The answer is actually quite simple, but may surprise you.

In most cases, the visitor will just leave your site.

You probably have a contact form or helpdesk, so people can easily ask you a question.

But tests have shown that most people couldn't be bothered to fill out a form, fill in the captcha box and then wait around for an email reply. It's all just too much hassle.

So instead, most visitors will just move on - and forget all about your offer.

That's why so many of the big companies now offer live chat on their websites, to give visitors an easier way to ask questions.

But of course these companies have dedicated support staff, who can be available to answer questions at any time of the day or night.

For a small business, it's just not practical to provide that sort of 24/7 support.

Which is where our new WP Support Bot comes in.

WP Support Bot allows you to easily add an automated live chat feature to your blog.

The chat window works just like a real live chat, but the responses are all fully automated, so you get the benefits of live chat, without having to actually provide live support.

You then place a "live chat" text link or image link on the blog.

There is a standard widget provided by the plugin, which allows you to easily place a link in the blog sidebar (or you can manually place a link anywhere else on the blog).

When visitors click the link, the live chat window opens in the center of the page, like this:

The chat window greets visitors with a simple message. Visitors simply type their message into the box and the chat window replies automatically.

Now at this point, I need to be completely honest.

Although the chat bot is "smart" because it replies by analysing the question, it is not "intelligent". Indeed it's not yet possible to provide truly intelligent software, even with a top of the range multi-million dollar computer.

Instead the chat bot uses a solution called "keyword matching", which means that specific replies are triggered when specific words or phrases are present in the question.

For example, you could set the keyword "refund" to give a reply explaining your refund policy. If any visitor then asks a question containing the word "refund", they would get that standard response.

This provides a fully automated solution for simple questions.

Makes It Easier To Contact You

You can program all sorts of keyword based answers into the chat bot.

But in practice, visitors could ask almost any question - and the chat bot may not be able to provide a proper answer.

But the software has a solution for this. If the chat bot cannot answer the question, it displays the following message (you can change the message contents if you wish).

I'm sorry I do not have an answer for that question. If you enter just your email address in the box, I'll forward your question to customer support - Or you can enter another question for me

Even if the chat bot is able to reply, it may not always get it right, so after each reply, it adds the following message (you can change the message contents if you wish).

If you don't like my answer, just enter your email address in the box and I'll forward your question to customer support - Or you can enter another question for me

In both cases, the visitor simply needs to enter their email address in the box - and their question will be emailed to you automatically, so you can answer yourself.

At this stage, since the visitor has already entered their question, it only takes a second to enter their email address, making it highly likely that they will take that final step.

Now you can see the power of the software.

For simple questions, it may answer on the spot.

But for more complex questions, the software provides a simple stepping stone, which splits the process of contacting you into stages.

Instead of the hassle of using a contact form or helpdesk, visitors are guided through the process by the chat bot.

So it's much more likely that visitors will contact you, giving you a valuable oppoprtunuty to answer their concerns - and make the sale.

You'll also notice one additional point. There is no "captcha" (a "captcha" is one of those annoying boxes asking you to enter a set of numbers or letters to prove you are a real person and not a spambot).

Captchas are good for website owners because they stop spambots sending you spam through your contact form. But they are horrible for visitors. They waste visitors time and deter visitors from using your contact form.

But because the chat bot contact mechanism is embedded deep inside the code and can only be used as part of a conversation, a conventional spambot cannot access it

This means that a captcha is not needed when using the chat bot, reducing the effort needed to contact you.

Powerful Features For Maximum Benefit

You can specify the initial sequence messages to be shown by the chat bot - just by editing a simple text file.

You can specify the responses to be shown, with the keywords that trigger each response - also by editing a simple text file.

You can insert links into your initial messages and responses if you wish.

You can set up a link to be shown at the bottom of the chat window, to give a direct link to your help desk or contact form - or for any other purpose.

There's no "powered by" notice/link. Everything shown on the chat window is fully customizable, so your visitors only see what you want them to see.

The software is "smart" and will answer by analysing the question. While it is software (so may not answer every question correctly), it will always answer any particular question in the same way (there's no random selection). If there's an answer that you're unhappy with, you can just add the question and answer to your responses list (which is just a simple text file).

If the chat bot is unable to determine a suitable answer to a question, it will display a standard message, offering to forward the question to customer support (this message can be customized however you want).

Once you've set up your chat bot, it works for you everyday, helping your visitors and increasing your chances of making sales.