Popups and banners that do not cost you customers
When a popup earns its place and when a banner does the job: triggers, frequency caps, Google’s rules on page-covering popups, accessible dialogs, consent for email sign-ups, the ban on fake deadlines, and five examples with the copy. Checked 9 November 2026.
This guide is for anyone running a UK shop who wants to use popups and banners to put an offer in front of visitors, or collect email sign-ups, without driving people away or breaking the rules. It covers when a popup earns its place, the settings to start with, what Google and the accessibility guidelines ask, the law on sign-ups, cookies and urgency, and how to measure the result. Disclosure: we build Orbit Commerce, which has popups and banners built in, so weigh those parts accordingly. Every rule and figure was checked against its source on 9 November 2026.
In short
- Vendor data shows 1% to 5% of sign-up popup displays becoming sign-ups; every other display is an interruption.
- Since January 2017, Google says, pages covered on arrival from mobile search may not rank as highly.
- A sign-up popup needs real consent under the email marketing rules (PECR): a positive action, no pre-ticked box, and a record.
- Since 6 April 2025 a fake deadline or a restarting countdown has been a banned practice.
- Measure an offer by the orders its discount code brought in, not by popup views.
When does a popup help, and when does it hurt?
In a Nielsen Norman Group survey of 452 adults, modal popups were among the most disliked of 23 ad formats on desktop and mobile. One respondent said ads that force you to close them “just make me hate the product being advertised” (Nielsen Norman Group, 2017, checked 9 November 2026).
Popup tools publish their own customers’ conversion figures. Popupsmart’s data from 28,674 campaigns, January 2024 to September 2026, puts the median sign-up popup at 0.83% of displays, with the top tenth above 3.87% (Popupsmart, vendor data, checked 9 November 2026). Wisepops reports an average of 4.82% (Wisepops, vendor data, 30 September 2025, checked 9 November 2026). Roughly one display in twenty to one in a hundred becomes a sign-up, and every other display is an interruption.
A popup helps only when the offer is worth interrupting most of the people who see it. Apply three tests. Would you say it out loud to someone who had just walked in (“your first order is 10% off” passes, “sign up to our newsletter” does not)? Does it arrive after the visitor has done something? And does it stop? In Popupsmart’s data the sixth view converts at under a third of the first. If the first test fails, use a banner.
Do popups hurt your Google rankings?
They can, on mobile, if they cover the content people came for. In 2016 Google announced that from 10 January 2017 “pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as highly”. It exempted legally required interstitials (page overlays) such as cookie or age checks, login dialogs, and “banners that use a reasonable amount of screen space and are easily dismissible” (Google, 2016, checked 9 November 2026). Its current guidance says intrusive interstitials make it hard for search engines to understand your content, “which may lead to poor search performance”, and recommends banners that take up a small fraction of the screen (Google Search Central, checked 9 November 2026). In practice: never fire a promotional popup on page load, keep it smaller than the screen, and let legal overlays cover the page rather than redirect. A bar or a banner tile takes only the small fraction Google means.
Which popup triggers and frequency should you start with?
Every popup tool has three settings: what fires it, how often one person sees it, and which pages carry it.
| Setting | What it catches | Start with | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time delay | A visitor who stayed to read | 10 to 15 seconds on landing pages | The only phone trigger apart from scroll, so set it late |
| Scroll depth | A visitor part-way down a product page | 50% | Short pages hit 50% at once |
| Exit intent | A desktop cursor heading for the back button | The basket, once per session | Desktop only; it never reaches a phone |
| Frequency cap | How often one browser sees it | Once per session for an offer, once ever for a welcome | Every visit teaches regulars to close it |
The data backs gentle settings: Wisepops found an 11 to 15 second delay converted best, and Popupsmart found popups that waited beat popups fired on page load (0.83% against 0.61%). Exit intent was no clear winner in either dataset, so keep it for the basket, where leaving costs most. Orbit’s popups offer exactly these choices: a delay, a scroll percentage or exit intent on a desktop; every visit, once per session, once per day or once ever, remembered in the visitor’s own browser; every page, the homepage only or the pages you name (campaigns and popups).
Can a popup be accessible?
A popup is a dialog, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, the W3C’s recommendation since 5 October 2023 (W3C, checked 9 November 2026), is specific about dialogs. The Equality and Human Rights Commission says a business website must be accessible to disabled users where that is a reasonable adjustment, which “it is likely to be” (EHRC, checked 9 November 2026). Four things decide it, following the W3C’s modal dialog pattern (WAI-ARIA Authoring Practices, checked 9 November 2026):
- Focus moves into the popup when it opens and back where it was when it closes, so a screen reader user hears the popup, not the page.
- Escape closes it and Tab stays inside it: No Keyboard Trap is a Level A requirement (WCAG 2.1.2).
- The close control is a real button at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, WCAG 2.2’s new Target Size (Minimum) rule (WCAG 2.5.8).
- It does not hide what the keyboard is on: the new Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) rule, whose own examples are sticky notifications and cookie banners (WCAG 2.4.11).
Test it with Tab and Escape, then with your phone’s screen reader. Our accessibility statement says where Orbit stands against WCAG 2.2 AA.
What does UK law say about sign-up popups, cookie banners and fake urgency?
Three rules touch popups: two were amended on 5 February 2026 by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (the ICO’s email marketing guidance is still under review) and the third arrived on 6 April 2025. As at 9 November 2026:
Email sign-up popups need consent, or an existing customer
Marketing emails to individuals, sole traders included, fall under regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). That means prior consent, or the “soft opt-in” for details obtained in the course of a sale or negotiations for one, used to market your own similar products, with a simple, free way to refuse offered at collection and in every message since. The soft opt-in does not cover prospective customers or bought lists (PECR regulation 22 and ICO guidance, checked 9 November 2026). A popup aimed at new visitors is therefore a consent request, and the ICO’s test is a freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous positive action. The ICO says “silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity” do not count, and you must be able to show who consented and when (ICO, valid consent, checked 9 November 2026).
The cookie banner comes first
Anything your site stores or reads on a visitor’s device falls under PECR regulation 6: consent after clear information. Schedule A1 has an exception for storage strictly necessary for the service the visitor asked for. Storage used solely for statistics to improve your site, or solely to adapt its appearance to the visitor’s preferences, can also be exempt if you tell visitors and offer a simple, free way to object (PECR Schedule A1, checked 9 November 2026). The ICO’s final guidance of 29 April 2026 says refusing must be as easy as accepting, nothing that needs consent runs until the visitor has chosen, and you should not keep re-asking (ICO, managing consent, checked 9 November 2026). So the consent banner goes first and alone: give the popup a delay long enough for the banner to be answered, and never let the two share a phone screen.
Fake urgency is a banned practice
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lists practices that are unfair in all circumstances. Number 7 is falsely stating that a product will only be available, or available on particular terms, for a limited time, to get an immediate decision (Schedule 20, paragraph 7, checked 9 November 2026). The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) guidance, updated on 18 November 2025, gives the example: an offer said to end when a countdown runs out, but the clock restarts and the offer continues, is banned; a true deadline is unlikely to be a problem. It also treats a popup urging shoppers to be quick because ten sold in five minutes, while stock is high, as deceptive (CMA207, checked 9 November 2026). A discount code with an end date is an honest deadline that costs nothing, and a low-stock line should come from the real stock figure.
Banners and announcement bars: the quieter option
Most offers do not need a popup; the quieter formats sit inside the page and interrupt nobody.
| Format | Where it sits | Best for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popup | Over the page, on a trigger | A first-order offer, a desktop basket save | Timing, frequency, focus, consent |
| Announcement bar | One line across the top of every page | Delivery promises, a sitewide code | One message at a time |
| Banner tile | A tile in the product grid on chosen categories | A category sale, a new range | It takes a product’s slot; give it dates |
| Conditional strip | A block shown only when a rule is met | Free-delivery progress, a real low-stock warning | The rule must be true |
In Orbit the announcement bar is a page builder element in your header. A banner takes a tile in the product grid on the categories you pick, with live-from and live-until dates and a priority. Any element can carry a display rule (cart total, customer tag, stock level, date and time), so a free-delivery bar shows only while the basket is under your threshold and a low-stock line only when stock really is low (page builder).
Measure campaign revenue, not popup views
Popup tools report views, clicks and sign-ups, and all three flatter the popup: a hundred sign-ups is a hundred addresses, not customers. The clean measure is the code: give each offer its own code and count the orders and revenue that used it. In Orbit that is a campaign: codes grouped under a name with dates and a planned budget. Every order using one of those codes is counted with its full total, so the campaign shows revenue, orders and average order value (campaigns). Then apply the caution we recommend for abandoned cart emails: some shoppers would have bought anyway, so the figure is a ceiling. Count margin, because £2,000 at list price through a 15% code is £1,700 after the £300 given away. Use a minimum spend and a cap on the discount, as our guide to discounts that pay explains. If sign-ups jump but orders do not, you have bought an email list with your margin. If checkout completions fall while a popup runs on the basket page, fix the checkout quick wins first.
Five popup and banner examples, with the copy
- The welcome offer. Homepage and category pages, a 12-second delay or 50% scroll, once ever. “New here? Take 10% off your first order with WELCOME10. Ends 30 November.” Limit the code to one use per customer account and give it that end date.
- The basket save. Basket page, exit intent (so desktop only), once per session. No discount first: “Your basket is saved. Delivery is £3.95, or free over £50.” Add a code only if the plain version fails after a month.
- The sign-up with something in it. A free sample chapter or a sizing guide. “Get the free sample pattern, plus one email a month when new designs land. Unsubscribe any time.” The form lives on a page with an unticked marketing box and the popup points to it; digital sellers can mark a download as a free sample (see selling e-books and templates).
- The honest deadline. An announcement bar: “Order by 2pm for same-day dispatch” or “Free UK delivery over £50 until Sunday”. If your delivery settings have a cut-off, the bar must match it.
- The category banner. A tile in the coats category: “Winter coats: 20% off with COAT20 until 24 November.” Match the banner’s live-until date to the code’s end date.
Where Orbit fits
Popups, banners, the announcement bar and campaigns are on every Orbit plan, from Solo at £25 a month (£19 a month billed yearly, ex VAT), and on the 14-day trial. You design a popup in the page builder, and banners and the announcement bar work as described above. A campaign links your discount codes and counts the orders and revenue they brought in against a budget you type. The cookie consent banner is built in and on from your first visitor, with Reject all beside Accept all, and your tags wait for the category the shopper agreed to. Nebula, the dashboard assistant, can set up a popup or a campaign for you to check.
For a sign-up, the popup points to a page carrying a form from the Form Builder plugin in the plugin store, which emails you each submission and can create a customer account. Newsletters are sent from Mailchimp or Omnisend, whose plugins keep contacts, marketing consent, products, orders and carts in step with your store both ways. The campaign report is your test: change one thing at a time and read its numbers after each change.
Read next: GA4 and the cookie banner under UK law, rewriting your shop’s emails in your own voice and whether a small shop needs a loyalty scheme.
Questions people ask about popups and banners
Do popups hurt SEO?
They can, on mobile, when they cover the content a visitor came for from a search result. Since January 2017, Google says, such pages may not rank as highly. Cookie banners, age gates and small dismissible banners are not the target.
How often should a popup show to the same visitor?
Once per session for a running offer and once ever for a welcome message is the usual balance. Vendor data shows conversion falling sharply by the sixth view, so showing it every visit adds annoyance and little else.
Can I collect email addresses with a popup in the UK?
Yes, if it collects real consent: say what the person will receive, make the sign-up a positive action such as an unticked box or a button, link your privacy notice and keep a record of who consented and when. The soft opt-in covers only people who have bought from you or negotiated to buy, so a popup aimed at new visitors cannot rely on it.
Should the popup wait for the cookie banner?
Yes. The cookie banner does a legal job and the popup is marketing, so the banner goes first and on its own. Give the popup a delay long enough for the banner to be answered, and never show both on one phone screen.
Can a popup say “only 2 left” or show a countdown?
Only if it is true. Since 6 April 2025, falsely stating that an offer is available for a limited time to force a quick decision has been a banned practice; the CMA gives a restarting countdown as its example, and treats a be-quick message shown while stock is high as deceptive. Drive stock lines from real stock and give offers a genuine end date.
The 14-day free trial, no card required, includes the page builder, popups, banners, campaigns and the consent banner.