Using a chatbot is no longer an option. Chatbots are becoming a necessary and cost-effective way to communicate with customers. And more people interact with chatbots than you think.
As of now, 80% of businesses are using chatbots across different platforms. Using a chatbot will make your business more competitive and will meet customer demands.
Why are chatbots so integral? While they can answer most of your customers’ questions, they’re also powerful lead converting tools. A chatbot is readily available on your managed hosted WordPress website, engaging your prospects which may lead to more website conversions and sales. When using a chatbot, performance is key so you should consider using managed WordPress hosting.
Are you still debating about adding a chatbot to your website? Here’s how chatbots can improve your website conversions.
Two Different Types of Chatbots
Most businesses know what chatbots are, but few know there are two main types of chatbots. These chatbots include:
- AI
- Rules-based
At this point, we should all know what artificial intelligence is. AI chatbots are the closest option for communicating with a human. They’re optimized for natural language, communicating specific needs and solutions with the user.
The other option is a rules-based chatbot. These chatbots have pre-programmed questions and answers. They may also offer a funnel of options, such as buttons and links the customer can click for more insight.
How Do Chatbots Work?
Chatbots have what’s called natural language processing (NLP) technology. Many modern technologies use NLP, including voice-activated bots like Siri.
NLP works by processing the text or voice (also called “parsing”). From here, they use complex algorithms to understand what the user wants and make sense of what they’re saying. From here, they create a response.
NLP technology advances constantly. The best AI chatbots make it difficult to know if you’re talking to a human or a robot.
How Do Chatbots Work on WordPress?
Do you have a WordPress website? As the leading CMS engine on the whole internet, it should come as no surprise that there are many chatbot options for WordPress users.
Do you know how to improve website conversions with chatbots on your WordPress website? WordPress chatbots add lots of value for your customers, as you will read in the next sections, and can serve as powerful lead-converting tools.
How do you add a chatbot to your WordPress website? You can easily implement a chatbot plugin to your website, though they vary in quality and price. Others add a chat function from a third party, such as Facebook Messenger.
Keep in mind, some WordPress chatbots require configuration. If you’re ever stuck, you can contact your WordPress hosting company for assistance and even chatbot recommendations.
Why Chatbots Add Value
You always hear how chatbots add so much value. But why is that? Here are some examples of the value that chatbots can provide.
Attract Qualified Leads
These days, businesses need to focus on more than leads. You’ll only want to attract qualified leads to ensure your efforts are successful.
How can chatbots help you attract qualified leads? The smartest chatbots can pull and retain information from your prospects. They do this by asking questions.
Depending on the conversation, the chatbot will identify a lead. If the lead has great quality, the chatbot will request their email address or another form of contact information. Your sales reps will access this information, bringing the lead one step closer to becoming a customer.
Offer 24/7 Support
The internet makes us connected at all hours of the day — or night. Not only that, but global businesses will want to cater to customers in different parts of the world. That’s why 24/7 support is a great asset for all businesses.
But should you hire sales reps or have a powerful chatbot available at all times? Chatbots can save a business time and money. Your chatbot is available constantly, not just during work hours. Your customers can have their questions answered at any time of the day, resulting in happier customers.
Improved Social Listening
Social listening is a strategy that all businesses should implement. Social listening is scanning the web for business and product mentions. If you use your chatbots on various platforms, chatbots make the social listening process easier.
Scan your different platforms for customer interactions. See what questions they ask your bots and the conversations that take place. You’ll know how prospects discover your brand and what brought them to that specific platform.
Recommend Products and Services
Maybe customers know they want to support your brand, but they don’t know what they want. They can easily navigate to your chatbot for product recommendations.
You can easily program your chatbot to understand customer needs and recommend a product that will best suit them. This not only expedites the sales process but can easily boost conversions.
Automate Tasks
You can now use chatbots to automate certain processes, including making a purchase. This is convenient for the customer. If they’re already talking to your chatbot and they know what they want, they don’t have to navigate to another page to make a purchase.
Entertainment
Chatbots can be fun. You can program your chatbot to have a vibrant personality and say silly phrases, keeping your prospects engaged. Some people also like trolling chatbots, typing crazy things to see how the chatbot will react.
No matter how you program your chatbots, they will keep your visitors on your website for a long time, inching them closer to becoming a customer.
Other Benefits That Chatbots May Offer
Can chatbots benefit other aspects of your business? Yes! Here are a few other benefits that chatbots may offer.
Relieve Customer Service and Sales Pressure
Have you worked in a customer service job? If so, you know the pressures of dealing with the public. Most of the questions that customer service reps answer are common questions that a chatbot can answer.
When using a chatbot, your customer service and sales staff communicate with customers after they become qualified leads. Since the bot already educated the customer, there’s less confusion on the client’s end.
This makes the sales process easier and sales professionals can receive more conversions.
Great for Branding
Your brand is everything. That’s why you should implement branding in all processes, including your customer communication. How can chatbots contribute to your branding?
You can program a chatbot to communicate in a specific way, saying certain phrases and upholding a branded voice. You can also program a specific personality to match your brand; your chatbot can be serious or extremely bubbly, depending on what better represents your company.
This benefits more than your branding. Your customers can expect a cohesive experience, whether they talk to your customer service reps or your chatbot.
Replaces Outdated Technology
Technology is growing every year and it can be difficult to keep up with the times. Fortunately, chatbots are an easy way to replace some outdated business technologies.
A great example is the interactive voice response (IVR). You’re likely familiar with this technology — you call a customer service line, have to choose a number to select who you want to talk to and why, and wait for someone to answer your call.
You’ve probably sat through these calls. Maybe your business even has or had IVR technology.
Either way, the modern customer is tired of IVR calls. They want answers and they want to find those answers online. This is where the chatbot comes in. All customers have to do is type their question and the chatbot provides an immediate answer.
What if the chatbot can’t answer their question? Does the customer have to contact you? Not so fast.
You can program your chatbot to provide a survey or other form of written response that can be sent to your customer service line. This way, customers don’t have to navigate to another communication method to answer their questions.
Why Chatbots Are Essential for User Experience
When talking about website conversions, you can’t convert prospects without optimizing your website for user experience (UX). The same goes for chatbots. How can chatbots provide a great customer experience?
We already mentioned many of these UX factors, such as providing 24/7 support and replacing outdated communication technology. All of these factors help brands automate a very important process: lead generation.
When your prospects have a great experience on your website, they are more likely to become customers.
Traits of a UX-Friendly Chatbot
How do you know if your chatbot is optimized for UX? Here are a few traits you should know.
Menu and Resources Link
While great website navigation will make these options visible, it’s still good to program your chatbot to display your menu and other resources. This makes navigation readily available and gives your prospect more choices.
Should you always display the menu and resources section? Only display this at the end of the conversation or when it’s contextual. For example, if a customer has a question about using a product, the chatbot can direct them to links that offer tutorials.
Buttons
To improve the interaction process, you can program your chatbot to display buttons. These buttons can have specific options that will improve your chatbot’s responses. However, you should also give your customers an option to type or offer an “other” button.
Another similar option is a carousel. If you want to offer several buttons, a carousel is a great way to display multiple buttons. The customer can easily scroll through the carousel to choose the button they need.
Complex Conversations
The only downside of adding a chatbot to your website is they’re not human. While you can program your chatbot in different ways, you can’t guarantee they can understand every conversation.
Fortunately, chatbot technology is improving, and more chatbots are optimized for complex conversations. This includes specific answer chains, so chatbots can provide answers similar to the way a human does.
An example is a user typing their specific needs and the chatbot providing an effective solution, rather than just an email address or a phone number for the customer to contact instead. This is integral for improving website conversions since the chatbot is offering insight rather than just navigating them to another person.
Great Examples of Chatbots for Your WordPress Website
Just about any website can use chatbots. Even if you have a blog, a chatbot can keep visitors on your page and will keep them coming back. Here are some great examples of chatbots for all websites.
News Chatbot
Do you host a news website? If so, you can use a chatbot to easily keep your website visitors informed. Your visitors can access your news chatbot for the latest news or something interesting that happened. Since few blogs and news websites engage customers in this way, your news WordPress website can remain competitive.
Weather Chatbot
This is a similar chatbot as the chatbot we mentioned previously. If you own a news website or similar, you can offer a weather chatbot option. You can program your chatbot to share the weather forecast in a variety of areas, whether they want the current forecast or a future one.
Food Chatbot
Do you own a food or restaurant blog? If so, you can add a food chatbot that can recommend recipes, local restaurants, and more. All the user has to do is tell the chatbot what they want to eat and the chatbot can send them recommendations.
Finance Chatbot
Whether you own a financial company or a blog, finance chatbots are becoming more popular and widely used. For example, credit card companies program finance chatbots to offer insight on spending and saving as well as any offers they qualify for.
Advice Chatbots
Advice chatbots are great for any company. Whether you own a legal company or a therapy clinic, chatbots are a secure and private way for your customers to request advice before going forward with your services.
Add a Chatbot for Website Conversions
There are a variety of different chatbots that can help your prospects in different ways. No matter what type of chatbot you add, they offer value and can increase your website conversions.
Are you struggling to add a chatbot to your website? If you haven’t signed up for WordPress yet, this CMS makes it easy to add and configure a chatbot to your website. You’ll also want the best WordPress hosting to have a powerful team at your side.
Take a look at our Managed WordPress Hosting to get started.
Amanda Tsourakis
With over a decade of experience in the tech industry, Amanda's experience demonstrates her sales expertise. Her commitment to building, training, and guiding high-performing teams has been instrumental in driving Pressable's success. Amanda's extensive background in sales and marketing, coupled with her sharp business acumen, has made her an invaluable asset to the tech community. Her ability to identify and foster talent, combined with her passion for developing winning sales strategies, has propelled her to the forefront of the industry. When she's not expertly navigating the tech sales landscape, she loves spending quality time with her family, loves travel and adventure, lounging pool/beach-side, playing tennis, working out, and meeting people/making friends all along the way!
