OK to have a modal pop-up on an AdWords landing page?

[ydop]

We're about to launch an AdWords campaign targeting users who are searching for hand-crafted furniture. The website we're sending users to has a large inventory of furniture, and all if it is hand-crafted. But there currently is no page on the site specifically communicating that all the furniture on the site is hand-crafted.

So, rather than dump the user right into browsing the inventory, we want to put an intermediate step in place to say, in essence, "Hey, welcome, yes, we have lots of handcrafted furniture. In fact, all of it is hand-crafted. Here, have a look around."

The art director on the project is suggesting that a modal pop-up would be perfect for this scenario. It would greet the user, who could then dismiss the pop-up and move into the site.

I have two concerns about using a modal, though:

1. Does a modal violate Google's policy against pop-ups that open new windows?
2. Assuming we trigger the modal using Javascript, will AdsBot have any trouble crawling the content of the modal, such that it could hurt the landing page component of our quality score?

[SoleGraphics]

Our personal experience with overlays/popups have been that they create massive bounce rates and people run because these methods have been associated in the minds of consumers as spam.

Think about the customer, will a pop up enhance their experience with the site? If not why do it? Also from a organic perspective having "handcrafted" in your text might be a benefit?!

[KristinaKledzik]

Hi Ydop,

You might be able to get away with a modal pop up without AdWords noticing, but I think that it does violate Google's policy in spirit, since Google says "Google does not allow pop ups of any kind when entering or leaving your landing page." (Bolding for emphasis) Even though they're talking about separate windows, the experience is the same for the user. In fact, sometimes it's more frustrating, since modal pop ups are often harder to close.

That said, your intent is fine, I just think that you need to use a different solution to introduce your company on your inventory page. You said that you want to use a pop up to tell AdWords visitors that your inventory page is full of hand-crafted furniture, but why can't you include that message at the top of the page? Especially if it's a core value of your business, visitors who started on the homepage won't mind being reminded about the quality of your work. And it will help visitors who land on that inventory page through search or referral links as well as AdWords visitors.

As a consultant, I push my clients to make every page include enough information that it can be a landing page. With Google trying to place visitors on the most specifically relevant page possible, and referring links out of your control, you never know where visitors will start on your website. Don't assume that visitors will start on your homepage, or that will begin their journey through your site understanding your business.

Good luck!

Kristina

[ydop]

Thank you, Kristina. Wise advice.

For what it's worth, the complicating factor about why we don't necessarily just put the message about "handcrafted" prominently on the inventory page is that we have multiple possible messages to emphasize. I many cases the message that the store is at a convenient, nearby location is most important, the fact that the furniture is customizable is second, and then the handcrafted aspect is maybe third or fourth. With this specific segment of AdWords traffic, by contrast, we want to clearly emphasize the "handcrafted" message most prominently.

[ydop]

Thank you for sharing the real-world results you've had using overlays and pop-ups. Good points.

[KristinaKledzik]

Ah, that makes sense.

In that case, best practice is to make landing pages specific to your AdWords campaigns. I know that seems like a lot more work than just adding a modal pop up, but hopefully you can get your developer to make you a template and then you can easily make a number of very similar pages with different messaging. That extra expense to make a landing page will be worthwhile, since there's no chance that Google will have a problem with it, so your ads won't get disapproved, and visitors generally expect a landing page tailored to their ad anyway.

Good luck!