When site-hopping on the Internet, I came across this problematic overlay on the MarketingProfs site:

Now, as far as overlays go, there’s nothing really wrong with this one. It’s definitely more original with its embedded video and offer to sign up for a trial.But the problem is that it was triggered almost immediately, thus blocking me from exploring the site.Insider members know that overlays can be a powerful conversion tool, especially for newsletter sign-ups. But, like most things in life, timing is everything.In our How-To report on overlays, we recommend timing your overlay to cue after 5 to 30 seconds. Alternatively, you can time it to cue after a certain number of page views. The best way to determine the timing of your overlay is to look at your analytics — how long or how many pages do site visitors view before they bounce out? Then cue your overlay to emerge well before the average exit point.If you have reason to believe that your readers will find an automatically-cued overlay to be far too intrusive, then you can program it to cue after site visitors click or hover over some part of your site, like a text link to Subscribe or a house ad for a trial.Do you use overlays? If so, have you run any tests to determine the optimal time to cue an overlay? If so, let us know in the comments section below!