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When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

cucumbertown.com

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Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#11

Post by aj_ycombinator »

bsirkia wrote: post #8
aj_ycombinator wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the overlay became more effective. Saw 4-5x increase in sign up rate in some cohorts. It certainly gave a much higher sign-up rate than without any overlay. In fact, just trying a dismissable overhead banner was also not working as great as an overlay.

Ahh that's interesting. Was the overlay un-dismissible?

It was dismissible. The whole idea was not to take an approach where the content is locked down.

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#12

Post by Cherian »

billpg wrote: post #9

If there's no obvious "dismiss" button, I found you can sometimes right-click, select "Inspect Element" and when you think you've found the DIV, select the "Delete Node" option. (Firefox) Requires some HTML knowledge to pull off, alas.

The point is to show the banner/overlay precisely at the point when the system detects you like it.

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#13

Post by corobo »

Anecdotal data of course but If I'm still reading and something pops up over the content I either switch to iReader view (If it's good content) or close the tab faster than I can read the first sentence.

If I've not even had the chance to read anything when it pops up chances are anything on your domain is never being clicked again. If I came in via Google I click the little "Block " link on the way back for good measure

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#15

Post by jedbrown »

Population bias? It sounds like you currently have a sizeable population of anonymous users that evidently have found value in the site because they keep coming back. They are easy to convert now, but may have written the site off had you shown them the overlay on their first visit. Once you exhaust that population, you may get fwer conversions than before and fewer people using the site. How are you distinguishing the anonymous users that leave in disgust and vow never to come back? Are you sure you want to alienate such users up-front? I strongly prefer StackExchange's approach to Quora's.

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#16

Post by yaddayadda »

aj_ycombinator wrote: post #6
AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #2

If you show me an overlay like that, I hate you.

The post is all about how to reduce that same feeling. Convert hate to love, if possible. ;)

The sentiment from me is that any registration pop-up converts good feelings (good feelings that might have turned into love organically) into repulsive hate faster than I can close the tab or window.

The way to win me over is purely with content. I read HN for years without getting an account. Guess what, I came back day after day because of the content. Eventually I wanted to participate more actively, so I intentionally and with absolutely no prompting, registered.

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#17

Post by aaronem »

AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #2

If you show me an overlay like that, I hate you.

Yeah, no kidding. Animated garbage popping up as soon as I start scrolling, and a "Subscribe" popup before I can possibly have had a chance to evaluate whether or not I might like to be annoyed with emails about whatever it is the post is on about? Plonk!

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#18

Post by aaronem »

aj_ycombinator wrote: post #6
AlexanderDhoore wrote: post #2

If you show me an overlay like that, I hate you.

The post is all about how to reduce that same feeling. Convert hate to love, if possible. ;)

Why don't you start by not generating hate? An unimaginable, controversial suggestion, no doubt, but perhaps there's some slight value in it all the same.

Re: When to propose a relationship to your Anonymous Visitor

#20

Post by logicallee »

corobo wrote: post #13

Anecdotal data of course but If I'm still reading and something pops up over the content I either switch to iReader view (If it's good content) or close the tab faster than I can read the first sentence. If I've not even had the chance to read anything when it pops up chances are anything on your domain is never being clicked again. If I came in via Google I click the little "Block " link on the way back for good mea…

It's all fair though, because most content online has as much attention put into writing it as you are willing to put into accessing it. Your attitude is no different from an online "writer's": if it doesn't fall into their lap ready to be reposted with 1 single click, fuck it.

Seriously, I cannot fathom what content online is worth reading, but for which the 5 seconds you are cost to click an x is not worth investing. The level of entitlement you show here is bewildering. It is like you are fighting tooth and nail for junk content that is not worth anyone's time to any extent whatsoever. What a reader.

I, too, am annoyed by having to click an X. At the same time, it makes me smile: the content underneath is actually worth something, and took work on someone's part, to the extent that it's being monetized while remaining accessible for me. It's not going to be some two-sentence blogspam.

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