Chances are you’ve come across websites with elements like a clock, calendar, help button, weather display, etc., to encourage page interaction and offer a better experience for visitors. But have you ever wondered what they were?
All of these elements are different types of web widgets.
But what are web widgets, and how do you choose the right one for your business and customers? Keep reading to know more.
What is a web widget?
Web widgets or website widgets are third-party applications that are embedded onto a webpage. They are independent page elements that can be of different forms, including clocks, calendars, chat buttons, feedback or contact forms, etc. They are easy to set up and can be embedded without any change to the backend coding.
A web widget can take your website from being a place where visitors and customers come to passively explore your offering to an interactive, highly engaging experience that can mirror an in-store or in-person conversation. While there are various web widgets available, the most popular form of web widget is the chat widget that lets visitors immediately engage with your team.
What is a chat widget?
A chat widget is usually present in the right bottom corner of a webpage and lets your customers interact directly with your sales or customer support teams. These widgets are generally handled by live chat agents but more recently are being set up with chatbots to offer round-the-clock availability.
- Chat widgets make it easy for customers to reach out to you without searching your entire website for customer support.
- They can be used to reach out with proactive support and offer instant tips and offers to convert window shoppers into customers.
- They can also help customers resolve issues on their own by offering answers to FAQs in the chat window.
Are chat widgets the only web widget?
Absolutely not. There are also other web widgets that can be a great addition to your webpage. Here are a few:
- Email marketing: Email marketing widgets are one of the popular forms of widgets available. You can put a sign-up form on your website and add customers to your blog or newsletter subscription.
- Social Media: A social media widget lets customers share your profile or post directly from your website. You can embed your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter posts and let your customers share them directly.
- Booking: You can easily add a Google calendar widget to your website. You can also take it a step further and add a scheduling widget to your website. You can easily let your customers book appointments and schedule calls quickly.
- Forms and survey: Visitors come to your website every day. You can have a custom form to collect customer data and offer personalized service to them.
Why you need a chat widget on your website?
- Customer Service: Chat widgets make it easier for your customers to instantly reach out to your business and solve their queries.
- Sales: With the chat widget, you can convert your website visitors into customers by offering them the right support and sending personalized product recommendations.
- Marketing: You can send discount and promotion information via chat widget and keep them informed about your products, services, and offers.
What are the benefits of using a chat widget?
The chat widget is your one-stop widget to offer an enhanced support experience. Whether you want to simply add a channel of communication for your customers with live chat, deflect common customer queries with chatbots, or boost interaction via integrations with third-party apps, here are some of the benefits of adding a chat widget to your website –
1. Collect customer data: You can include forms and surveys in your chat widget and easily collect customer information. It helps you provide a personalized customer support experience. You can also collect feedback using surveys or chatbots and leverage it to boost your support and website experience.
2. Instant bookings: Integrating your chatbot with scheduling and booking apps save customers and agents the effort of getting into a chat conversation to book an appointment. Furthermore, these automated booking systems can schedule appointments and bookings instantaneously without keeping the customers waiting.
3. Engage with customers: Having a chat widget on your website makes your customer support more accessible to the customers. You can also proactively reach out to your customers based on their activity on the webpage. This will help reduce cart abandonment.
What are the different types of chat web widgets offered by Freshchat?
→ Conversational widget: The conversational widget by Freshchat enables effective conversations between your customers and agents. You can let the bots initiate conversations and transfer the chat to an agent for personalized and contextual support.
→ Self-service widget: The self-service widget by Freshchat makes it easier for customers to resolve queries on their own by offering instant, relevant solutions.
How do our customers use the Freshchat chat widget?
Here are a few examples of our customers using the Freshchat chat widget to boost customer support experience.
Razorpay
Razorpay, India’s first full-stack financial solutions company, uses the Freshchat chat widget to offer chat customer support to customers. They have also integrated our chatbots to provide instant resolutions to customers.
Razorpay chat widget
BEL USA
BEL USA is one of the largest distributors of promotional products in the United States. They use our chat widget to proactively engage with online visitors and customers. They added the chat widget to their website and saw a decrease in the bounce rate.
BEL USA chat widget
Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman, Australia’s largest multi-national retailer, uses the Freshchat chat widget to enhance their support experience. They use our chat widget to offer self-service and chat support to their customers.
Harvey Norman chat widget
Why should you choose the Freshchat chat widget?
1. Customizable widget: The Freshchat chat widgets can be customized to match the look and feel of your brand. You can change the color and use language that resonates with your target customers to offer better engagement.
2. Available 24/7: Freshchat offers no-code chatbots that can be deployed with our chat widget to offer support round the clock. Chatbots can collect information and pass it on to the agent if a complicated issue arises. This will save you from missing out on leads and prospects.
3. Proactive support: With Freshchat, you can reach out proactively to your customers with triggered messages. You can send tailored personalized messages based on their activity on your website. This feature lets you engage with idle customers.
4. Contextual engagement: You can have access to the customer’s complete chat history. This lets you initiate a contextual conversation without making the customers repeat the issue. You can send them offers and tips on specific pages they are interacting with. You can also send messages as multimedia to help customers understand better with visuals.
5. Offer self-service: You can let your customers resolve queries on their own by adding FAQs in the chat window. You can provide all the common queries for customers to resolve issues quickly without reaching out to an agent.
How can I add a widget to my website?
Adding a chat widget to your webpage is easy peasy with Freshchat. Define your bot flows and easily embed our chat widget by navigating to Deploy > Deploy options > Conversations widget > Save. If you want to add a self-service widget, choose the self-service widget instead of conversations.
Boost customer engagement with web widgets
We don’t see a reason not to use web widgets. They are easy to use and also easy to embed onto a website. These widgets can be a great addition to boosting customer engagement and experience without making any huge changes to your website or coding.
Get started with Freshchat now.
