Pop-ups. They're annoying and you wonder why anyone would use them. You see them a lot when you enter many commercial sites. Heck, even I use them now after telling myself I wouldn't. If everybody hates them, what's the point?

The point is that they work.

The fact pop-ups are annoying and impossible to ignore sells things. It also gets sign-ups, generates leads, causes clicks, or any number of other things that make site owners money, so long as it will fit in the mini-window. I use them to generate RSS feed syndication or newsletter sign-ups. In fact, most of the ones that I've ever seen are used to capture eMail addresses for opt-in eMail marketing such as newsletters.

So, if you want to use a pop-up window, how do you get the most out of it? Here are a few tips:

• Use a DHTML window. These types of pop-ups are part of the existing page, which means they can't be stopped by a pop-up blocker. Traditional pop-up windows are becoming all but useless as pop-up blockers are commonplace now.
• Make it attractive: Your pop-up window has to be more than just an annoyance. Take the time to make your pop-up window attractive. A single ad or a short description with a simple, small form combined with a nice layout should do. I've seen pop-ups that look as though they were thrown together without any thought at all, and the first thing I thought was 'This site is trash'. If you don't want your visitors thinking this about you, take a little time to insure your pop-ups look clean and well-organized.
• Don't spam: Don't spam pop-ups every time a visitor changes pages. Make it the first thing a person sees when they enter your site, then limit it's appearance with a cookie setter so that it only triggers once per some event. Some common events are once per user session (pop-up on visitor arrival, then not again until they leave and come back), or once per day (like mine). This keeps your windows effective without making them so annoying your visitors leave and never come back.

In the end, remember not to treat your pop-ups like mudslinging. They have more of a purpose than to be thrown mindlessly at visitors in the hope something sticks. Take a little time to make a nice pop-up and trigger it sparingly, and they'll effectively sell for you too.