Should a small business website use pop-ups?

Ascent Vision · Published October 21, 2026

Usually not, at least not one that appears as soon as a visitor lands. Nielsen Norman Group says decades of its user research show that people dislike pop-ups, which tend to appear at the wrong time and interrupt people during critical tasks. For a service visitor, that task is often a call or an inquiry. A visible phone number, an on-page form and a small, dismissible banner are gentler ways to ask.

What Nielsen Norman Group found

In a 2019 article, Nielsen Norman Group's Anna Kaley writes that decades of its user research show people dislike pop-ups and modals, and that most overlays appear at the wrong time and interrupt people during critical tasks. In one usability study, a participant who met several pop-ups in a row gave up the task and left with "a very bad impression of the organization".

The article says asking for an email address before a visitor has done anything annoys people, who may assume the site will send unwanted junk mail. Its examples come mostly from large companies' websites and apps, not from local service businesses.

How they can cost a service business inquiries

A visitor to a service site usually wants to do one thing: call, or send a short form. A pop-up that covers the phone number or the form is in the way of that step, and a visitor who leaves does not inquire. That is general reasoning, not a research finding. The related answer on phones includes a check for pop-ups that are hard to close on a small screen.

Google's guidance for site owners describes intrusive dialogs as page elements that "obstruct users' view of the content", and says interrupting people with them "may frustrate them and erode their trust in your website". It adds that they may lead to poor search performance.

What they suggest instead

Nielsen Norman Group says the answer to when pop-ups are acceptable is "sparingly", and suggests alternatives that keep the aim without blocking the page:

A thin banner that is easy to dismiss, instead of a newsletter pop-up on a page people came to read. Google likewise suggests banners that take up only a small fraction of the screen.
Waiting to ask for an email address until the visitor has done something, such as finished reading a post, then using a minimally intrusive overlay near a corner and offering something valuable in return.
For feedback, a permanent link in the footer, so people can respond when they choose instead of being interrupted.

Notices that a law may require

The article accepts a pop-up before the page loads only when a site is legally obliged to ask for consent to use cookies or to verify age, and for cookie notices it prefers an overlay at the bottom or side of the page that lets visitors keep using the rest of it. Whether one applies to your business is a question for a lawyer. This is a plain summary, not legal advice.

A simple setup for a service site

Put the phone number and the main button on the page itself. The related answer on what makes a good call to action covers the button.
Show nothing that covers the page when a visitor first arrives, apart from any notice a law requires. A chat widget can cover the page too, as the related answer on chatbots notes.
Open your site on your own phone to see what a first-time visitor sees, and check your lead sheet before and after any change.

Sources

Websites, upgraded or built

Most businesses do not need a new website. They need the one they have to load fast, say clearly what they do and ask the visitor to take one step.

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