Adding Other Features to Your Site
Options for other features that will make your online store interesting
There are so many other features that can add value to your web site such as blogs, chat and forums. Here are a few ideas for adding value to your site:
- Chat - This is a great way to connect with your customers! When you login, they see that you are online and can ask questions. Or, just let customers chat with each other about how wonderful your product is! There are many choices for free chat rooms, but the one thing that will decide which one for you to go with is whether you want the chat on your web site, or as a redirect to another web site For example with Para Chat you can have your chat room embedded in your site or have it open in a new window. Here is an example of a site with the chat room embedded into the site:
And one where it pops open in another window:
Some services like Bravenet where your chat room will be hosted on their site, so you would create a chat link on your site, and it would direct them to your bravenet chat room. The benefits of this are that the traffic is on their site not yours, however there are ads for the free version. You can also customize the chat room to match your site, which is a bonus.
- Forums - Forums are a great place to answer customer's questions and a place for your customers to talk about related topics, or whatever you choose! There are again a couple options, either them being connected to your site, or a re-direct to another host server. Here is an example of one that is connected directly to the site, and is a template, so all the design elements are already done for you (using SMF):
And then using bravenet's forum where you are redirected to your forum on their site. You will see you can change some of the colors to match your site, but not as much as a forum included on your site.
- Blog - This is a GREAT way to announce new products, changes, topics related to your industry and pretty much anything else you want to include. It's great for a more informal. There are some great sites about the benefits of blogging, here is one.
- Online Calendars - This is a great way for people to see hours and any special events or sales. Many people would rather go online than have to look up a phone number and call for information. Bravenet is one of the sites that offers free online calendars, but there are many out there.
