Visitor Interaction Web site Elements

The interactive elements of a web site might include the components that require back-end work, such as coding and database management. Examples of interactive elements include forums, chat rooms, product database/shopping carts, searching, or other advanced features.

Web Interactive Consulting can generate dynamic, interactive elements for your website, ranging from the commonplace to the most customized, complex features. These may be offered individually, or as part of our comprehensive internet strategy solution to generate long-term, measurable results for your business.

The following are a few examples of interactive features for a web site, and how they can benefit your business:

Forums/Message Boards

Forums serve a few different purposes, which can greatly contribute to the effectiveness of your web site.

• A forum gives visitors a friendly interface through which they can pose questions about your products and/or services. In many cases, visitors use forums to exchange testimonials about your company. If the testimonials are positive, a forum can be tremendously beneficial in establishing credibility.
• Second, message boards give visitors a good reason to come back to your site. When visitors become particularly involved in certain discussions, the chances that they will one day purchase your product or service significantly increase.
• Finally, message boards are an easy way to auto-generate an important component of Search Engine Optimization ( SEO): web content. As your visitors discuss issues related to your industry, many pages may be generated and indexed by the search engines—increasing your ranking for relevant key terms.

Online Request Forms

Online request forms are an excellent way to streamline the process of receiving feedback from visitors, as well as to gain valuable information such as a new customer. Using drop-down menus, required fields, radio buttons, etc, online request forms can aid in delivering you exactly the information you need, while filtering out extraneous data. The information can then be delivered, in a consistent format, to the appropriate parties.

Search Functionalities

Depending on the amount of information you have on your website, and whether or not you are making use of a database, you might want to integrate search functionality into your web site. A “search box” may operate much like a search engine, but only generates results internal to the site. Good examples of the effectiveness of search functionality can be found on the most successful commercial websites, including Amazon and EBay.

Database Logic

Logic refers to the programming elements of your website. Web Interactive Consulting, using languages including JavaScript, Macromedia Flash, and PHP, we are equipped to create virtually any custom application you desire. Whether it is custom search applications, back-end content management software, a secure user login or anything else—if you can imagine it, we can make it happen.

While some websites act only as an electronic version of a brochure, the sole purpose being to provoke a phone call or walk-in visit, other websites generate revenue directly through an online ordering, or e-commerce mechanism. This is just one scenario in which a database would be needed. Databases can be used to store information about various products and services in a dynamic fashion—making it easy for you to add, modify or delete product entries, as well as for the visitor to search through your offerings.

Databases, however, can serve many different purposes. If it is determined that a database could be useful for your web site, Web Interactive is equipped to set up and manage one for as long as our services are needed. Databases may be integrated into your website through programming scripts in limitless ways.

Process

Creating interactive features for a website comes in two styles, “out-of-the-box” and custom programming. Most out-of-the-box solutions do need to be tweaked, but a custom program is created from the ground up. Either way, Web Interactive can do both.

We have several interactive features that are easy to install and setup, we will just discuss if the functionality is right for you. If not, we will need to develop requirements and begin a project life-cycle, in order to have the end results you are looking for. A simple project includes requirements, writing the code or creating the program, testing, and fixing any problems before going live.

Pricing

From the process above, you should be able to tell, the cost depends on the many variables. It all comes down to how complex your visitor interactive features are. Some out of the box features are simple, quick and easy to install, while custom programming is a process. Call to discuss your needs.