It seems that every website has a chatbot nowadays, but how do you know if you need a chat bot? and if we're going to be 100% honest with you, and we always are, we don't think every website really needs one. But don't worry about it: we'll give you three questions to ask yourself when considering a bot. Once you've answered all three, you'll know for sure whether you should join the chatbot crowd or keep it human. Start!
They're definitely cool and futuristic, but chatbots have some downsides that you should keep in mind when deciding whether your site needs one or not. For example, chatbots can affect your site's load times and performance, as well as the look and feel of the site on mobile, and some customers find them annoying to the core, so if you really don't need one, we recommend skipping that. Less, it's more, after all.
However, if you're not even really sure if you need one or not, take a moment and ask yourself the following questions to clarify the matter before doing anything else.
How many products do I have?
One of the most popular use cases for a chatbot is to help users understand websites that have a large number of products; in many situations, customers may not know exactly which product or variation best suits their needs. Enter the chatbot: Strike up a conversation with a user who clicks on it, asking smart questions that eventually lead the user to a product that matches the information the user has "fed" into the bot.
On the other hand, if you don't have many products or product categories, users may know exactly what products they want or that they can find them without much searching. In that case, a chatbot could make things more confusing and it will make more sense not to use one.
What kind of traffic do I have? Is it primarily mobile or desktop?
Your website should be mobile-friendly, that's no longer up for debate. But, if you find that your users tend to be users who will navigate your site from their work desks and not from their phones, you're less likely to scare them away if you install a chatbot.
A word of warning here: As mobile devices continue to improve in terms of functionality and the websites and code they can handle, this factor is likely to change. And of course, there's a small but noisy section of the population that hates chatbots no matter where they're browsing, just further proof that you can't please everyone. So, make the best decision depending on your traffic.
What questions will a chatbot help answer?
A chatbot without a nice, strong script is really only capable of babbling against a customer service executive. Are you sure your bot will have enough to say? Before you answer, consider this:
It's a very good idea to map all the possible conversation options for your chatbot long before you install it. Too many people get distracted by all the things their chatbots can do and don't pay enough attention to what they'll say. "We'll figure that out later," they think. But let's be completely honest here: the later one never comes. Ultimately, if you choose to 'fly' like this, you'll end up with a parrot instead of a chatbot, as it will repeat phrases over and over again; at best, and this in the end this will be frustrating for its users. And for your users they will leave your site and you will lose sales.
It's crucial to list all the conversation prompts, responses, and overall flow of your chatbot. Remember, a chatbot is essentially just a very complex flowchart, so make sure you keep everything consistent and that you can easily move through all branches of the conversation. As a bonus, listing everything allows you to review everything the chatbot will say, and then you can edit it for tone and diction, giving your chatbot more personality.
Some of you won't need one at all, and others will probably head to Google after this to see all the best chatbot providers.
But if you're still a little confused about whether your site would benefit from a chatbot, just llámenos y nos encargaremos de eso.
