We all went through popups when you first visited the website and told you that they used cookies and asked you to allow tracking them. That’s a cookie banner.
People are already angry. Let’s not be more angry with annoying cookie banners that won’t let them refuse. A cookie banner that doesn’t annoy visitors:
- Short paragraphs explain why you collect cookies
- Agree button on banner
- The specific color of each agree button
- Link to your cookie policy
- Popup immediately
Short paragraphs explain why you collect cookies
First, you need to include a short paragraph explaining why cookies are collected. Honestly, most people don’t read this part, so that’s why I say it’s short and simple.
Tell visitors that you use cookies, the cookies you use, why they are used and how to agree or exit them. However, try to interpret it in a way that allows visitors to share data for a better chance of accepting all cookies.
For example:
“(Our website) uses cookies (necessary, marketing, functionality, performance) to give you a feeling like our website is made specifically for you. Use the buttons below to select in and out cookies. You can read more about our Cookie Policy here.”
You can add brand personality if you like. But again, this is not really a necessity because most people use the consent button directly because they experience cookie banners on other sites and know what is going on.
So you only need short paragraphs.
Link to your cookie policy
Links to website cookie policies are often lost on cookie banners. Some people don’t even have it. But you need it. Despite what you might think of, some people want to learn more about your work on cookies. These people will notice that it is not there and call you out.
You can clearly see that the cookie policy is highlighted and linked in the cookie banner of Proceesource.
Whether you have an independent cookie policy or people can learn about your use of cookies in the privacy policy, you can link to it in the initial paragraph of the cookie banner.
Agree button on banner
I despise those cookie banners that let me go to another pop-up or screen for a consent button. Or, those who only have “Accept All” and “Select My Preferences” and do not show an exit button.
Ultimately, I don’t want to go to another page or pop-up to get the cookie banner out of my screen, nor does your visitors. Show all buttons on the first level of the cookie banner. And make it as easy to choose.
This from Pandectes is simple, but the job is done.
You can easily accept or reject cookies. You can also click on “View Preferences”, get a quick list of cookies used, and select the cookies you want.
I prefer this cookie scripts because they highlight preferences and give you the option to accept or reject all. It provides users with greater flexibility without getting them to another screen or popups.
I highly recommend using format cookie scripts. However, if you don’t want to do this, include three buttons in the announcement:
- “Receive only necessary cookies”
- “Reject all cookies”
- “Choose my preferences”
Most people usually agree with all cookies, or simply disagree. So even chopping it to both options is only OK.
This is not enough to talk about, but rather to the right words on the closest button. It brings good feelings to people rather than bad emotions. For example, use “Accept only necessary cookies” instead of “Reject non-essential cookies”. Even if all cookies are denied, “decline” is more polite and brighter than “decline”.
The specific color of each agree button
The website is almost up to you being frustrated and want to click the first button that can get rid of the cookie banner. So they put “accept all” on the top of the list and/or make it seem like the only option to take advantage of frustration.
Come and discover that this gives you much more visitors than you would expect. Many of them would rather reject the cookies, but they just couldn’t find the button.
Rather than trying to have your visitors pair one, use the color to highlight your button. Yes, even the “Reject All” button. Just somehow still point them to the buttons you really want them to choose, just like Drip is here.
The accept button is bright pink and gets your attention first. The fading button is the opposite color scheme, the button is white and the word is bright pink. It still stands out and distinguishes itself from the accept button. Visitors clearly see their choice, and that’s what you want.
Make sure the cookie banner pops up immediately
This is not exactly about the cookie banner with your placement on it, but a very important design element. Your cookie banner should pop up immediately.
People don’t have to look for it. They don’t have to wait for some cheeky animations that don’t have to interact with before ingesting content.
I think the cookie banner pops up immediately, only when it’s a modal it’s one of the popups that take over the middle of the screen and disable all other page content until you interact with it.
Even if they don’t want to interact with your cookie banner immediately, people can still enjoy the content that initially hides the banner in the bottom corner of the page.
If they want to stay there, that might be a good thing for you, as it is a constant reminder that they need to make a decision. This is annoying because who wants to continue seeing the banner from the corner of his eyes?
However, visitors are given the option to “x” or temporarily hide from cookie banners.
What is the best place to have a cookie banner?
Where the cookie banner is placed can affect visitors to some extent interact with it. I found that I personally noticed and interacted more with the cookie banners in the lower left or lower right corner. and others who have studied cookie banners tend to agree.
Many sites have chatbots in the lower right corner, so their cookie banners end up in the lower left corner.
Again, I won’t use modals or popups in the middle of the screen. I wouldn’t put the banner on the top of the screen, either, as it’s easy to ignore. Stick to the lower left or lower right corner.
Do you really need a cookie banner?
Cookie banners are absolutely required if you collect and process personal data in any way or track your website visitors in a cookie way. If you use cookies, whether you are a third party, you need a cookie banner.
People’s personal data is protected by law and much of the data you collect using cookies is personal. Therefore, cookie policies and banners ensure that you are protected and respect the basic privacy of your visitors.
What are the consequences of not having a cookie banner?
First, if you collect data and use cookies without consent, then people will be very frustrated when they find you do this behind the scenes. They will at least stop supporting your website, but they can also file a lawsuit.
Also, even worse, you will have legal trouble. As mentioned above, people’s personal data is protected by law. And, you have to tell them why you do what you want to do when you collect it and agree to collect it. If you don’t do this, the consequences are legal and reputational losses, fines, and possible closures of your website or business.
If you don’t have a cookie banner, you cannot collect data that is very important to marketing and improve the overall user experience.
Are cookie banners required by law?
Something we have General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
It doesn’t specifically talk about cookies or owning cookie banners, but it does protect data that is considered personal information and managed under the law, such as IP addresses, locations, names and user IDs. Data is usually tracked by cookies.
Using this data, you must collect valid consent before collecting and processing it. Therefore, GDPR takes over whether the biscuit method is or not.
The European Union (EU) owns the European eprivacy directive (also known as “cookie law”) in which you must collect informed cookies and other tracking technologies, which means that the website must only notify users of using cookies before setting them.
Will cookie banners affect SEO?
Your cookie banner does not directly affect search engine optimization (SEO). Search engines do not crawl and rank. However, if you think about it, it may indirectly affect your SEO strategy.
For example, annoying cookie banners can have a negative impact on the user experience. When users don’t have a good user experience, they stop visiting your website. This affects the traffic and engagement you get, and these things do affect SEO.
In addition, cookies help you collect important information to improve content on your website. When your content gets better, more people get involved and you can improve your ranking in search engine page results (SERP).
