How to create an exit intent popup: six steps, the trigger settings and how to keep it from annoying visitors

How to create an exit intent popup: the six steps

• Step 1, choose one offer: decide what a leaving visitor gets for an email address, such as a guide or a discount on the item they were viewing. Nielsen Norman Group advises offering something valuable and tangible in exchange for an email address.
• Step 2, install your tool: paste the embed code before the closing body tag or load it through Google Tag Manager, or add the Shopify app or WordPress plugin, then verify the site. This guide uses Popupsmart's help center as the worked example because its free plan allows one live popup.
• Step 3, build the popup: start from a template, keep the form to the email field and add a privacy policy checkbox if your tool offers one. Popupsmart's feature table lists one.
• Step 4, set the trigger: in Popupsmart, open Segment, choose Edit Segment, add user behavior targeting, add Exit Intent and pick low, medium or high sensitivity. The help center says medium works best for most cases.
• Step 5, limit it: set the display frequency, switch the popup on for mobile only if you want it there, and run one live popup at a time.
• Step 6, publish and check: save, publish, load a page in a private window and move the cursor toward the tab bar to test it. Then watch the analytics and leads views for a few weeks before changing the offer.

How exit intent is detected, and why mobile differs

On desktop, exit-intent detection watches mouse movement toward the edge of the browser window, and Popupsmart lets you choose low, medium or high sensitivity. Low needs the cursor very close to the close icon, and high fires on the slightest attempt to leave. On mobile there is no cursor, so the help center says the trigger reads fast upward scrolling instead, which is an approximation. The popup must also be switched on for mobile devices.

Treat exit intent as something to test, not a sure lift. Popupsmart's own 2026 benchmark post reports no statistically reliable advantage over popups without it, and says this means the gap could be chance, not that the trigger fails. It suggests an A/B test that changes only the trigger, so treat the first month as a test.

Before you launch: keep it from annoying visitors

• Timing: Nielsen Norman Group warns against popups before a visitor has done anything and against asking for an email address before interaction. Its better example is a small overlay near a corner after a visitor finishes reading.
• Count: show one popup at a time. The same research says stacked popups overwhelm visitors and make them close each one.
• Closing: make the close button obvious and stop showing the popup once a visitor has signed up. Popupsmart's builder preview shows a setting for that.

Keep it from hurting Google rankings

• Google's page on interstitials and dialogs, updated December 10, 2025, says intrusive ones obstruct the view of content and may lead to poor search performance, and tells sites not to obscure the entire page.
• It recommends banners that take up only a small fraction of the screen and says they can be reused for newsletter sign-up prompts. It gives no delay in seconds and no screen percentage.
• Google's August 23, 2016 announcement about mobile search lists a popup that covers the main content right after a visitor arrives from the results, or while they read, as making content less accessible. It says interstitials that respond to a legal obligation, such as cookie consent or age verification, are not affected when used responsibly. Neither Google page names exit intent.
• Layout shift: web.dev counts a shift when existing elements move, and lists 0.1 or less as a good value. An overlay on top of the page does not move other elements, but a bar that pushes content down can.

Which tools include exit intent, by plan

• Popupsmart: the vendor's pages say it is on every plan, the free one included.
• OptinMonster: its pricing page lists Exit Intent technology starting on the Pro plan.
• Popup Maker: its WordPress.org listing says the exit-intent trigger needs Popup Maker Pro.
• OptiMonk: its pricing page says there are no feature gates between plans, and lists exit-intent popups among its use cases.
• Privy: its pricing page lists exit intent popups among the features of its popups and displays plan.
• The shortlist compares eight tools, and what is Popupsmart explains the worked example.