How to increase Interactivity on your Website to build your Brand
A website is more than a symbol of the company brand
A website should do more than merely be a symbol of the company brand. It could also be optimised to increase sales and boost profits through more interactivity and engagement with your customers.
What is interactivity on a website? Interactivity on a website includes design elements which could be used by visitors to engage with the company with the click of a button. It makes the website more user-friendly and useful to the visitor who is actively seeking for information and at the same time builds your company brand. When you provide useful and engaging content, customer loyalty is established as the visitor will return. A visitor who cannot find the information he or she is looking for on your website, with no opportunity to enquire about the product or service, will search elsewhere and the sale could be lost forever.
Some ideas to increase interactivity on the business's website are:
- The most obvious is to include an email link on the website so that customers could communicate directly with your company. Web-based emails, however, might cause the visitor not to trust the company.
- Include a guest book where guests could leave comments about the website. Comments could assist your company to improve its website which could be beneficial in the long term.
- Text chat software would enable customers to chat with an agent of the company in real time should they need answers about a product or service.
- Social media platform buttons on the website could assist visitors to connect to your company’s social media representative who could provide instantaneous answers about the product(s) and/or service(s).
- A Frequently Asked Questions section on the website should include all possible questions and answers about your company’s product or service. This section should be updated frequently to make provision for more questions and answers.
- A video demonstrating the product or service could be useful to the visitor.
- Customers could also fill in a contact form. The company should, however, react within a reasonable time on any enquiries.
- The way in which products are displayed on the website could include elements of interactivity. A 3D Flip Book with all the relevant product information, for example, could engage the visitor while flipping through the products. This could be achieved with flip maker software and flash.
- A quick quiz could help the customer find the right product he or she is looking for.
- The visitor could sign up to receive updates about the company’s product or service in the form of a newsletter.
An interactive website adds value to the customer's experience provided that all the links are appropriate and easy to find.
More articles on best website design practices
- How to optimise your small business website for better credibility
Credibility of a small business’ website is crucial to increase customers’ trust to make a sale. - To create a mobile website in 2012 is a competitive advantage
To have a mobile version of a business website has become a competitive advantage. Businesses who do not invest in a mobile version of their sites might even fail to benefit from potential new customers.