A lot of posts on this blog mention live social chat as a great add-on to a variety of websites. Throughout these post I have argued that no matter what type of business you are in, you should strive to build a community around your products and services in order to create long-term brand loyalty and provide customers with reasons to come back and use your commodities over and over again. Facilitating two-way communication between you and your customers, as well as giving them tools to link with one another, is something that a chat can definitely help you with, that much has been established. Let us now take a closer look at some of the best live chat features you should explore when trying to upgrade your own website.
The odds are high that you have already used some live chat system as a client. Come to think of it, I do not reckon I would find too many examples of my peers, who do not know what it is or have not used one. Anyway, it is most likely that all you wanted to do is obtain some information. You were content with the way you had to sign in and type your messages.
At the end of the day, you did not have much choice, if you need answers to a number of shorter questions or just want to inquire about some topics in general, a live chat is usually a lot better way to communicate with a business than email.
What live chat features are a must-have?
Now, things get a little more complicated if you are the entrepreneur and you find yourself on the other side of this conversation. Suddenly, you have to think about making the point of contact for your clients as seamless as possible and more factors come into play.
Do not worry, though, installing a live chat widget is not rocket science and it will definitely be worth the minimal effort you have to put in to make it work. Let me break down for you a number of live chat features you should look for when trying to find the best solution for your business.
Oh yeah, and while you are at it, keep in mind the social aspect I have already mentioned a number of times and think about building a community around what you do. Sure, comments section or a forum is a nice start, but how about installing a live social chat that allows people to hold public and private conversations in real time? When you combine this with other features you will read about below, it should provide your website visitors with a fresh kind of experience that your direct competition might not have thought about yet.
Single Sign-On option
This live chat feature should prove to be pretty useful for both, site admins and chat users. An advanced live chat system ought to allow for integration of an existing user database with the chat itself, so that users can log in to your site once and be able to use all its features, including talking to other members in real time via the chat, using the account they have already created. Neat, huh?
Responsive design
Mobile technologies will only get bigger, despite the shrinking devices, at least up to a certain point, right? Well, unless you will be making a call using a piece of electronics implanted in your body, but that is another story.
Anyway, does anybody design websites anymore, that are not responsive? That is, able to adjust their size to the screen they are being viewed on. I think we all agree that the answer is ‘no’. The same goes for live social chats. People often choose to interact with others when they are on the go, for example during the work commute, using either smartphones or tablets.
Your chat platform should be able to work just as well when used on a mobile device. Do not settle for anything less.
Security measures
If you are running a respectable business, keeping certain social standards becomes a necessity. If you have a live chat widget installed on your website, you may come across a situation where you will have to moderate the ongoing conversation or even ban users who do not want to conform to certain rules. Putting a profanity filter in operation would be a good start too. Make theses live chat features are included in the software you are planning to use.
Various log-in methods
Not only the importance of mobile technologies, but also of social media, is growing. They are actually intertwined on a number of levels. People set up their profiles on different social platforms and many of them decide to continue using these when switching their virtual environments.
Make it possible for your users to log in using their Facebook, Twitter or Google+ accounts, so that they do not have to add another item to the ever-growing list of nicknames and passwords. That is one problem solved, my friend!
Modern looks
It is all about the inner part, right? Well, let us be honest here, that is not entirely true most of the times. Apart from being functional, your live chat platform should also look good. Your live chat features such include flat design, which is a bit minimalistic and clean-looking, and it would also be good if you could change the color of your chat, so that it matches the rest of the website, instead of being an eyesore.
You may have a lot of elements on your site, so make sure you do not have to stick to one side, but can place the widget left or right, or decide if you want to go with a smaller chatbox or a tab sitting at the bottom of a page.
Final remarks
And there you have it, top 5 features of a great live chat you should look for, when thinking about enhancing your website with new means of communication with clients and getting them more engaged in your business and building a community along with other users.
Let me know in the comments if you think there are other important features I have not mentioned in this post.
