Monday, October 02, 2006

[Content] Pop-up vs. Static

My husband, the techie, and I have been having an ongoing battle. Occasionally I like to put a random pop-up ad on my front page reminding readers of an upcoming event (a meme, guest blogging event, meetup, etc.) He says static is better because people HATE pop-ups. I claim static ads are easier to ignore.

So if you have a preference, what is it and why? I'm hoping to win the battle, but honestly if he's right, he's right!


This post was written by Jennifer from Taste Everything Once.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate pop-ups. And so do most people. That's why there are pop-up blockers.

Kalyn Denny said...

Since you asked so nicely and all, if I visit a site that has pop-ups, I never go there again. And I've even taken blogs out of my feed reader for it, which is like being banished.

Rachael Narins said...

I have pop up blocker and have never seen one on your site...if I did, I too would be very off-put.

Anonymous said...

Yes I agree pop-ups are big no-no in professional web design. They are associated with junk advertising.

Anonymous said...

As you can see, people react strongly to pop-ups. Most experienced web users close 'em without looking at 'em.

You've got a pretty good design for showcasing everything that's happening on your site. Another well-designed callout box would certainly do the trick. So ask yourself if your pop-up content is important enough to slap people in the face with.

Vegan Chef said...

There is a bigger problem than pop ups that will pop up soon if someone bigger and better than Jamie Oliver doesn't pop up.

The situation on school food is a disgrace. You have to bare in mind that, for most kids, as far as standards go it's downhill all the way from what you get taught at school. If the benchmark standards at school are low to start with what hope have we got for future generations??

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston is quite right - unless you want to rely on the long term effects of natural selection then the only option is to treat junk food in schools as seriously as smoking! - Tolerated but never encouraged!

But yes i agree no page pop ups that's almost worse than the testicles and rectum they just banned from school dinners!

Parisbreakfasts said...

Well I do have a pop-up stopper, but if I knew how to put it up on my site and it was site-related, it doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me..I'd do it.
I find the static quality of blogs sometimes dreary - all that type. why YouTube videos are such a relief when you come accross one IMO
so I vote YES :)

L Vanel said...

When I get pop-ups I get out as fast as possible. I consider them agressive invasions, and they hold the same value in my mind as spam and spyware. I think its because windows open without my permission. It's a bit scary to me.

Paul, what is a call-out box?

nika said...

I loathe pop-ups, have them blocked, dont look at them when they DO pop up on other computers and would suspect a blog that had them. WHy? Popups generally are about intrusive adverts.. not benign notices.

s'kat said...

No pop-ups, please!!! Trust me, we like you just the way you are.

Bonnie said...

Hear hear, to no popups!

Anonymous said...

I'll add one more noisy response that agrees that pop-ups would be very bad. I'm increasingly annoyed by even the larger commerical sites that have adds that follow you around, make noise, enlarge or start some video file when you log on. I understand the importance to the content provider that you have ad space to support the profitablity of your product, but I find it just so dern annoying. So I would agree that Pop-ups are the worst though and should be avoided.

Julie said...

I would much prefer static. Even if the pop-up contains content related to your site, it is still annoying if I'm trying to read a post and it's covered by a pop up.

Anonymous said...

Scott, that wasn't me.

Vanel, I'm probably generalizing the term, but a callout box is just a graphic design term for a box that calls something out. Usually a pullquote or sidebar sort of thing.

Anonymous said...

I don't like visiting sites with pop ups or huge banner ads. I find them annoying and never go back no matter how great their site is.

Not only that, they take forever to load up. Sorry to disappoint you.

Jennifer said...

Thanks for the advice guy!

Now to go back and tell my husband he's right...=)

sylvie1950 said...

Absolutely NO pop-ups. They are annoying and will only make people not want to visit your site.

Pille said...

Another really-really-really-hate-pop-ups here:)

Jocelyn:McAuliflower said...

good rule is to not piss off your audience. This includes forcing certain actions and behavior patterns on them (like what pop ups do).

You have to give up control regarding how your audience is going to interact with your site.

Anonymous said...

I hate pop-ups. They're distracting and annoying. And pop-ups are usually spam ads so it would be a bad idea to have it on your blog.