Referral Source Targeting: Custom Popups Based on Traffic Source Now

Most websites show the same popup to everyone.

Doesn’t matter if the visitor came from a Google ad, a partner blog, or a random social media post.

It’s the same message, same offer, same timing.

That’s a wasted opportunity.

If you know where a visitor came from, you can speak to them differently. You can show a more relevant message. You can use their intent, their context, and their expectations to actually get them to act.

That’s referral source targeting.

And it’s one of the most practical ways to increase conversions without doing anything flashy.

Let’s break this down in a way that actually makes sense.

What is Referral Source Targeting?

Referral source targeting means showing different popups to people based on where they came from.

Simple.

• If someone clicks a Facebook ad, you show them one thing.
• If they come from your email campaign, you show them another.
• If they clicked a link in a blog post that reviewed your product, maybe you don’t show a popup at all—or you show something short and direct.

That’s all referral source targeting is: detect where the visitor came from, and customize what they see.

You don’t need a giant tech stack to do this. You just need your popup tool to support referral rules.

Why Bother?

Because context matters.

Let’s say someone comes to your website after reading a review of your product. They already know a little about you. They’re warm traffic. You don’t need to show them a “What is [product]?” popup. That’s a waste.

Instead, you can show a discount code. Or a trial signup. Or nothing—because maybe that visitor just wants to get to the product page.

Now compare that to someone coming from a paid Google search for a generic problem. They don’t know who you are yet. You do need to give them context. That’s where a more explanatory popup works.

Referral source targeting gives you this flexibility.

It’s not about doing something clever. It’s about not doing something dumb.

How to Customize Popups Based on Traffic Source

Let’s get into the actual how.

1. Start with Your Traffic Sources

You need to know where people are coming from.

Look at your analytics. Are they coming from:

• Google Search?
  
• Paid search (Google Ads)?
  
• Social media ads (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.)?
  
• Email newsletters?
  
• Affiliate blog posts?
  
• A partner website?
  
• Review platforms like G2 or Capterra?
  

Group these into buckets. The more consistent the behavior within a group, the easier it is to customize popup based on traffic source.

Don’t over-segment. You don’t need 25 variations. Start with 3 to 5.

2. Define the Intent Behind Each Source

Now ask yourself: what does a visitor from each source want?

• Someone from a Google search probably has a question or a problem.
  
• Someone from a review site might be comparison-shopping.
  
• Someone from your email already knows you. They’re closer to acting.
  
• Someone from a Facebook ad might be totally cold, just curious.
  

You don’t need to guess perfectly. You just need to be roughly right.

Referral source targeting is about direction, not precision.

Do read our guide on Customer Journey Map – A Complete Guide to Help You Create Yours

3. Build Rules Into Your Popup Tool

Most popup tools let you create rules based on the referring URL or UTM parameters.

You can set conditions like:

• “If the referrer contains facebook.com, show this popup.”
  
• “If the UTM source = newsletter, show that popup.”
  
• “If the referrer contains capterra.com, show this specific review-focused popup.”
  

That’s how you customize popup based on traffic source.

Some tools also let you group these rules so you can reuse them across popups. That helps if you’re managing a bunch of campaigns.

4. Match the Message to the Source

Now for the hard part: writing the actual popup.

Here’s what you need to do for each traffic source group:

A. Cold Traffic (e.g. Paid Search, Social Ads)

• Keep it simple.
  
• Don’t assume they know you.
  
• Use pain-point language.
  
• Avoid friction (no multi-step forms).
  

Example:
“Struggling with [problem]? Get our free guide—no signup needed.”

B. Warm Traffic (e.g. Email, Affiliate Blog)

• You can be more direct.
  
• Offer a deal or ask for action.
  
• Skip the intro stuff.
  

Example:
“Ready to try [product]? Here’s 15% off for readers of [blog].”

C. Review Platform Traffic (e.g. G2, Capterra)

Image by freepik

• Assume high intent.
  
• Show social proof.
  
• Push trials, not education.
  

Example:
“See why 5,000+ companies picked us. Start your free trial.”

Referral source targeting makes this kind of message alignment possible. It’s what makes the difference between a popup that’s ignored and one that actually converts.

Where Most People Get This Wrong

Let’s be honest. Referral source targeting sounds easy, but a lot of people mess it up.

Here’s where it goes sideways:

1. Too Many Variations

You don’t need 14 different popups. If it feels like a full-time job to manage your popup rules, you’re doing too much.

Start with 3–5 key traffic sources. That’s enough to see a lift in conversions without drowning in micro-campaigns.

2. Popups That Assume Too Much

Just because someone came from a review site doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy. Just because someone clicked a social ad doesn’t mean they’re clueless.

Write popups that make sense, but don’t go overboard with assumptions.

Referral source targeting should guide your message, not dictate it.

3. Forgetting Mobile Visitors

This happens a lot.

You build a perfect referral-based popup for desktop and forget to test how it looks on a phone.

Then your mobile bounce rate spikes.

Every time you customize popup based on traffic source, test it on mobile too.

No exceptions.

What About Landing Pages?

Some people ask: can’t I just build separate landing pages for each traffic source?

You can. And for big campaigns, you should.

But popups are lighter, faster to deploy, and easier to test.

Landing pages take more time. More coordination. More risk.

Referral source targeting with popups is the quicker play.

You can do it in an afternoon. You can test it next week. You don’t need design or dev. And if it doesn’t work, you just turn it off.

Low risk, high reward.

How to Measure If It’s Working

Here’s how to know if your referral source targeting is actually helping.

Track these things:

• Popup view rate (per traffic source)
  
• Conversion rate (per popup variant)
  
• Bounce rate (on pages where the popup runs)
  
• Time on page (after the popup triggers)
  

If you customize popup based on traffic source and the conversion rate goes up, great.

If bounce rate goes down, even better.

If nothing changes, maybe the popup copy needs work. Or maybe that source wasn’t worth targeting in the first place.

This is the part where most people quit. They test something once, don’t see results, and move on.

But like anything else, it takes iteration.

Run it for 2 weeks. Check the data. Adjust. Repeat.

You’ll figure out what works if you stick with it.

A Few Real-World Scenarios

To make this less abstract, here are a few ways you might use referral source targeting in practice:

Scenario 1: SaaS Product with G2 Reviews

• Visitor comes from G2.
  
• You show a popup: “Compare plans + 14-day free trial—no credit card.”
  
• You skip the feature rundown. They already read that.
  

Scenario 2: Shopify Store with Instagram Ads

• Visitor clicks through an Instagram ad.
  
• Popup says: “New here? Get 10% off your first order.”
  
• You don’t ask for too much. Just a simple email opt-in.
  

Scenario 3: Affiliate Blog Partnership

• Visitor comes from a blog post reviewing your product.
  
• You detect the referrer.
  
• Popup says: “Thanks for visiting from [Blog Name]! Here’s 15% off.”
  

Simple, clean, personalized. No fancy tech. Just using context well.

That’s what referral source targeting is really about.

When You Shouldn’t Use This

Yes, there are times when referral source targeting doesn’t help.

• If your traffic is mostly direct or untrackable.
  
• If your popups are already hyper-specific per page.
  
• If your offer is universal and doesn’t need personalization.
  
• If you don’t have enough volume per source to justify different popups.
  

In those cases, keep it simple. Don’t add layers just to feel advanced.

Referral source targeting is for when you do have distinct traffic types and you can say something more relevant.

If that’s not you, skip it for now.

Wrapping This Up

You don’t need AI, personalization engines, or behavioral models to improve your popups.

You just need to stop showing the same thing to everyone.

Referral source targeting is basic. And that’s why it works.

It’s not new. It’s not fancy. But it’s one of the most honest, practical ways to make your popups more useful—and less annoying.

If someone clicks a specific link to get to your site, respect that. Show them something that makes sense.

That’s it.

Let me know if you want a version of this turned into a downloadable checklist or embedded doc.