February 8, 2010 by 7 Comments

How to Make Your Website Interactive – Top 10 Ways

Do you currently interact with your website visitors?
What are the ways to make your website interactive?
How can you keep visitors to stay longer on you site?

Several years ago websites didn’t involve much interaction with visitors. They simply visited the website read the information, purchased a product or subscribed then left. Nowadays visitors want more interaction. This is one of the reasons blogs became so popular. Large offline stores such as BestBuy, Macys etc are now using social media applications.

Top 10 ways to make your website interactive

1. Add a blog

A blog can easily be added to your current website by placing it in a sub domain or a subdirectory. Visitors can interact with your blog by leaving a comment, subscribing to RSS feeds or newsletter.

2. Forum

Forums enable visitors to ask questions and receive answers from people who have similar interests. Sometimes a conversation can start on a thread that continues for weeks. A forum can easily be added to your main site as a sub domain or in a subdirectory.

3. Chat

Chat windows are often seen on ecommerce sites to help the visitor to immediately engage with customer service without leaving the website.

4. Ezine or Newsletter

This helps establish long term relationships with your website visitors. If you offer valuable information by consistently sending out your ezine, weekly or biweekly your customers will get to know, like and trust you. They will be then be more open to your product recommendations.

5 Autoresponders

It’s a general rule that your customer needs to be contacted at least 7 times before they purchase your product. An autoresponder allows you to automatically send email messages every day or every few days. The beauty of this method is that you can set it and forget it.

6. Mini ecourse

Ecourses are like a small tutorial where you send a new lesson every few days using an autoresponder. By educating your customer over time they will be more inclined to purchase your products.

7. YouTube

Not all people like to read text online. Some are visual learners. Adding a video to your website enables visitors to listen and watch your content.

8. Podcast

A podcast is an MP3 file of your content that a person can download from your website. They can listen to it on their computer, download it to their ipod, listen to it in the car or while they’re exercising.

9. Twitter and Facebook

These 2 applications can easily be incorporated into your website so visitors are automatically added to them by clicking on the icons. Whenever you have new content visitors signed up for these sites get instantly notified.

10. Social bookmarking

Social bookmarking enables website visitors to save content to their favorites or recommend it to others. If your article is very popular you’ll experience a huge traffic surge. Add social bookmark icons to your website to make it easy for visitors to bookmark your content.

If you wish to generate more traffic, subscribers and/or make more sales add interactivity to your website by incorporating some of these 10 methods.

Related Articles
Top 7 Benefits of an Interactive Website
7 Factors Affecting Website Performance

Get an Interactive Website Designed
for your business by visiting
Maryland Website Design

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February 5, 2010 by 1 Comment

Interactive Website: Top 7 Benefits

People buy from people they know, like and trust. If you don’t invest in building relationships with your customers they are less likely to do business with you. For example would you hire a contractor recommended by your neighbor or use the phone book to find one? Obviously you would choose your neighbors recommendation because you trust them.

For most websites, people visit the website once or twice then leave. An interactive website enables you to build relationships with your visitors. Instead of only visiting your website once then leaving, you interact with your visitors several times.

Top 7 benefits of an interactive website

1. Build long term relationships

Business people know they need to contact a person several times before they purchase their products or services. It’s easier to sell products to people who have already bought something than finding a new customer. An interactive website enables you to start a conversation with your customer that develops into a relationship.

2. Branding

Every time a visitor interacts with your business online it builds your brand in their minds. For example if they interact with your business on your website, on Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, in your newsletter and with email, your brand will stand out from your competitors.

3. Become recognized as an expert

Expert status in your niche is gained when people interact with your website, social media applications and read your publications. You become known as the “go to” person in your niche.

4. Build backlinks naturally

If you offer great content and answer peoples’ questions they’ll refer your business to their friends who may then link to your website. Instead of artificially building backlinks you build them naturally by engaging your customers.

5. Increase search engine rankings

One of the most important factors that determine rankings is the number and quality of links you have pointing to your website. An interactive website encourages others to link their website to yours thus increasing your link popularity.

6. Attract web traffic

If your website doesn’t attract traffic your online business will die quickly. It’s the lifeblood of your website. An interactive website attracts and retains traffic because you’re communicating with them. By integrating social bookmarks, Twitter, RSS feeds, YouTube, etc on your website you create multiple methods of interaction and generate traffic from high traffic web properties.

7. Generate more sales

Making a sale is like dating someone. You wouldn’t marry a person that comes up to you and says “marry me.” Dating helps the person get to know, like, trust and eventually love you enough to marry you. You’ll generate more sales by interacting and building a relationship with your visitors.

If you don’t have an interactive website, begin by adding a blog, forum, e-course, or newsletter to it, plus create conversations in your niche using social media applications.

Get an Interactive Website Designed
for your business by visiting
Maryland Website Design

Filed Under: Web Design Tagged With: ,