Using overlay content on landing pages - possible? recommended?

[lh2712]

We want to use an overlay, like a modal dialog, in a landing page to show more information to support conversion without linking to another page or using popups. Anyone have any stats on success or risks? We've considered simple roll-overs to provide some more info, but everyone has raised alarms that we may be introducing a potential technical or usability hurdle for users.

The overlay would display when someone rolled over or clicked a "Learn More" link on the page to provide additional offer reinforcement points to drive the visitors from consideration to conversion. Aside from our own testing, we don't have any sources to cite as to whether this approach can or will impact or aid conversion.

Any insights would be appreciated.

[Dan-Petrovic]

We have implemented something similar in the past with no negative effects. Same deal with tabbed content. If this type of display is convenient for the user and not only served to search engines then you're within the search engine guidelines. Even if you do get in trouble (very unlikely) there is always a re-inclusion request in which you can explain things to Google.

One thing to keep in mind is Google's cloaking filter they've been writing about this recently as they start to compare what is displayed to them to what user would see. I cannot know exactly to what extent the site may vary in appearance with your overlay feature.

Visit: Google Webmaster Tools > Labs > Instant Previews

See the last paragraph in the attached image.

dejan-seo-preview.PNG