You probably already know the benefits of having a Chat Widget. It makes it easy to connect with your customers, reduces drop-off on your website, and generates more leads. Here's how to create one that fits your brand and your needs.
Creating a New Chat Widget
In the Chat Widget tab within the Sites section, click the +New button. You'll be asked to choose from the available chat widget types: All-In-One, SMS/Email Chats, Live Chat, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Voice AI. By default, an SMS/Email chat widget is added to your list, but you can add as many as you like.
Once you've selected the type, you can start personalising it.
Customising the Chat Widget
You can make the Chat Widget your own and align it with your brand by customising it. When creating a new widget, you'll be taken to the customisation options straight away. If you want to modify an existing widget, click the three dots (:) icon and select Edit.
The customisation options are divided into three tabs: Style, Chat Window, and Messaging.
Style
This controls the initial look of the widget. Here you can change the colours, image, position, and other aspects of its appearance.
The options are:
- Widget Placement: Select how you want the widget to be placed on your page.
- Chat Prompt: Enabling this option will display a greeting message.
- Chat Icon: This corner icon will show in your chat bubble.
By clicking the grey paint palette icon, you can customise the colours and typography for each element of the chat widget.
- Welcome Message: This will be the message displayed by the chat bubble, prompting customers to start a conversation.
- Return Visitor Custom Greetings: If this option is enabled, the chat widget will use saved cookies from previous sessions to personalise the message.
If you'd like to display an avatar image, you can replace the default picture with your own and choose where the widget should appear on a desktop browser.
For All-In-One Chat widgets, you must select the available channels and starting message in this section.
Chat Window
The Chat Window settings affect the user experience within the chat widget. You can customise the title, intro message, and contact form fields, such as name and phone. You can also enable or disable features like call-to-action redirects and agency branding.
You can edit the Prefilled Message Text for all your chat widgets, except live chat, to give customers an easy way to start interacting. If your Contact Form already has a message field, the pre-defined field is optional but still available.
In the Additional Options, enable the Notification Sound option so customers can hear a chime when your team sends a new message.
When enabled, sound notifications play for all key live chat, business hours, system greeting, and form-related messages, including intros, acknowledgements, after-hours notices, contact prompts, and redirects.
This section also lets you activate the consent checkbox for HIPAA compliance and add a legal consent message.
For Live Chat, you can customise messages for when a chat is assigned or closed.
Under the Live Chat Assigned section, you can set the welcome message, inactivity timeout period, and the message shown when the user is inactive.
In the Live Chat Closed section, you can configure the inactivity duration and the message displayed when the chat is closed due to inactivity.
Remember to preview the chat window to see where your changes are being applied.
Add your business office hours to live chat by enabling business office hours and adding your available hours.
Messaging
Here you can change the chat widget's language and the messages it sends to acknowledge and close a chat.
The messages available to edit depend on the type of Chat Widget you selected. With the Live Chat option, you can edit more messages, including the Feedback-related ones.
Make sure to click Save once you're happy with the Chat Widget. If you've already installed the Chat Widget on a website, clicking Save will push the changes to the live version too.
That's all there is to it. You can now create and customise your Chat Widget to match your brand, keep conversations going, and make sure no opportunity slips through. Have a look at the other articles in this section to learn more about chat widgets.