Interactive Web Design: The Best Way to Attract Users
The goal of any good web designer is simple; to create a site people want to visit. There are many ways to attract people to a site. Visual effects, flash animation, and user-friendly layout are just a few. However, as the design field becomes more innovative and competitive, many designers are seeking to create interactive sites, which give users something to do other than passively absorb information. There are a variety of interactive features you can add to your site. A few will be highlighted here, and you can find more information and tutorials by searching the web.
One great way to add some interactivity to your site is to attach special effects to your images. This allows users to feel involved as an image changes when they roll their mouse over it. This usually requires two kinds of scripts. A tag attached to the image, or another object you want to emphasize, and an “action” description in the section of a page. This “action” will usually be coded in JavaScript. Usually you will want to create two images; one that is normally displayed, and one that appears when a user rolls over the original. This can be an entirely new image, or a simple variation like a black and white or blurred effect applied to the first image.
Allowing users to post their thoughts and interact with one another is a great way to keep them coming back. This can be done in one of two ways. The first is through a comment box, where users simply post their thoughts to a site. A more complex approach is the creation of a discussion forum where complete conversations with various threads and topics can take place. Since people want to see responses to their posts on either option, they will continue returning to your site. Additionally, using these features allows you greater insight into what your viewers are interested in. Thus, you can modify future content to appeal to your users.
Another great way to get interactive feedback from visitors is to create a poll. A poll relevant to the content on your page will attract interest. The key is to keep updating with new polls regularly. This will keep users coming back so they can see what others think on a variety of issues. Plus, polls are easy to implement. Many sites offer free poll creation and subsequent code to insert the poll into your website. A great place to start is www.snappoll.com or www.coolsurveys.com.
A site can remain useful to a user even after they have browsed to a new page. How? By adding a syndicated RSS feed that visitors can subscribe to. This allows content from your site to be available in their e-mail or in an RSS feed aggregator, like Google Reader. You can also use RSS feeds from other sites to add new content to your page. This lets you bring in information from other sources with minimal effort. A great place to learn more about using RSS feeds is www.rssgov.com. The site offers free online tutorials for working with RSS.
Ultimately, adding interactive features to your site will attract and retain visitors. This not only improves your site’s popularity, it can help you generate enough interest to produce revenue from advertisements. These are just a few examples of some features you may want to add. Once you have explored these, consider going one step further with games, member subscriptions, and other great additions.
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