from you.
Key takeaways
- Popups do work, but only when the timing, placement, and offer are right
- Let people read a bit of your site before you ask for their email address
- Offer something specific and valuable in exchange for a signup, not just "join my newsletter"
- Match your popup's offer to the context of the page it appears on
- Test that closed popups stay closed as visitors move through your site
- Make sure your popup looks good and is easy to close on mobile
- Consider an exit intent popup if you'd rather not interrupt the reading experience
- A popup strategy is worth building into your strategic website review
Ready to stop guessing and start strategising?
If you're not sure whether your popup is helping or hurting, or you just want a second pair of eyes on your whole website, that's exactly what a Strategic Website Review is for. We'll look at your popups, your menus, your messaging, all of it, and figure out what's working, what's not, and what to do next.
