In 2009 the number of people using the Internet in the UK grew by 4 million
. With nearly 40 million people connected to the Internet, websites are becoming increasingly important. Around 60% of Internet users currently enjoy broadband with speeds of over 2MB. Such speeds allow people to experience dynamic video and rich media executions with ease, which has raised people's expectations of what they can do with websites.
These days a static web page is no long satisfactory. To really engage the online community, interactive web design is essential.
Interactivity simply means building a function into your website which allows the user to get involved. It's more than simply reading text on a screen. Interactivity is a way of engaging the user so they have a more interesting user experience.
There are many simple ways to make your website interactive. Developing a survey on an interesting subject and hosting it on your site will encourage people to share their opinion. This gives you the opportunity to open up the discussion when you announce the results too. You could create a quiz with multiple choice or true and false answers. These work well when the correct answers are displayed instantly.
Another popular interactive feature allows users to interact with someone via live chat. This is particularly relevant for websites where people may be seeking information or advice.
One thing any website can easily offer users is a free download. This could be a white paper, a free trial on software or even a webinar. You could also run a competition on your website; if the prize is exciting then people will forward it to their friends, and even more people will be drawn to your site. Making your website interactive can also be as easy as allowing users to comment on your web pages.
With the government's plans to roll out super fast broadband across the country, interactive website design will become an even bigger priority.