Using Interstitials Without Damaging SEO

You want to capture the all important lead information, but it doesn’t do much good if Google hates you for it. Is there a balance? Yes there is!
Google has recently declared that interstitials on mobile devices are  a no no. We all wore our sad faces for a few days, and then decided to persevere. But how? In SEO marketing, where there is a will, there is a team with their thinking caps on looking for a way.

What are Interstitials?

Let’s start with the basics. Interstitials are the full page ads that appear before you enter a website. For example, if you’ve ever visited Forbes, then you are familiar with their inspirational quote and message counting down until you enter the site.These are interstitials and typically include an ad, request for information, or form to fill out for more information. Interstitials, while somewhat intrusive, are a quick, painless way to capture lead information.
That is, unless you are looking for important information on your smartphone and you can’t find the tiny, impossible to touch correctly x, to close the ad. This is exactly why Google cried “No more interstitials on mobile devices!”

Google’s Decision

Our favorite search engine, and major decision maker for the internet, does the best it can to protect the user experience from annoying ads that make us crazy. But when businesses depend on this small interaction with website visitors, these sweeping decisions are sometimes detrimental.
So what did Google actually declare?
According to this blog post, “Google won’t just downrank your site because you try to acquire some email addresses of your visitors – they know you have to do that. Instead, they downrank you if you don’t do everything you can to not do this without hurting the user experience too much.”
Wait, what?
This means that Google will not send the harbingers of doom to your door if you ask for information. However, if you do not do your very best to promote a smooth user experience, then the harbingers will be on their way. You have been warned and after all it does make sense.
Simply put, don’t be a pain in your reader’s rears.
Google’s official announcement reads:

Pages that show intrusive interstitials provide a poorer experience to users than other pages where content is immediately accessible. This can be problematic on mobile devices where screens are often smaller. To improve the mobile search experience, after January 10, 2017, pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as highly.

You can read the full update on Google’s Official Webmaster Central Blog.

How To Not Be An Interstitial Pain In The Neck:

We can get started with a few dos and don’ts when creating interstitial ads that will not damage your SEO.
 
DO NOT create ads that cover the main page content.
DO place your ads in an unobtrusive location.
 
DO NOT create popups that stand alone and must be closed before viewing.
DO embed your ads for easy scrolling.
 
DO NOT create unprompted popups.
DO create interactive ads that can be triggered.
 
DO NOT place interstitials above the fold on mobile.
DO save the ad placement for the end when designing mobile interfaces.
Google provided this helpful image on what not to do to guide us on our path to healthy reader relationships:

Stay Informed

The take-away/moral of this story is to make sure that you put in the effort to stay current on Google’s decisions. These guidelines update often, and slacking off can destroy your hard earned rankings. Keep up with Google’s Webmaster Blog and anywhere else you find helpful SEO information.

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