subject: Interactive Elements That Make Your Website Popular [print this page] Since a lot of people use their websites to promote their business or let the world know about their skills (painting, photography, music, poetry etc), it should leave a mark on their visitor's mind the moment he/she lands at the site. If you think that a well designed website can do the trick, think again. With hundreds and thousands of well designed websites on the internet, it needs something more to woo visitors and get them hooked to your offerings. It is here that interactive elements can take you a few notches up and above your competitors.
To start with, you can include polls, surveys and sign-up forms. The former two will help attract visitors if you put up thought-provoking and even controversial surveys and polls on your site on a regular basis and let visitors show results of how people have voted. On the other hand, you can use sign-up forms to give some exciting incentives for your users so that they get lured and sign up. A free trial of a newly launched product, offering a discounted e-book or a newsletter with special deals to avail of are some ways to drive traffic to your site.
The interactive quotient of your website can increase by the addition of chat rooms, discussion forums, message boards or bulletin boards. A forum with threads that address subjects related indirectly to your offerings can help people get interested and start discussions among themselves. However, remember to moderate your forum or use software for the same to block or delete inappropriate posts. You may even allow users to post their articles, feedback about your offerings, jokes, or tips on message boards or bulletin boards to help them develop a bond of belongingness.
People are now joining several social networking sites in large numbers, and so this is also a good time to add Facebook or Twitter to your website. This way, you can get connected to a huge clientele base that networks on these platforms regularly and can help you drum up word-of-the-mouth publicity.
If you are now thinking that the entire job would be tedious one without any coding or programming knowledge on your part, take heart. Many software applications are there in the market that can help you do the job with just a few clicks of the mouse. You will simply need to follow the step by step procedure and insert the text, images or codes as prompted by the program and the job will be finished in a jiffy. Adding interactive elements to your website couldn't get easier than what it has become with the help of user friendly software applications.
