Website features have come on leaps and bounds over recent years, allowing businesses and their website visitors to do much more online. In this post, we’ll discuss some of the best new website features you probably should be using and provide guidance on how to choose which website features you should add.

If you want to add any of the features discussed below to your website, don’t hesitate to contact WEBPRO for a quote.

Live chat feature

A live chat feature is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) program that allows website visitors to ask questions to a virtual customer service agent. The website visitor will be able to ask questions through the online chat feature and get immediate answers to their questions. The AI system works by recognising certain phrases with a high degree of accuracy.

The live chat feature could even provide the visitor with a link to one of your other web pages for more information or capture contact information for staff to call back. The main benefit of a live chat feature is that it provides leads with instant information to inform their decision to enquire or buy. But there are several other benefits, such as:

• It reduces low-quality leads asking the same questions to your staff which saves on valuable business hours 
• It helps identify information not currently on your website which needs to be added 
• It keeps website visitors on your website for longer, especially if they follow links provided to your other web pages, therefore, it reduces your website bounce rate

A website blog

A blog can be a fantastic website investment which could offer great returns when done right. By publishing content on relevant topics that your target market is searching, you can attract more website visitors and increase the potential to make more sales. This is more likely if your content is SEO optimised with SEO keyphrases, and if the content includes links to your service or product pages.

The overarching aim of your content should be to provide readers with valuable information. This should organically feed into increasing website visitors and warm leads. Blogs can also be repurposed within some digital marketing channels, such as email marketing newsletters and social media posts.

Appointment booking system

Businesses that provide a service which requires a consultation or appointment will benefit from an online website booking system. By adding a booking system to your website, you can take on appointments at times and days available to you, while blocking out those that are not available.

Automating your appointment booking through your website will save staff valuable time, and it will rule out the possibility of human error when making bookings. These features can even be linked with calendars through API integration, so staff are automatically updated about a new or last-minute booking.

Interactive features

A wide range of interactive features can be added to a website, but these features are often industry dependent. WEBPRO serves many clients in the financial services industry, which is why we often add interactive features like online calculators. These calculators are a big hit because they can provide key information to website visitors on things like mortgage repayments, stamp duty and borrowing amounts. They provide value to the user and reduce website bounce rates.

How to choose website features

The website features discussed above are just a drop in the ocean. There are scores of new and innovative features coming available. This can make it difficult to choose the right ones for your website. The bottom line is that there should be a good reason for adding any new functionality. The feature should provide real value to the user. Don’t just add features because they’re available, this will crowd your website and may even slow it down, leading to a poor user experience.

Recap…

Some of the most valuable website features for visitors and businesses alike are live chat, a business blog, appointment booking systems and interactive features like online calculators. These features can increase conversions, reduce wasted business hours and mitigate bounce rates. But it’s important to choose features for a reason. Don’t just add website features because they’re available.

WEBPRO Knows

One study found that a live chat feature increased website conversion by an impressive 40%!