Make a Strong First Impression: 10 Benefits of an Interactive Website
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Click here to learn about the top 10 benefits of creating an interactive website your clients will love.
This 2019, experts estimate that 80% of U.S. Internet users will buy or pay for something online.
Now, consider that nine in every 10 U.S. adults now use the Internet. That means of the 248.52 million adults in the country, almost 199 million will spend money online.
And you know how much they’ll spend? Likely trillions, if you combine Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday spending. During the 2018 holiday season alone, experts estimated consumers spent $1 trillion.
So, wouldn’t it be awesome if they spend some of that on your products or services? With an interactive website, you can increase your odds of getting them too.
What exactly does it mean for a website to be interactive though? How can being interactive deliver a much stronger impression on customers?
Check out this list of the benefits of an interactive site, and you’ll have your answers!
Interactive Website 101
First, a brief background on what interactive web pages and websites are.
An interactive web page has built-in software designed to improve user engagement. These programs create a richer, more robust, and more fun experience for site visitors. An interactive website is a collection of interactive web pages.
Now, let’s explain that in layman’s terms.
Interactive websites give visitors options, rather than deciding for them. Let’s use a classroom setting as an example, with the site visitors being the students. The site itself may be interactive or not, depending on the kind of teacher.
Teachers who only keep talking are comparable to non-interactive web pages. They never ask questions or what their students think of the subject. In short, their lectures are boring, so their students tend to not listen and do other stuff instead.
Teachers who use visual aids, games, and ask questions are like interactive web pages. They make their lectures more engaging and interesting to their students. As such, their students are more likely to keep listening and motivated to learn more.
In websites, interactive features often include asking the visitor to perform an action. This can be pressing play, clicking “next”, “back”, or “enter”, sharing, voting, or playing a game. Commenting, sharing, answering polls, and using tools (like calculators) are also interactive.
So, how do all these translate to making a positive impression on your site visitors? Let’s break it down further.
1. More Engaging than Simple Text-Based Sites
If you check this website of FTX Wellness, the first thing you’ll see is a short video. It showcases the facility’s warm and welcoming lobby. But that’s not all — you can click next to see videos of the gym and the hallway.
That can make anyone, even non-gym-goers, impressed and interested right away. An interactive website design lets you use visuals that can be up to 43% more persuasive than simple text.
For a first impression, that’s a mighty big difference.
2. Extend a Visitor’s Attention Span
The first 10 to 20 seconds are the most crucial in keeping site visitors interested. If they can’t find anything of value within that time frame, they’ll bounce. If your website is plain and boring, your visitors may even leave before 10 seconds.
The addition of an interactive button, say “Enter” or “Shop Now”, can extend that attention span. Short but interesting and informative videos can extend it even longer. Either way, interactive features are key components of effective and creative lead generation.
3. Make Websites Easier to Navigate
People are all about convenience today, which is why they shop online in the first place. Think of the 92% of U.S. online shoppers who bought something off of Amazon. They choose that site because it’s convenient and has super easy ways to locate items for sale.
These two are essential features of an interactive website. Amazon’s navigable site lets you type in what you’re looking for and filter the results. You can search based on brand, price list, color, etc.
An easy-to-navigate site allows visitors to find what they want on your site right away. It’s key to improving your website’s user-friendliness. As a result, visitors will spend less time searching and more time shopping.
4. More Options Given, More Time Spent on the Site
Well-placed and varying menu options give site visitors a preview of what you have to offer. These also help make navigating your site easier.
Let’s say you have a small restaurant, but one that has breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus. You can make your website more interactive by categorizing these menus.
Instead of listing them together in one menu, why not separate them to make it easier for visitors? Let them know you’re open to serve their breakfast, lunch, and dinner needs. Use individual tabs or buttons for these three must-have meals.
What’s important is to show your site visitors they have options when it comes to your business. The sooner they know, the more time they likely will spend on your site.
5. Lower Bounce Rates
Animations, graphics, and responsive menus make interactive websites more interesting. The more engaging a website is, the more time visitors are likely to spend on it. That can then lower your site’s bounce rates.
6. Let Consumers Know You Care
An interactive site design can incorporate sections for leaving comments, reviews, or questions. They can be forms for submitting inquiries. By giving your site visitors these options, they’ll feel that you care about what they have to say.
7. Address Customer Concerns Faster
Chatbots and live chat on a website are other interactive web site elements. If a customer has a question, they can type it in these chat windows. Since it’s real-time, you or your staff can address the customer’s concerns faster.
8. Quick Concern Resolution
Interactive messaging software gives you more chances of boosting customer satisfaction. That’s if you respond as soon as you can to your customer’s chat messages, comments, or questions. Remember, no one likes to wait, especially people who are willing to spend money.
9. Get Valuable Customer Data
On-site forms, polls, or surveys also let you in on who’s visiting your website. You can even check which state or country they’re from. You’ll also learn what your website may be missing based on questions you get from visitors.
10. A Chance to Improve
You can and should use the customer feedback you get to further improve your site or business in general. Your customers will love you even more if they see that you pay attention to what they say.
Go Interactive Now
Today, it’s no longer a question of why, but more of when you should deploy an interactive website. With all the statistics and benefits we mentioned, you should already know that now is the best time to.
Ready to attract more clients and keep them interested in your products and services? Then ring us up now! We’ll be happy to learn what we can do to help your business
Recent Comments