SEO. The end of pop-up adverts is here

Very often customers request us to incorporate pop-ups in their websites without considering whether it will have a negative impact or not in the SEO of their websites. However, they should consider that using intrusive pop-ups is penalized by Google. It happens since the update of its algorithm taking place in January 2017.

The objective of this update was to improve the usability of users on web pages, so between two websites that offer the same information, it benefits the website that does not include pop-ups, allowing users a better and faster browsing experience. This is especially important on mobile devices where pop-ups cover the screen and generating unnecessary clicks.

But what sort of pop-ups are considered as intrusive?

• When part of the main content is not directly available when the user clicked on a page.
• When using an intermediate website to access content.
• When using ads that cover the browser screen and force users to scroll to access the information sought.

Google, however, makes some exceptions with cookie pop-ups when speaking about age controls or payment windows on ecommerce.
Websites that are highly focused on inbound marketing that use pop-ups to capture leads through forms should keep this in mind if they do not want to lose a large part of their traffic.