The Complete Guide to Website Chat for Businesses

Offering a chat for business on your website is crucial in today’s modern era. Customers expect to communicate with your company quickly, and they want multiple options for doing so. They expect communication over email, phone, and live chat at a minimum. Most also prefer to talk over text and reach you via social media.

But how do you choose which website chat software to use? Before you can do that, you need a better understanding of website chat.

What is website chat?

Website chat is simply another way of referring to a live chat for a website. With website chat software, you can interact with your customers via your website. This is real-time support as opposed to mobile messaging with a delayed response. The fact that it is instant support is crucial.

On most websites, the live chat button appears in the lower right corner of the page. This is where each website visitor expects to see it. You can use live chat in many ways, including for general customer support. Use it to answer questions about your products or services or handle client issues.

You can also use your website chat to gather leads and contact information or to encourage clients to complete surveys.

Website chat for business in recent years

To help you understand why you should incorporate chat on website pages, consider some of the recent trends.

Recent statistics about website chat

The following statistics on live chat and website chat should encourage you to start looking into live chat software:

• Chat growth in some industries has increased 150 percent.
• Live chat is the leading method of digital contact for online clients.46 per cent prefer live chat. By comparison, 29 per cent prefer email and 16 per cent prefer social media.
• 38 per cent of customers have a higher chance of buying from your company if you offer support via live chat.
• 51 per cent of customers are more likely to become repeat customers if you offer support via webchat.

• 63 per cent of customers are more likely to revisit a website if it has a live chat.
• You get 4.5 times more value from a website visitor who engages with your business over live chat.

• The average order value increases by 10 per cent for customers who interact with webchat before buying.
• Watch Demo to see how live chat can benefit your business.

79 per cent of businesses that started using webchat saw boosts to customer loyalty, revenue, and sales.

The trend of chatbots – And why you want to skip it

Traditionally, website chat was staffed by real people, but now many websites use a chatbot. These are computer programs that can perform basic functions. They are most helpful in providing simple, automated answers. For example, they can tell customers your store hours when they enter a keyword like “hours.”

Using a chatbot can be efficient, but it can also hurt the customer experience. It also adds a cost and comes with some serious limitations. As such, many website chats will involve chatbots but not all will. Most companies will find having human customer support agents a better option. This is especially true when combined with live chat features like canned responses. Simply put, you get a positive live chat experience when you have real live chat agents instead of bots.

Webchat vs. live chat

Technically speaking, there is no significant difference between live chat and webchat. The two terms are typically used interchangeably.

The most important caveat is probably that webchat occurs on your website, while live chat can also be via other platforms. For example, it can technically refer to chatting in real-time over Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or another platform. By contrast, webchat has to start on your web page.

The word “start” is essential here. The best webchat platforms acknowledge that not everyone wants to talk via your web page. This simply isn’t mobile-friendly, and it won’t use a familiar interface for your clients. That is why Podium offers the ability to move your conversation from your webchat to texting. This lets customers use their preferred communication method. It also makes your webchat much easier to use from a mobile phone.

What to look for in a web or live chat software

Once you decide to start using live chat or webchat, you must choose your live chat software. There are dozens of solutions available, but not all are created equally. As you select the live chat platform to use, keep the following considerations in mind. They should help you choose the best live chat software.

Remember that while you can easily find a free live chat solution, it will only give you a basic live chat. You are unlikely to get any of these extra features from free chat software.

Branding

One of the first things to think about is what a website visitor will see when interacting with you via webchat. Ideally, they should see something that represents your company. That is why you want to look for live chat software that lets you incorporate at least some branding or customization.

Branding improves your company’s appearance of professionalism. It also helps with marketing by reinforcing your brand image. It also ensures there is a seamless customer experience, as the webchat’s appearance will complement or match that of your website as a whole. It is a simple yet handy live chat tool.

Don’t look for chatbots

It may be tempting to look for live chat software that includes chatbots or the ability to support them in the future. However, this is not necessary.

Remember that using chatbots will hurt the customer experience. You can get many of their benefits regarding efficiency and quick responses from other features, such as canned responses. Additionally, chatbots are prone to misunderstandings. Unless you pay for a high-quality one, website visitors will have to use very specific phrasing for them to work. This can make them frustrating to use.

Canned responses

As mentioned, canned responses allow you to enjoy some of the benefits of chatbots without actually using bots. What are canned responses? These are prewritten texts that can be automatically used in specific situations. For example, they can include answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) such as your business hours or location. They can also greet returning customers by name on your website.

Proactive chat and smart triggers

Proactive chat and smart triggers work together. Smart triggers are specific situations that trigger the launch of proactive chat. For instance, a smart trigger may be when a user spends a certain amount of time on your website. In this case, proactive chat could be a message asking if they need assistance in finding something. The proactive chat will appear in the chat window of the live chat widget.

Transcripts and history

All top-notch live chat software will include transcripts or a chat history of some sort. This is crucial for several reasons.

One of the most important reasons to have your chat history is to address customer claims regarding poor experiences or misrepresentations of products. If a customer claims that you said or did something in a webchat that you didn’t, the transcript will prove them wrong.

Remember that the best programs not only provide transcripts but also have well-organized and unlimited chat history. Think of this as another way to manage conversations and customer communication.

Conversation management

Depending on the size of your company, you may want live chat software that includes some form of conversation management. This is also known as chat routing. It involves the chat asking visitors to select a category, and then routing them to the appropriate person or department. This can significantly streamline the customer experience and save your team time, as they won’t have to handle unfamiliar tasks or transfer chats.

That being said, not all companies need this type of live chat feature. It will depend on your company’s size and products or services.

Third-party integrations

Your company likely already uses various software and technology, such as mobile apps. Make sure that your live chat will integrate with any of these programs that you use. For example, you want your webchat to integrate with your CRM to sync your customer data. This way, all your customer interactions are connected.

This is also the time to ensure that your chosen chat platform integrates with whatever website builder or e-commerce platform you use. Whether you use Squarespace, GoDaddy, WordPress, Shopify, or another platform, ensure your chosen chat software works with it.

Another useful integration for your live chat solution is Google Analytics. This will give you valuable insights via live chat session data. You can use it to better train your customer service teams.

Bonus feature: Talking over text

Some of the best live chat software will have additional features that set them apart from the crowd. One of these rare features is the ability to move the webchat to text. As mentioned earlier, this is important as it makes the chat more mobile-friendly and maximises the customer experience. While you don’t technically need this feature, it will make a significant difference, making it one of the live chat tools worth looking for.

Conclusion

Incorporating a live chat widget on your website will help you easily provide customer service and gather leads. This will help you boost your sales and improve customer loyalty. Look for platforms with the features you need, and you should be on your way to improved customer satisfaction.