Leaving our homes during this period of isolation is stressful. Will we come into contact with this invisible virus? How do we know the stores will be stocked? What if I arrive and the business is closed?
A Notification Popup can help inform and prepare your customers, saving them stress and reducing risk.
Your website visitors rely on you to update them about what you’re doing to protect and inform them.
Now, more than ever, people are visiting your website to see how this crisis may affect their experience. They’re judging you. How is your business responding to the pandemic? If you’re working from home or closed, how will they know? Are you considerate enough to share updates and save customers a trip or a phone call?
It’s not enough to change your hours on your Contact page, or update your Google My Business listing about menu or service changes. You need to emphatically call attention to that new, temporary information.
If anything has changed about your business, you need a COVID-19 Temporary Notification Popup to get the word out.
A Notification Popup Can Save Your Visitors Time and Protect Their Health
Popups are small web pages that “pop-up” when a website visitor triggers an action. That trigger can be:
- a page loading
- a certain amount of time spent on a page
- a visitor click action
- a visitor’s intention to leave the site
- a certain number of pages viewed
- reaching the end of a blog post or page
The Best Notification Popups Are Rare and Obvious
An airport website COVID-19 policy notification popup features a clear communication that this is an “advisory.” The popup also contains an easy-to-locate “close” or “hide” button. A call-to-action invites the visitor to take control of their safety by clicking to learn more.
When the trigger is initiated, a small information box appears, obstructing a portion of the page content. If done properly and with restraint, the popup will engage the visitor and effectively prompt action. That action can include:
- simply closing the popup
- reading some content
- watching a video
- completing a form
- clicking a link for more information
Bad Notification Popups Damage Your Reputation
This poorly executed notification popup is super frustrating because it appears in the middle of the blog post, obstructing the content and user experience. The popup also lacks a “close” button, which means the reader can’t access the content beneath the popup. Worst of all, this popup is a request to subscribe to the same blog that’s being blocked. A popup form should never ask for more than two items of information, usually a name and an email or phone number.Done poorly, a notification popup can be a distracting and frustrating user experience. Bad popups share these characteristics:
- they are advertisements that interrupt the user experience
- they don’t contain a “close” or “X” button
- they have a very small “close” or “X” button
- they persist even after you’ve hit the close button
- they display over and over, despite the user having taken the requested action
Use Notification Popups Only When Absolutely Necessary or at the End of Content
A well-designed and well-executed popup is rare, but appreciated by visitors. During times of national crisis, when information needs to be shared quickly, a popup can be a sign of competence and calm. Use a popup to communicate:
- temporary hours
- new temporary policies such as curbside service or delivery
- a link to a sign-up or online order page
- estimated wait times
- your company’s customer-protection policies
- a sign-up form for helpful information
Our notification popup launches three seconds after the visitor opens the page and only appears twice. The popup features an “exclamation point” notification indicator, a prominent high-contrast “close” button, and a simple call-to-action form. The web page is overlaid with a filter to call more attention to the popup.
DecemberPress offers free emergency COVID-19 notification popups to our clients. We believe it’s our job to help keep your website visitors and customers safe and informed.
If you would like to discuss a notification popup, reach out!