Over the years, customer expectations  and web design principles have changed. The rise in the popularity of Web2.0 and social media have also raise the expectations of website visitors who expect a certain level of interactivity on any company’s website.

Interactive and media rich features including video, podcasts, comments or social interaction have become standard  on all professionally designed websites today. Many of these features are now built-in with blog or CMS (content management system) platforms.

A company’s website is it’s most effective marketing tool. Improving the interactivity of the website can help increase conversion rates and improve brand loyalty and recognition. In this article we take a look at ten easy to implement interactive features for your company’s website that you can benefit from.

Ten Effective Interactive Features For Your Website:

Newsletter Subscription

Collecting email addresses of potential customers is vital for direct marketing or sending newsletters. Most websites offer an automated system for subscribing or unsubscribing to their mailing list via their website. You can also take advantage of techniques to build your email list fast.

Comments

In addition to promoting the business, it is common for a company to offer a range of resources or articles of value to website visitors. A commenting feature on relevant sections of the website is effective way to interact with customers and encourage them to share their opinions. You can also take advantage of techniques to get more comments.

Latest Content or Recent Posts

A business today often has a website and blog. A list of recent blog posts can be used to promote the articles across the main website. A list of recent blog posts can be equally effective on a blog or website.

Google Map

Google Map can be used in many ways to improve a website. In its simplest form, it can be used to provide map and satellite views of your location. This can be particularly useful for retail businesses. Google map can also be used to develop advanced features for your website. It can be used to display data from a database. This provides limitless possibilities.

Real estate agents can display properties on the map or retail businesses can provide travel directions to their store. See example below

Calendars

Calendars are particularly useful for displaying events, availability for bookings or for entering date in a form. Dates are usually colour coded and link through to the detailed information page. Calendars are standard on many web based applications and booking forms.

Search Feature

Whether it is a product search or search for general information, the search feature on a website should be user-friendly yet offer the flexibility to refine or filter the search based on user’s requirement. Google also offers a custom search engine platform that can be adopted on any website that wishes to use Google’s powerful search platform to provide search feature for their website.

Similar or Related Articles

Although commonly found on blogs, this feature can be effective on any website. It is typically displayed at the bottom or side of the relevant pages of the website. This can improve navigation and usability of the website. It can also increase time spent on the website by encouraging users to read further.

RSS Feed

RSS is a commonly used format for sharing content on the web. By offering RSS feed of your website content, you make it readily accessible to millions of internet users who use feed reader applications to find information on the internet. It also makes it easier for users to subscribe to website updates by email. RSS feeds also make it easier for users to share content on other social media sites.

Social Bookmarking Feature

Social bookmarking and networking websites have taken the web design industry by storm. Social media can play a key role in promoting a website. Many websites today offer the ability for users to add a page using their favourite bookmarking or networking service.

 Most Popular or Recommended Content

A list of latest content from relevant sections of the website can improve the usability of the website.
E.g. List of the Latest Articles, News and Jobs can be displayed at the side of a website; similar to what is found on leading blogs and portals today. This offers better utilisation of space and adds interactivity.

Feedback Forms

Feedback forms have been present since the early days of web design. In spite of evolution in web design, feedback forms still offer an effective method to collect response form end users of the website. Use of on “radio buttons” or “check-boxes” can improve usability further.

Survey/Polls

Offering a survey or poll on website is another easy method to engage with customers. You can also write a post or report by analysing the responses. The questions can be selected as required. Most surveys also display current results alongside or when a user submits the form. Short polls on website or blogs have become popular since the web2.0 and the feature is standard in most CMS or blog platforms.

This article is written by K.Singh who is an Internet Consultant in London with over 8 years of experience. He is also the Director of a London based new media & web design company.