In this post, I’ll guide you through creating a chatbot on your website that collects leads and answers questions about your services. The focus here isn’t on customer service, but rather on attracting potential customers and providing them with information.

Why Use a Chatbot?

Chatbots can engage visitors on your website, responding to inquiries and guiding them to useful content. They can also gather valuable information, like names and email addresses, which helps build your customer base.

For this guide, I’m using Typebot. While there are many tools available, I find Typebot offers great flexibility and customization options, especially its free version. If you're looking for a quick customer service chatbot, tools like Chatbase might be easier, but they may lack the depth Typebot provides.

Setting Up Your Chatbot

Step 1: Access Typebot

Once you’ve created an account, starting is simple. Click on “Create New Typebot.” You'll have the option to choose from pre-built templates or start from scratch.

Step 2: Building Your Bot

Inside Typebot, you'll see a whiteboard interface. This is where you’ll design your chatbot. Using the menu on the left side, you can drag and drop elements like text, images, and buttons to create interactions.

Welcome Message:

You can start by adding a welcome message. You can combine a GIF with text to make it engaging. You can even use a recorded video from the founder or someone else at your company to personally welcome the visitor.

Buttons:

Add buttons to guide users to different responses. Each button can lead to another group of information or initiate a lead collection process. This is a great way to control and attract visitors with different intentions and backgrounds, to different parts of your page or relevant information.

Step 3: Collecting Leads

To collect leads, you'll create a group dedicated to this function.

1. Lead Magnet: Create an enticing offer, like a “Free Gift”, a guide, whitepaper, e-book, presentation or whatever is relevant.

When users click this button, they’ll be prompted to enter their name and email address so they can access the opt-in-offer.

2. Input Fields: Use input fields for users to enter their information. Typebot has preset variables for names and emails, making it easy to collect and store this information.

3. Thank You Message: After users provide their details, send them a thank you message and confirm their submission.

4. Integrate with Zapier: If you want to automate email collections to your newsletter or CRM, integrate with Zapier. This lets you automatically send collected information to your preferred platform.

Step 4: Enhancing User Experience

Make sure users can easily navigate your chatbot:

1. Redirect Buttons: From any endpoint, create buttons that allow users to return to the welcome message or start a new conversation.

2. AI Integration: You can connect Typebot to OpenAI for enhanced interaction. This allows the chatbot to answer various questions.

3. Testing & Publishing: Once you’re satisfied with the setup, test your chatbot. Click "Publish" to make it live on your website.

4. Customization: After publishing, you can customize colors, design, and behavior to match your website’s branding.

Step 5: Embed Your Chatbot

Finally, integrate your chatbot into your website using the provided HTML or JavaScript code. Decide if you want the chatbot to be visible right away or hidden until users interact. Just be carefull to not get annoying. No one likes stuff popping up on a site their trying to navigate.

Creating a lead-collecting chatbot can significantly improve your website's engagement and potential customer conversions. Especially if you already have a fair amount of traffic to you site. Typebot is a robust tool that provides the customization you may need without overwhelming complexity. But of course, there are many options, so do your research and test them before you decide.

Thank you for reading! I hope you find this guide helpful.

Happy building!