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You've probably seen all those pop-up windows. You know, boxes that appear after you click on the Back button, or after you click on to a different site. There's a new twist in pop-ups, however, and it's known as Exit Grabber (ExitGrabber.com).

Exit Grabber makes a window appear before you even get the chance to hit the Back button. It's like it reads your mind. Or does it, really?

Traditional exit pop-ups react to your click. Sometimes, it's too late because once a person clicks on their mouse, the commitment to leave is already quite strong. But what if the window pops up before your visitor gets to type in a new URL? What if before they can even click on the red "x" button to close the browser tab, the pop-up suddenly appears in the middle of their browser?

Since your visitors haven't actually left your page, the commitment to leave hasn't quite formed yet. They get surprised, and eventually find themselves reading whatever it is you put in your last-chance, please-read-me-first window.

I don't know exactly how Exit Grabber does that, but I'm guessing it has something to do with detecting mouse events, particularly "Mousing Out of a Layer."

Yes, my friends, javascript can detect whether you've clicked your mouse or even as soon as you move your mouse.

So if the layer is your webpage, as soon as your visitors move their mouse out of that layer (e.g., they move towards the Back button, or URL address location bar, or the tab's x-close button), your script will detect it.

And once the movement is detected, the script will display that "Wait! Before You Go..." window.

All in all, it's an interesting twist on the old exit pop-up strategy. It might not necessarily bring in more traffic to your site, but it will help keep your visitors in your site longer.

As more site owners try this tactic, however, we can expect people to start ignoring that effect. In the meantime, experiment and see what it does to your site's traffic.

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Manuel Viloria is your friendly multimedia internet publishing coach who helps you gain more traffic for your web sites. Whether it's through blogging, podcasting, article marketing, videoblogging, email listbuilding, or even through Web 2.0 or social network marketing, you can increase your website visitors today. For more information, please visit Get More Traffic | ManuelViloria.com

"Exit Grabber: The Innovative Pop-Up"
First Posted: July 28, 2007 | Filed in: General