Does having a live help feature on a website really make a big difference to the visitors?
by 
Stephanie Davies
ANSWERS: 3
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Web-usability guru Jakob Nielsen takes special glee in reminding us that web users are fundamentally very, very lazy. Yes, even lazier than us web developers. If they aren't getting what they want out of a website, they will typically just go away, and any help features you offer, live or otherwise, will be of little use in stopping them. The utility of help features goes up along with the motivation of your users to get something out of your site. If you run a commerce site (and your users very much want to buy from you, or have already bought from you and have a problem), live help could be very useful; ditto for a rich online application of some kind. Even more useful, though, is putting advance thought into the skills and goals of your most likely users, and designing your website accordingly.
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The truthful answer is no, when you look at performance, but it would be fair to say that some industries would gain much more benefit than others, Speaking from an online retailers point of view, with more than 500,000 page depressions the total amount of live support requests generally total 1 person. A live support box is a wasted area where you could put more useful content like a link to your most frequently asked questions "FAQ" and or links to your contact page which would include telephone details and of course your email address, if not, at least an online form in which they can send the request. The other point to note is that live support requires a live person to answer it all the time and if your not able to provide that level of support then why bother? Matthew Yabsley www.oscommerce-support.com
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It may also depend on what you are offering the public. While it may not increase the number of visitors, it could improve sales. I am sure each situation is different. What may work for some, may not work for another. I had a wholesale/retail operation with an on-line shopping cart, but I also had a phone and fax number prominently displayed on this website. I wanted to be very "approachable", and to also portray an image of being very willing to help provide our customers with value and great service. The direct and indirect revenue from the phone and fax lines resulted in tens of thousands of dollars. Also I am very familiar with another website which offers fairly high-ticket services from its website. It does the same (phone and fax) with great success. Hope this added data helps.
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