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Marketing

Learn How to Make an Interactive Website that Engages Customers

MM
Matt Montenegro Founder & CEO
22/10/2021 5 min
TL;DR

An interactive website responds when visitors click or answer, but only if mobile layouts and clear navigation still work. The surviving steps start with responsive interactivity, simple menus, and small quizzes; Google indexes the mobile experience first.

  • Why it matters: flashy desktop-only tricks lose the phone audience that Search prioritizes.
  • How it works: add small interactive modules before rebuilding the whole site.
  • Zoom in: Wikipedia frames interactive media as experiences that change with user input.
  • Reality check: animations that bury menus create bounce, not delight.
  • The bottom line: ship usable interaction on every viewport, then layer examples and motion.

One of the biggest goals of any marketing department is engaging audiences and encouraging them to take action on a website. 

After all, a website is often the most important lead-generation tool for businesses and brands. When you can make it a more interesting place for visitors, they are more likely to want to interact with your brand. 

Adding interactive content to your website is a great way to increase your conversions and give your visitors a more entertaining experience. 

When a customer knows that a website delivers a great user experience and that there are plenty of opportunities for interaction, they are more willing to return even if they don’t become a customer right away. 

But what exactly is an interactive website? What are the direct benefits that it can bring to your brand and the advantages that your company can achieve?

In this article, we’ll answer those questions, explain how to make an interactive website and provide some examples of great interactive websites.

4. Make it Mobile-Friendly

Oftentimes, when envisioning an interactive website, we focus on the desktop experience. 

However, the majority of website visitors will come from a mobile device. That means that your interactive elements need to be adaptable to a mobile screen.

If you build a responsive design for your interactivity, you can entertain users on any device. Without making your site accessible on mobile, you can risk losing your customer’s interest.

5. Keep Navigation Clear and Simple

Interactive elements like animations and interactive scrolling can be a great way to garner interest from the first page of a website. 

But sometimes a customer wants to be able to quickly navigate to another page or visit a specific area of your site without engaging in the interaction. 

Make sure that you keep your navigation menus clear and simple. You’ll also want to make sure they are easily accessible on any sized screen.

Honestly, there’s nothing more frustrating than landing on a visually stunning website and getting lost in a sea of fancy graphics without a clear way forward. Test your menus with people who aren’t familiar with your site—sometimes what seems obvious to a designer is totally confusing for a first-time visitor. A smooth, intuitive experience beats flashiness when it comes to building trust and driving action.

Another thing worth mentioning: keep an eye on how your navigation works alongside interactive elements like pop-ups or slide-ins. It’s easy for these features to clash, especially on mobile devices, where space is tight and thumbs do a lot of the work. Small missteps here can turn curiosity into annoyance pretty quickly—which, let’s be honest, is the fastest way to send someone back to the search results.

6. Find Areas to Begin Adding in Elements

Adding interactive elements doesn’t mean you need to redesign your entire site with a new scrolling experience and tons of animations. 

You can start small and begin by adding in interactive elements that don’t drastically change the style of your site. 

Adding in a calculator to help a customer understand costs or a quiz that identifies an issue is a great first step.

7. Invest in Video or Images

An interactive video like a 360 experience or interactive images and animations can sometimes take more experience and technique than your design team can manage. 

Investing in video or image services from a specialty agency might be a good idea if you want to provide an experience outside of the box for your customers.

You can also check out Genially, an easy-to-use interactive marketing tool.

8. Try Animated Elements

Animated elements are great ways to increase engagement and improve customer experiences. 

Dynamic scrolling, hover-triggered pop-ups and changes, 3D effects, and even different cursor images can make your website more engaging from the first interaction a customer has. 

It also helps your customers get a feel for the new design of the website by being able to play around with different effects and environments.

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Best Examples of Interactive Websites

Now that you understand how to make an interactive website, let’s take a look at some different examples of websites that have successfully implemented interactive elements to create a memorable experience.

Foot Locker

Foot Locker provides a great example of an interactive microsite. 

The Home Game site uses gamification to encourage visitors to interact with virtual games and contests. 

The site also uses interesting colors and animations to create a unique visitor experience and encourage conversions throughout the visit.

Prometheus Fuels

Prometheus Fuels uses video and gaming elements to create an interactive experience that tells the story of the brand in a much more interesting and engaging way than a traditional “About Us” page. 

The user is in control of the pace of the video, allowing customers to feel as though they are a part of the story being told.

Delve Architects

Delve Architects is an example of a website that uses interactive elements to share a message. 

The goal of the brand is to make architectural design more approachable and light-hearted. By using a pastel color palette and creating clickable elements, the brand is able to stand out from competitors.

Whiteboard

Whiteboard is an agency that uses animations and scrolling to create an interesting experience that helps you browse through their portfolio. 

Rather than having straight lines and case studies linked under a separate tab, you can click through images on the homepage and learn more about Whiteboard’s capabilities.

Wrap Up

Knowing how to make an interactive website is a great way to improve the overall experience that your customers have. 

By providing plenty of interactive elements that draw them in and bring them back again and again, you can improve your conversion rates and help your audiences engage with your content. 

An interactive website can become the hallmark of your brand, helping you increase your brand reach and awareness among target audiences. 

Adding in interactive elements doesn’t need to be an expensive production or require a website redesign. Even small elements like quizzes or maps can improve the customer experience.

If you are interested in learning more about it, check out our Interactive Content Guide. 

You’ll learn how to add interactivity to your content strategy and understand more about the different formats that you can use for interactive content creation. 

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Where should a team start when making a site more interactive?

The article says you do not need a full redesign: begin with a calculator or quiz that fits the existing style. That keeps risk low while still inviting participation. Wikipedia's interactive-media definition only requires that output respond to input, so even a narrow tool qualifies. Pick one high-intent page, add one module, and measure whether people finish it.

Why does the guide stress mobile and navigation?

Most visitors arrive on phones, so interactive elements must adapt through responsive design. Menus also need to stay clear so people can skip motion and reach key pages. Google Search Central states that indexing and ranking use the mobile version of a site. If interaction breaks thumbs or hides nav, you lose both UX and crawlable usefulness.

Which richer elements come after the small wins?

Later steps cover video or image interactions and animated elements once the basics are stable. The examples section points to Foot Locker, Prometheus Fuels, an architecture studio showcase, and Whiteboard as pattern references for scroll, clickable storytelling, and portfolio browsing. Treat those as inspiration rather than templates you must clone. Add motion only when it still leaves a clear path forward.

Can interactivity help if someone is not ready to buy yet?

The intro argues that a stronger experience can bring visitors back even when they do not convert on the first visit. Quizzes and helpful calculators teach and entertain without forcing a hard sell. Keep the modules useful so return trips feel earned. Interaction without a clear job for the user becomes noise.

MM Matt Montenegro

Matt Montenegro

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