Customers value receiving high-quality support whenever they encounter an issue with your product or service.
Using WordPress live chat to offer interactive customer support on your website is an excellent way to do so and attract more customers. In fact, Statista shares that 12% of consumers in the U.S. choose one retail service over another based on its live chat functionality.
As a WordPress website owner, you can add live chat functionality to your website via a WordPress live chat plugin.
But with so many WordPress live chat plugins to choose from, you may have a hard time deciding on a plugin. To help you find the right plugin, we’ve compiled a list of the five best WordPress live chat plugins.
Read on to learn:
- Live Chat Solutions — Benefits
- WordPress Chat Plugins: Features To Look For
- Best Live Chat Plugin for WordPress
- Final Thoughts: 5 Best WordPress Live Chat Plugins
Live Chat Solutions — Benefits
Adding live chat functionality to your WordPress site can help you with customer support and word-of-mouth marketing. Let’s explore some of the benefits you’ll enjoy with a live chat plugin.
Provide Instant Customer Support
WordPress live chat lets you offer instant support to your customers. When website visitors have questions about your products or services, they can contact a customer rep via the chat box.
Your customer support agents can host direct chat sessions with your prospective customer and move the customer further down the sales funnel.
Increase Sales
Offering intuitive customer support via live chat can help increase conversions across your ecommerce website.
Your customer reps can clear any misinformation about the product or service, lead potential buyers through the purchasing process, and increase conversion rates.
Enhance Customer Retention
Live chat functionality on your WordPress website can help you improve customer satisfaction and retain more customers.
For instance, Kayako’s data shows that 51% of buyers make repeat purchases from companies that provide proactive chat support.
WordPress Chat Plugins: Features To Look For
Let's move on to the features — what features should you prioritize over others?
As your goal with a live chat plugin is to deliver quality customer service, you should look for a WordPress live chat plugin with features that help you offer that experience.
For instance, you can look for:
Automation
If your plugin supports automation, you can set it to resolve common customer queries and issues. Automation involves triggers that occur when a customer selects certain options or conditions.
Intuitive User Interface
An intuitive user interface enhances customer experience and facilitates your help desk staff.
For instance, if your customers require help in navigating your website, an inline chat window may serve them better.
Analytics and Reporting
Ensure your live chat software supports analytics and reporting. It should collect customer feedback and report it to your customer support team in an actionable way.
Best Live Chat Plugin for WordPress
- LiveChat.
- Olark.
- 3CX Live Chat.
- HubSpot WordPress Plugin.
- Tawk.To.
LiveChat
LiveChat is an all-in-one customer service platform you can use to chat with customers on your website. LiveChat is compatible with plenty of site builders and themes. Also, its intuitive design makes it easy to install on your website.
Key features:
- Access to reports and analytics.
- Messaging mode for talking to customers online and offline.
- Ratings for support services and staff members.
- Notifications and customized and automated responses.
- Multi-channel support.
Best WordPress Live Chat Plugin For: Managing live chats, social media, Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, email ticket support, and SMS from one platform.
Pricing: Premium plans start at $16 per month per agent when billed annually.
Olark
Olark is an elegant live chat software with a simple and intuitive interface. It’s pretty easy to install and use on your WordPress workflow. Once installed, it instantly goes live, and your chat window becomes ready to use.
Key Features:
- Supports integrations and APIs.
- Offers live chat analytics.
- Chat history.
- Supports automation and custom messaging.
- Language translation.
Best WordPress Live Chat Plugin For: Live language translation.
Pricing: Premium plan starts at $29 per month per agent.
3CX Live Chat
3CX Live Chat is another decent option for your WordPress website. It offers a dynamic and customizable suite and a live chat widget. Besides that, your plugin enjoys a full integration to the entire 3CX communication system — which offers live voice and video calls.
Key Features:
- Support for surveys and polls.
- Chart analytics and visitor tracking.
- Third-party integrations.
- Cross-device compatibility.
Best WordPress Live Chat Plugin For: Surveys, contact forms, and polls in your chat box.
Pricing: Free plan with limited features. Paid plans start at €150 (~$161) per year for 10 users.
HubSpot WordPress Plugin
HubSpot offers a WordPress plugin that helps you engage your customers using live chat, chatbots, pop-ups, and more. You also enjoy access to HubSpot’s free CRM, marketing automation, and inbuilt analytics.
According to Datanyze, HubSpot is the leading marketing automation software with a market share of 35.53%. With the HubSpot WordPress plugin, you can automate many of the common live chat features and work toward automating other marketing functionalities.
Key Features:
- Hundreds of integrations.
- Access to HubSpot’s CRM software.
- Support for chatbots and automation.
- Forms, surveys, and pop-ups.
Best WordPress Live Chat Plugin For: Integrations and automating customer support.
Pricing: Free version with limited features. Premium plans start at $45 per month with extended features (for email marketing, landing pages, and website forms).
Tawk.To
If you’re looking for a live chat plugin that monitors live chat on your website in real-time, Tawk.To is the way to go. Using this free live chat app, you can interact with all your customers, no matter their device.
Tawk.To has iOS and Android mobile apps that help you keep in touch and have unlimited chats with your website visitors.
Key Features
- Support for cross-device apps.
- Real-time language translation.
- Intuitive interface for chat agents.
- Reports and analytics.
Best WordPress Live Chat Plugin For: Small businesses looking to connect with customers across devices and platforms.
Pricing: Free.
Final Thoughts: 5 Best WordPress Live Chat Plugins
Live chat is an excellent way to interact with your customers online. Using WordPress live chat plugins, you can increase your conversions, offer instant support and enhance your customer experience.
Besides customer engagement through live chat, you can invest in your website’s performance to load your website quickly and serve your website visitors better.
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This blog was originally published in June 2017. It has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.