How to block interstitials or other pop-ups, modals, colorboxes, pop-ins that make our lives miserable?
You’ve undoubtedly come across one of those sites that, while you haven’t asked for anything, suddenly throws a window at you inside the site, most often to ask you to sign up for their newsletter.
Some call these interstitials, others call them modals, colorboxes, pop-ins, or pop-ups, whatever their name, we only want one thing: TO PUT AN END TO IT!!
An unfortunately increasing practice…
There’s a significant increase in sites using this system to encourage visitors to sign up for their newsletter or to highlight a piece of news, for example.
Some will tell you, yes, but since I implemented this system, my newsletter sign-ups have significantly increased. OK… But otherwise, how many closed the site after being interrupted in their navigation?
The proper use of interstitials/colorbox/pop-ins or pop-ups, a bit of UX, please!
In itself, there’s no contraindication to using this pop-up window system within a site, as long as they appear after an action by the user (such as clicking a button).
But making a window appear unexpectedly is shooting yourself in the foot!
Ask yourself a few questions:
Have you thought about the person who is already subscribed to the newsletter ? Why bother them with this every time they return to your site ?
Do you think people came here to sign up for your newsletter ?
The undesirable colorbox IRL ( = in real, real life)
Would you find it natural for a clothing store you’re entering for the first time to approach you with: “Hello, do you want a loyalty card?” ?
Wouldn’t you find it more normal for them to serve you with: “Hello, can I help you, are you looking for something specific ?” ?
How to get rid of these pests ?
While waiting for Google to find a way to penalize sites that use these kinds of tactics, there’s a solution for Chrome or Firefox users.
It’s called AdGuard AdBlocker.
How this interstitial blocker works
You’re reading a very interesting article when suddenly, you’re assaulted by a pop-up: “Sign up for the newsletter, you’ll see, it’s super cool!! Trust me… Believe me… Spam isn’t our thing.”
