With more and more people using their smartphones and tablets to not only browse the internet, but also do online shopping and run important business and life activities, it’s a good idea to make your website mobile-friendly. And that includes using mobile popups.

However, Google recently announced some changes around mobile search results in 2017. One of those changes being the mobile friendly tag, which could be taken off of any sites that use “intrusive interstitials.”

This has some people concerned about whether or not they should continue to use mobile popups, but fear not! You can still use mobile popups, you just have to do so in a way that complies with Google’s new requirements.

Why You Should Use Mobile Popups

Popups are a great way to increase lead generations from your website. Of course, they have to be done in a smart and targeted way for them to be successful, but they’re useful nonetheless.

And they work.

Really well.

More than 30% of website visitors are mobile users, and the average smartphone conversion rates were up 64% in 2016 compared to desktop conversion rates. This is a clear sign that more and more people are using their mobile devices to access the internet, and as such, if you want to continue to increase your conversion rates you really should take advantage of mobile popups.

You can check how many people access your website with a mobile device by using a WordPress analytics plugin MonsterInsights or on Google Analytics. This information will also help you decide what kind of popup would work best, and then help you track its success.

It’s important to note that while Google is cracking down on mobile popups, not all popups or interstitials are restricted. They just need to follow Google’s new requirements, otherwise you could be penalized for misuse of popups by lowering the rank of the corresponding webpage.

Keys to Successful Mobile Popups

There are a number of elements that should be applied when creating a mobile popup so that it catches your audience’s attention and convinces them to take action.

Visually Eye-Catching

As always, the number one key to a successful popup is to create one that is visually eye-catching. It should be well branded to your business, using the same color scheme as the rest of your website and feature your logo.

Images are also really important. They should be relevant to your website and what you’re offering, but also high quality. Anything that’s blurry, pixelated, or screams amateur, will only make your website look unprofessional and should be avoided.

Helpful

Your popup should offer some sort of benefit to your audience. It can either be a free ebook, case study or something else that your target audience would enjoy. People are more likely to click on a popup if they get something out of it.

Clear and Simple Message

You want your popup to grab your visitor’s attention and explain what you’re offering in a matter of seconds. It doesn’t take long to lose someone’s attention, especially when they’re browsing on a mobile device.

Typically, when someone chooses to browse using their mobile device it’s to look up something specific. They might not have a lot of patience for much else.

So, take some time to think up a really great headline that’s going to grab your visitor’s attention and keep your copy to a minimum. Just give them the information they need and leave out the fluff.

Mobile-Focused

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to fill out a form on your mobile device if it isn’t mobile-friendly. Sometimes the popup is too big for your mobile screen. Other times it’s too hard to find the button to sign up, or even click off of it. Most people will actually give up in these cases and just leave your website altogether.

If you want to avoid scaring people off, make your popup easy to fill out and exit.

Mobile-focused navigation options are a great way to provide an easy, streamlined experience. You also need to make sure the popup is small enough to fit on the mobile screen. There are a number of different softwares and plugins that will do this for you. One example worth exploring is http://optinmonster.com/ which provides you with a number of different and effective ways to present popups to your audience, without causing any annoyance.

Screen Space

Google has said that they want people to be able to have mobile popups, you just have to do it according to their new requirements.

Screen space is a huge component of that. To help keep your popup the right size for any number of different sized mobile screens, consider using an adaptive template. They should take up a reasonable amount of space, but not more than 1/4th of the screen.

There are a few different popups that are still acceptable, including:

– Exit popups
– Age verification, and anything else legally required
– Small app banners
– On-page banners and ads
– Push notifications

Popups should also have a visible and usable close button.

A really great alternative to a mobile popup would be to add a slim floating bar to drive conversions. A popular choice is Hello Bar, which is a small bar that will stick to either the top or bottom of the screen as the visitor scrolls.

Test Performance

Like most things for your website, you should test your mobile popup. Mobile users could be using any kind of smartphone or tablet, which all vary in size. Take the time to test out your website on several different devices to ensure it works equally well on each.

Get Started

Creating mobile popups is just as important as ever, if not more so. Even with Google’s new requirements, it shouldn’t be something you shy away from.

Don’t have a website for your business? Get started today with this step by step guide and add both desktop and mobile-friendly popups to start converting visitors into customers.

Looking back at 2016, the year was one of the biggest yet for video marketing. More and more outlets adopted this form of advertising than ever before, and this massive adoption rate created new practices and trends that no one really saw coming.

Although all forms of marketing change and adapt over time, few go through changes as quickly as that of video marketing. The Internet Age is one that doesn’t slow down for anyone, and this is extremely applicable when talking about online video advertising.

While the core principles and practices will always remain true, the way in which we approach video marketing has seen some big evolutions that you need to properly adhere to if you want to stay ahead of the curve throughout the year. Here are the top 5 video marketing practices that you need to be implementing in 2017.

1. Live streaming

Live streaming has become huge. Sites such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and others popularized the idea of live broadcasting you and the world around you, and this is something that doesn’t show any sign of going away soon.

During 2016, we saw companies along the lines of Chevrolet, Disney, Buzzfeed, EA Sports, Ari BnB, and others adapt some sort of live streaming as part of their video marketing tactics. More companies have already jumped on the live streaming bandwagon in 2017, and all signs point to even more adopting it in the future.

A report from Tubular shows that Facebook’s live streaming activity increased by 200,000+ active users between January and June of last year, and YouTube’s live streaming service saw an increase of a massive 80%.

This is easily the biggest trend in video marketing right now, and as such, it’s important that you start working it into your own campaign so you don’t get left behind.

2. Virtual reality and 360-degree videos

Also referred to as immersive video content, video clips that can be viewed in 360-degrees on a device or feature some sort of virtual/augmented reality aspect boomed quite a bit throughout 2016. It’s been proven that people are sold on the idea of being able to completely engage themselves in different types of content, and this sort of deep engagement can be used to showcase richer and more fulfilling ad experiences as well.

Incorporating ads and marketing videos into this sort of form factor is still a relatively new endeavor, but it’s another trend that is still going strong at full speed ahead. And, with it being so young, jumping into the game now will give you an edge over competitors that decide to wait things out and see where this immersive video thing ends up.

3. Personalize your videos for your audience

With video becoming such a popular form of marketing, it means that everyone and their dog is creating some sort of video content for their marketing campaign. However, something that not everyone is truly taking advantage of is the power of personalized marketing videos.

Video personalization is specifically tailoring your video content to the audience and people who will be viewing it. The benefits of personalized video, including increased customer engagement and longer video viewing times, are far too great to overlook it.

Companies such as Nike and AT&T have already taken note of this trend and started to implement personalized video into their own campaigns, and with it working so well for big names like these, there’s no reason it won’t work for you and your brand as well

4. Carefully study and understand video analytics

We’ve had access to video analytics for a number of years now, but if you aren’t using them to their full potential in 2017, you might as well not even bother with video marketing at all.

Video analytics provide you with a deep understanding of your audience and how much of an impression your content is making, and you can use this information to help make your videos even more powerful than they currently are.

Creating and kicking out videos however you see fit is one thing, but creating videos based off of what your analytics are telling you is an entirely different ballgame — the ballgame that you should and need to be a part of.

5. Work with a professional

Handling all of your video marketing on your own end can be rewarding, but it can also be extremely stressful and tiring.

This doesn’t mean you don’t have any good ideas or video-making skills, but if you want to ensure that the content you’re kicking out is as good as it can be, it’s critical that you work with a video marketing agency to elevate your content to the next level.

With more and more people adopting video marketing in 2017, trying to stand out with quality content is more important than ever. With a trusted agency at your side, this is a very achievable and plausible goal.

Final Thoughts

There isn’t and never will be a one-size-fits-all answer to rocking video marketing, but there are tips and tricks you can follow based on what’s currently taking place in the advertising industry. By following the 5 tips described in this guide, you can be fully prepared and ready to absolutely rock your video marketing campaign now and throughout the rest of 2017.

This guest post was written by VideoRemix, a video software company that allows users to create, edit, personalize, and publish production-quality video campaigns to engage their audience.