5 Exit Popups that Will Stop Visitors from Abandoning Your Website and Convert Them into Customers

So, what's an exit popup?

An exit-intent popup is a modal window that's shown to website visitors right before they close the page.

If you’re wondering how websites “know” that a visitor is about to leave, the technology behind it is called exit intention recognition.

The app — Getsitecontrol in our case — tracks mouse movement and triggers the popup when a visitor's mouse is reaching the area for closing or changing browser tabs.

You've probably seen these popups many times. On eCommerce websites, they usually offer discounts or free shipping in exchange for an email address. On other websites, there might be incentives like free downloads or requests to leave feedback about your visit. Let’s take a look at 5 most popular exit popup examples and figure out why they work.

1. Offer an irresistible discount or free shipping

This one is a classic. As we all know good deals are tempting, and a discount code is a great incentive that can convince abandoning visitors to have another look at what you are offering. If you can’t provide a discount, free shipping, BOGO offers, and samples will be great alternatives.

For instance, you can add an exit-intent popup to the shopping cart and display a tempting offer to those who were going to leave without checking out. This way, you’ll be able to prevent shopping cart abandonment.

To create an exit popup like this one, select I want to promote content at the start screen of the Getsitecontrol dashboard, choose a template and adjust the copy. Then, use Targeting settings to trigger the popup by the exit intention.

And since you’re trying to convert those who were about to leave the website, make sure to:

• display a generous offer
• make it easy to apply
• use an attention-grabbing creative

To optimize the popup even further, you can A/B test various discount amounts and offers to choose the most efficient one.

2. Remind forgetful visitors to subscribe

Sometimes it’s more valuable to convert a visitor into a subscriber than to make a quick sale. It means you can continue communicating with your audience via their inboxes generating new website visits and recurrent conversions. And exit popups are a great way to help you with that.

Here is what happens. Some visitors will surely like your content but as it often happens – they’ll fail to subscribe, especially if you don’t have a prominent email opt-in form on a website. Now, asking your visitors to subscribe as soon as they open the site is not always a good idea. Give them some time to browse the website and ask them to join your email list just before they leave.

Getting people to sign up can be tricky. Make sure there is value for your potential subscribers and make it clear in the call to action.

To replicate the exit popup from above, select I want to collect email addresses on the start screen of Getsitecontrol, then use Targeting controls to set up the exit-intent trigger, and use the built-in Autoresponder feature to deliver the discount code.

3. Offer help to those who haven’t found a contact form

Sometimes website visitors leave without taking action because they haven’t found the answers to their questions, and they were too busy to look for your contact email.

Here are the signs it might be your case:

• Bounce rate in your Google Analytics reports is higher than you’d want it to be.

• Or visitors spend a decent amount of time on your website, but the conversion rate is way below your expectations.

Is it additional information your visitors crave? With exit-intent popups, you can address that and offer assistance. Right before one hits the close button, display a contact form to politely offer help and show your potential customers that you care.

To replicate this exit popup, create a website feedback popup using Getsitecontrol form builder and apply the exit-intent trigger via Targeting settings.

Some people prefer communicating via email, while others might want a callback request form. Depending on your business model, consider both options and split test the copy to see what your audience is more inclined to.

4. Promote free resources in exchange for an email right before they leave

We’ve already spoken about exit popups being a smart way to turn the abandoning visitors into email subscribers, and here is an additional idea. To make your subscription form more efficient, you can offer a lead magnet.

A lead magnet can be any valuable piece of content you’re willing to give for free in exchange for an email address. eBooks, cheat sheets, guides, toolkits, and resource lists are great lead magnet examples as long as your audience benefits from them. And they will surely bring you more sign-ups than a generic newsletter offer.

Use the Getsitecontrol email subscription form builder to replicate this popup. Then, apply the exit-intent trigger condition and add a link for downloading the lead magnet to the built-in Autoresponder. Once someone subscribes, they will receive a link to the promised content in the welcome email.

There is no need to spend much time and effort on creating a lengthy lead magnet. In fact, most people are more enticed by short bite-size portions of information they can consume fast and make use of immediately. Some of the best lead magnets are just one page long.

5. Run an exit survey to find out why they are leaving

You want to know why people are leaving your website, don’t you? And that’s a reasonable question you can simply ask them! Guesswork is annoying and often ends up being an unproductive way to spend time. So, add an exit popup that will prompt visitors to provide feedback before they leave.

You can make this survey short and simple, as illustrated above. Or, if you have basic ideas on why people might be leaving your website, you can include them as options to choose from. Keep in mind that most people have neither the time nor the desire to fill out a lengthy survey. We recommend making it short, sweet, and straight to the point.

Use the Getsitecontrol survey builder to create a website exit survey similar to the one above.

Now, what’s the best page to place it? The first most obvious option is to add an exit survey to your landing page, but you can go even smarter about it. Using your online analytics tool, find out which page on your website people drop out the most. Then place an exit survey there to find a roadblock to your marketing funnel.

Placing an exit popup on the most abandoned yet strategically important page will help you define the reason behind abandonment and increase conversion rate.

Wrapping up

Some say that exit popups (or even popups in general can be annoying. And of course, some website owners might not be getting impressive results with them. But chances are, it’s not the nature of a popup but rather its content. Because if done right, exit-intent popups just work. Besides, they are so easy to create and optimize, you’re not really losing much time or effort if you decide to try.

Think of it this way. If you’re about to leave a website that means you aren’t willing to spend any more time on it. So, when you see a popup that doesn’t bring any value, you’ll certainly consider it an annoying way to waste more of your time. However, if the popup contains something you can benefit from – say, a discount or useful content – you may reconsider the decision to leave a website. In other words, it all comes down to having a relevant value proposition and a clear call to action.

So, if you’re selling products or services online, consider offering a significant discount, free delivery, a demo, or a webinar on the exit popups. Blog owners should see great results with lead magnets offering unique valuable content. And of course, adding an exit-intent survey is a great way to find out the weak spots of your website.