Cookie banners and the first impression of your website

On many websites, the cookie banner is the first thing a visitor sees, and on a phone it can cover half of the first screen. That makes it part of your first impression, whether you like it or not. A banner that's large, pushy or hard to close makes a site look less trustworthy before the visitor has seen your offer.

What a banner does to your first screen

• It hides your message. On a phone, a large banner can cover the headline and the main button.
• It asks for a decision before anything else. The visitor has to deal with the banner before they can judge your page.
• It sets the tone. A banner that clearly steers people to "accept all" can feel manipulative, which works against trust.

Keep it small and fair

• Compact on a phone: a strip at the bottom of the screen, not a full-screen overlay.
• Short text: one or two sentences, with a link to more information.
• Equal buttons: "Accept" and "Reject" side by side, the same size and equally visible.
• Remember the choice, so returning visitors don't see it again on every page.

What regulators expect

In the EU, websites generally need consent before placing cookies that aren't strictly necessary, such as most tracking and advertising cookies. Regulators have also said how the banner should look:

• The Dutch data protection authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, asks websites to put the "reject" and "accept" buttons on the same layer, not to hide choices or make them less visible, and not to require extra clicks (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens: clear cookie banners).
• In January 2023, the European Data Protection Board adopted the report of its cookie banner taskforce. A vast majority of the authorities involved consider a banner that has an accept button but no reject option on any layer an infringement of the ePrivacy rules (EDPB report).

This page explains the design side and is not legal advice. Rules differ per country and per type of cookie; check what applies to your website.

Fewer cookies, smaller banner

The simplest way to keep the banner from taking over your first impression is to need it less. Some setups, like strictly necessary cookies or privacy-friendly analytics that don't track visitors, may not require consent at all, depending on the rules in your country. Fewer tracking cookies also means less to explain.

Check what visitors see first

Open your website in a private window on a phone and look at the first screen with the banner still open. Or use the free above the fold checker, which shows the first screen on a laptop and a phone the way a new visitor sees it, banner included.