Why Your Website Should Have Live Chat

Your website serves as your digital storefront, so it should provide users with the same level of customer service you would provide in person. Live chat can help you facilitate a personal level of customer service and positive user experience by engaging customers with a live representative who can answer their questions, offer upsell opportunities, and provide real-time support.

Businesses in almost every industry can benefit from integrating live chat on their website. If you’re on the fence about whether you should include live chat on your website, consider the following.

Live Chat Personalizes the Browsing Experience

If you worked with an experienced web developer to build your website, then it should offer a smooth browsing experience and feature compelling copy that encourages users to keep reading. However, every user sees the same website with the same text on every page. Live chat offers a chance to customize your sales pitch and answer specific questions your potential customers may have, which may not be addressed on your website.

  • Answer Customer Questions in Real Time – Consumers don’t want to have to go out of their way to find information about your business. So, they aren’t likely to pick up the phone or even send an email when they have questions. And if they do take these steps, they may not get an answer fast enough to convert. Without live chat, users may click away to your competitors’ sites to find the answers they’re looking for. With live chat, you can engage users and provide them with helpful information in real-time.
  • Provide Personalized Product and Service Recommendations – Along with answering questions, live chat representatives can offer recommendations for different products and services, allowing you to upsell more site visitors or close the sale when customers are on the fence.
  • Offer Integrated Support – Live chat isn’t just helpful for prospective customers. It can provide a place for existing customers to find support without leaving your site. Offering an integrated customer service experience all in one place provides a better overall user experience that will keep customers coming back to your site. Live chat software is embedded into your site and functions with a non-intrusive widget in the same browser window.
  • Follow Up on Conversations – With live chat, you can collect user info that allows you to follow up for future conversations. For example, you can follow up with an email survey, promotions, and other opportunities for you to continue to nurture and convert leads. Plus, every live chat conversation will have a transcript, so you have a reliable record of how customers are interacting with your business.

Reduce Your Website’s Bounce Rate

A high bounce rate can be detrimental to your website. Not only will a high bounce rate lower your ranking in search results, but it also means that visitors are leaving your site without finding what they need. Live chat offers an opportunity to reduce your website’s bounce rate by allowing users to engage with a real person who can answer questions and create a more memorable browsing experience. Plus, live chat offers tools like mouse tracking and exit pop-up messaging, which will provide a final opportunity to engage users before they click away from your site. This will drive down site abandonment and help you collect more lead information. Even if users ultimately click away, they may leave their email address first, so you can follow up with email marketing or retargeting ads.

As you collect data from live chat conversations, you can identify common areas for customer concerns. You can then leverage this data to improve your website design and copy, allowing you to further reduce your bounce rate and drive up your performance in search.

Offer an Experience Beyond What Chatbots Can Provide

Business owners should not confuse live chat with chatbots, which offer automated responses rather than real-time support from real customer service representatives. Chatbots may serve as a filter to provide quick answers to common questions, but when they’re used on their own without the backup of live chat support, chatbots may only lead to frustration.

Explore the Benefits of Surround Chat

Not all live chat software is alike. Surround Chat is Salem Media Company’s live chat system that provides your business with 24/7 support from live representatives who are experts in sales and customer service. Surround Chat will deliver more leads for your business, reduce your website’s bounce rate, and—most importantly—drive up sales and conversions.

If you want to tour Surround Chat for yourself, reach out to Salem Surround for a consultation. Salem Surround is the digital marketing division of Salem Media Group, which maintains direct ownership of more than 100 radio stations, hundreds of websites, and thousands of apps. With our extensive media network, we can help you surround your target audience wherever they spend their time. Contact us today to discover how we can elevate your marketing and help you grow your business.

 
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