How To Make An Interactive Website That Engages

Interactivity is non-negotiable in modern website design. Reason? It improves your site’s user engagement, navigational experience, conversions, and browsing experience. 

Linearity notices that “ 68% of mobile users are likely to use mobile-responsive websites.” This data indicates that everyone wants interactivity while scrolling down the website.

You may already know that interactive elements ( animations, hovers, dynamic content, sliders, and so on) promote user engagement and drive active participation or meaningful experience. It can range from simple interactions like hovering over text to more complex interactions such as completing forms, playing games, and participating in polls.

However, to improve your site’s interactivity, web designers, front-end developers,  UX/UI designers, and webmasters must collaborate on aesthetics and functionality. They need to follow a certain set of strategies, which we’ll try to summarize in this knowledge-packed article:-

# Strategy 1:- Brainstorm About Your Site’s Audience

Brainstorming about your target audience is important. To do this, you need to conduct thorough research, create user personas, and conduct website analytics and content prioritization. 

Here, we are decoding the process one by one: –

Thorough Online Research:- 

Marketing teams must reach people and ask them about their demographic interests, online behaviors, and pain points. They can also engage in surveys and focus on groups, and use social media insights and website analytics tools like Google Analytics, Matomo, Adobe Analytics, Semrush, etc.

I’m taking the example of Google Analytics for audience research. To complete this process, follow the below steps:

• Set up your Google Analytics account by giving relevant details.
• Put the site URL in a blank box like “ Forbes.com” and provide an anonymous name in the stream name section.
• Tap the option of “Create,” which comes up on the right side of your screen, and finally, the site’s streaming process completes.

If you want to learn more about streaming and data extraction, you can view Josh Hall’s tutorial.

Now, we should come to the next part, which is behavioral data analysis with the help of heatmaps. We’ll explain the process practically by taking the example of a particular tool, but till then, let’s peep into the theoretical part:

Heatmaps visually represent data user interactions on a web page. Simply, it highlights the areas of high & low engagement with the help of color gradients.

Primarily, there are some areas to look like:-

1. Click Heatmaps:- It shows where users click on your site’s page.
2. Scroll Heatmaps:- It points to the arena till where users are scrolling down the page.
3. Hover Heatmaps:- It reveals the portion where users hover their mouse on site.
4. Feature Heatmaps:- It focuses on specific elements or areas on the webpage.

Besides this, you can analyze the color differentiation. –

As we’ve already muggled up with Google Analytics in the above-fold content, we’ll try to measure the heatmap with the help of Hotjar. Just scroll down the article:

• Set up your official Hotjar account by inserting all the relevant details like your company name, site URL, etc. 

For example, in the blank space, you must fill in your site’s URL in this format: https://www.yoursite.com. 

• After verifying the installation process, you can use Hotjar’s plugin or app based on your platform.
• In this step, visit your HotJar dashboard and hit the option “ New Heatmap.” Now, you can add the site URL you want to analyze in the blank section.
• Finally, Hotjar will automatically collect data as users start to visit the site.

Also Read: A Comprehensive Guide to Session Timeout in Google Analytics

# Strategy 2:- Integrate Visual Elements (Videos, SVG animations or GIFs)

You need to maintain consistency in branding and use contrast color strategically to create a compelling and engaging experience.

We’ll try to cover up the important elements that can drive the interactivity of your website. Firstly, let’s take a round of a complete video integration procedure on your website. We’ll cover the process in HTML. Just stick to the below-mentioned steps:-

1. Edit your HTML:- Go to the edit mode for the page, post, or website section where you’re looking to embed the video.
2. Copy the Embed code:- You need to copy your embed code.
3. Paste the embed code:-In the last step, you need to paste the embed code into the spot that you found in the first step. If it’s good to go, then click on the option of “Save and Publish.”

Also Read: HTML Anchor Element: A Complete Guide

We’ve completed the video integration part and will now develop SVG animations and micro-interactions. If you want to add SVG animations and micro-interactions, you can utilize CSS animations for simple effects or leverage JavaScript libraries for more complex animations. 

Despite that, stick to tools like SVGator, Adobe Illustrator, Canva, Visme, and others.

At that point, we’re using SVGator to add SVG animations. Read out point by point:-

1. Sign up to the official site of SVGator
2. Upload or create an SVG
3. Add animations with the help of Timeline Editor
4. Preview the design and adjust it as per your needs.
5. Finally, export and embed.

# Strategy 3:- Incorporate User Generated Content ( UGC) or Social Proofs

In this breath-holding online era, you may have heard about the “ Tinder Date.” When you know your date’s name, you probably may start stalking. It’s obvious as human emotions go in that way.

You might not believe it, but eCommerce shoppers do the same thing when they’ve already decided to buy from your website . Recently, ADWEEK revealed that “ 81% of shoppers conduct online research before making the purchase.” 

UGC and social proofs don’t come from customers’ families and friends, as most eCommerce shoppers trust recommendations from strangers to them on the internet.

To solve your dilemma, here we’re giving some tactics to use UGC as social proof for your online eCommerce store:-

1. Contact The Experts:-

You should go to the expert content creators of particular niches. They will be a big ticket for specific areas like homes, cars, equipment, and fitness products.

For example:- If you sell diet-related or weight-loss products, expert content creators like dieticians or doctors can solidify your claims with nervous shoppers.

I’m giving you an example of Old Spice in integrating content from experts. The team reached out to Dr. Cory Hartman to create sponsored content to boost the credibility of deodorants.

Another example is the campaign created by Old Spice’s creative team, “ Smell Like a Man, Man.” This campaign introduced Isaiah Mustafa in the icon image.

2. Integrate Sources & Reviews:-

An ideal way to appease people is through honest reviews and ratings. You can use platforms like Facebook, Amazon, TripAdvisor and Yelp.

Besides this, product managers can also follow the below-mentioned practices such as:-

1. If you received a customer’s email, ask them for an honest review. You’ll also be surprised by the frequency of individuals putting up for reviews.
2. Another way to ask for an honest customer review is in exchange for a freebie or discount. Some people will take action.
3. The last one is slightly a weird psychological trick, but customers are likely to leave a review if they see other people’s

3. Gather Influencer Endorsements:-

An influencer endorsement goes beyond the lines of surface-level review. They gush about your brand on their social media feed, presenting a mini unboxing or how-to-videos.

When you find an authentic influencer for your niche, you can instantly access their fanbase.

# Strategy 4:- Focus On Accessibility ( sometimes ignored by site administrators)

To design an accessible website, you should make your web content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Webmasters can also use features like alt text for images, sufficient color contrast, clear headings, etc.

You can use multiple tools like Microsoft Designer, Altext.ai, Popupsmart, Ahrefs, etc. Currently, I’m using ALTEXT.AI to take you on a roller-coaster round of this whole process. Just follow the instructions carefully:-

• Go to the official site of ALTEXT.AI
• Hit “Choose File” and select the image for which you want to create ALT text.

• After identifying your image file, you must also put the keywords I’ve inserted ( cloud computing, edge computing) in the “Generate Alt Text” option. 

The Big Picture:-

After reading this article, you can understand how to create an engaging website. As we’ve talked about earlier, webmasters must focus on a blend of user-centric design, compelling content, and interactive elements ( quizzes, polls, interactive maps, and so on)

They can streamline this process using tools such as Figma, Canva, CorelDRAW, InVision Studio, etc. Plus, engage in forums, communities, and thought leadership guides to check what’s happening in the digital arena. 

Ready to turn your site into an engagement magnet? Let the ResultFirst team craft an interactive and conversion-driven experience.

Statistical Resource:
https://www.linearity.io/blog/web-design-statistics/
https://www.adweek.com/performance-marketing/81-shoppers-conduct-online-research-making-purchase-infographic/