Are Modals Bad for SEO? A Simple Answer to a Complicated Question

Are modals bad for SEO? This apparently simple question doesn’t have a one-word answer.  

In SEO, modals mean interactive pop-up windows that appear atop content to attract the attention of the user. It is a marketing trick.

But do these modals harm SEO? Let’s find out in this Innocams blog post.

What are Modals

Modals are pop-up windows that deactivates other page content. You need to manually close them to get back to what you were viewing before it popped up. 

Now the question is do modals have any effect on SEO? Do they help SEO or detract from it? Search engines do crawl and index modals, but they often derank sites that contain them. 

It all depends on the user experience. If your modals annoy people, you’re a goner. if they don’t, you will be ticking. 

Modals: The Technique

To create a modal, you’ll use HTML for basic structure, CSS for design, and JavaScript for user interaction. Then you’ll embed it in the page’s main code so search engines can crawl and index it. 

Types of Modals

There are many types of modals. Some of them are listed below.

1. Modals for Promotion

These modals pop up to highlight some special offers or discounts.

2. Modals for Information

When clicked, these modals provide additional information about a product or service.

3. Modals for Subscription

These modals encourage users to subscribe to newsletters or updates etc.

4. Modals for Contacting

These modals pop up when users click on the ‘contact us’ button. 

What is SEO?

Before I answer the question, are modals bad for SEO, let us clarify our understanding of SEO first.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising web pages for search engines so they can position themselves higher than their competitors in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

If your pages sit higher than your competitors, people will notice you first (visibility) and click on you first. That’s why companies are ready to give their eyeteeth for high SERP ranking.

There are many components in SEO. But all ultimately revolves around what Google terms as ‘people first’. The user experience. If your SEO can please me, it is good SEO, if it can’t, it is bad–even if it is the first listing on the first SERP.

Benefits of Modals

If your modals don’t harm this user experience, it can yield the following benefits:

Improved Lead Generation

A well-timed modal may encourage users to respond to calls to action like subscribing to newsletters or downloading content.

These actions generate qualified leads, which is an SEO success as they reveal user engagement and interest in the website those popups appear on.

Better User Experience

Are modals bad for SEO? One answer to this question can be a clear no. Because if properly used in a well-designed page, modals may improve user experience as they either provide valuable information or help users navigate a site better. 

Tailored Customer Delivery

Modals are sometimes created based on user behaviour. They are customised and can be strongly relevant, which may improve user experience too. They may also increase users’ session time on a site’s pages.

Enhanced Content Visibility

Modals can highlight important offers or discounts, which users may miss on the main pages. Thus modals can increase the visibility of content on a site’s pages.

Examples of Good Modals

Here are a few examples of positive use of modals that can significantly improve the user experience.

1. Add-to-Cart Confirmation

These modals ask users to confirm products added to their cart while shopping online before checking out of the site. They offer extra time to users to make up their minds before making purchases.

2. Welcome Popup Modals

A well-timed modal offering the first time visitor a welcome note or some discount or freebies may increase a site’s ability to attract and engage its users. 

3. Modals Offering Extra Content

An exit-time modal that offers users free downloadable content or some other additional content may please users and improve a site’s user experience and engagement.

Are Modals Bad for SEO?

Though well-timed and well-designed modals may improve a site’s ability to attract and engage users, improper use of them may severely disrupt navigation and dangerously increase bounce rate.

In that case, modals are very bad for SEO. If they are used purely for marketing purposes, without caring what they do to the users, modals detract from brand value, irritate the users away and decrease a site’s search engine rankability.

Are modals bad for SEO? We will now discuss this aspect of modals.

SEO-Unfriendly Modals: Disrupts Navigation

If the modals take up a significant portion of the page and obstruct users from getting to the main content, it may irritate users away from the site–most times, for good. 

This negative user experience seriously harms a site’s reputation and increases bounce rate, leading to poor SEO performance.

SEO-Unfriendly Modal: Slows Response Time

Poorly optimised or very large modals may slow down the page loading time. Page loading time is a crucial SEO metric for search engines. If a modal slows down a page’s response time, search engines may derank the site.

SEO-Unfriendly Modal: Increases Bounce Rate

Answers to the question are modals bad for SEO must include modals’ ability to increase bounce rate. 

If users are irritated by poorly-timed modals that intrude on their navigation, they may leave the site fast. A high bounce rate is completely contradictory to effective SEO and push sites that carry such modals down in the SERPs.

SEO-Unfriendly Modal: Disrupts Mobile Surfing

Search engines, especially Google, are sharply focused on improving search results on mobile devices. If modals harm users’ mobile experience, sites carrying them may get low ranks in search results as a penalty. 

How to Create SEO-Friendly Modals

If properly and judiciously used, modals can help a site rank higher in the SERPs by improving the site’s user experience. Here’s how to create modals that can positively impact SEO campaigns.

1. Embed in the Main Code

Embed the modal’s content in the main HTML code of a page so search engine crawlers can access it. Do not load them on a page separately.

2. Use Them Sparingly

This is the first principle. Use modals only when they are essential to increase your site’s user experience. Too many modals popping up on every page will surely drive users away from your pages. 

3. Clear Call-to-Action

Make sure users can easily open a modal and clearly understand the purpose it will serve. Use prominent buttons with a clear direction to open it. 

4. Use Relevant Modals Only

Modals should align well with the content on pages they pop up. Relevant useful modals will improve user experience which will help your SEO campaign.

5. Users Can Close Them Easily

Give a prominent closing button on your modals so if the users don’t like them they can easily close them. Ramming modals down the users’ throats is a strict SEO no-no. 

6. Slow Down Appearance

Modals should come only after the users get used to the main content on a web page. Delay their appearance so the users can satisfy their search intent to some extent. 

Don’t shower them on your users right from the word go. This may irritate them away. Remember, users visit your pages for their content, not for modals.

7. Optimise Response Time

Make your modals light and optimise them so they can’t slow down the page loading time. Page loading time is a serious ranking metric for search engines. 

If your modals slow down your pages’ response time, you don’t have to ask are modals bad for SEO. You will know the answer when your pages will rank on the 50th SERP, if they appear at all.

8. Mobile Device Compatibility

Create modals that are compatible with mobile devices and users can easily interact with them. Google is very strict about this.

Conclusion

Are modals bad for SEO? To find out simple answers to this tricky SEO question we’ve learned that light, useful and relevant modals have a positive impact on SEO campaigns. 

On the other hand, large and intrusive modals may harm user experience, increase bounce rate and lower the SERP ranking of websites.

Ideal SEO-friendly modals are compatible with mobile devices, aligned with users’ search intent and carry useful content. 

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