Interactive content: basics, tips, and tools

Most website operators aim to inform their visitors about particular topics or to entertain them. Today, more than ever, we rely on unique, high-quality content to stand out from the crowd. Interactive content (content that encourages the visitor to participate), in particular, is becoming more and more important.

The reasoning is simple: Interactive content speaks to the visitor on many levels. The visitor does not simply read a text or look at an image, but can engage with elements directly, unlock access to further information, and disclose their opinion on topics. This makes the content more memorable as well as fun. Interacting with the website and therefore also with the brand or service is a lot more intense than just reading a paragraph of text. It also increases the probability of the user being satisfied, which will lead to more conversions and a longer length of stay.

In the following article, we provide an overview of the different types of interactive content and introduce you to useful tools that you can use to create or embed this type of content into your website.

The types of content presented above all require considerably more effort than ordinary text and image content. They are also more expensive, especially the tools and services needed to create these interactive elements. If you are not an expert when it comes to game programming, but want to integrate a game into your website, it makes sense to get help from an external agency. This also applies to professional 360° videos, which are a lot more work than you would think at first glance. The demand for high-quality equipment and the time required to process the raw materials as quickly as possible can lead to costs in the five-digit range – just for a few minutes of film.

However, some interactive content such as interactive graphics, quizzes, or slideshows can often be produced without the help of external service providers. You just need a good concept and the right tool. Some of the most helpful tools are presented below.

The basic version of the image editor is free to use, although it only offers a standard button in different colours to indicate interactive elements. In addition, the number of monthly views for the image or graphics is limited to 10,000. If you want to customise the design of the button and any additional information, you can make use of the ‘Professional’ plan ($20/£15 per month per user – 100k views per month). You also receive extensive analysis statistics and the interactive graphics will be free from any ThingLink branding. With the ‘Premium’ plan ($125/£95 per month for five users and 1 million views), you can also create 360° images and videos with interactive content.

The basic version of Infogram is completely free to use for creating interactive content. However, you’re quite limited to what you can do with the software: only a handful of maps (including USA, Europe, and Africa) and a small selection of icons and images are available to use. In addition, you are obliged to keep projects publicly available. To be able to create private projects and to gain access to over a million images and icons, the paid packages 'Pro' (from $19/£14 per month for up to 100 projects), 'Business' (from $67/£50 per month for up to 1,000 projects), or 'Enterprise' (price on request, for unlimited number of projects) are required. The 'Business' and 'Enterprise' plans also allow you to use your own logo. Normally the graphics and images are branded with Infogram’s own logo.

Qzzr not only allows you to create interactive content, but also provides detailed statistics on user activities. For example, it tells you how many users completed a quiz or participated in a survey, how much time they spent on average, and whether they finished the quiz or survey (completion rate). If you connect a call-to-action with your content, you can also find out the conversion rate.

If you just want to create a simple quiz or small survey for your website, there’s a free basic package available. For professional, interactive content, however, you should invest in the 'Pro' account ($24.99/£19 per month). In this version, there’s only a small reference to Qzzr (whereas in the basic version, the logo even appears in shared content). In addition, you can automatically recommend other quizzes and surveys from the Qzzr network. If you do not want there to be any reference to the tool or provider, then this is only possible with the 'Performance' version. There is no flat rate for this; you need to enquire for rates.

To create the desired interactive media content, the Cincopa user can choose from a variety of templates: Among other things, there are templates for collages, slideshows, video players, playlists, or timelines, all of which are available in the free version. However, this basic tariff is limited to one domain, 50 images and three audio and video files, as well as one gigabyte of traffic. In addition, the phrase 'Powered by Cincopa' can be seen in the content. If you want to regularly create and publish interactive content, you should opt for one of the paid services: 'Startup' (1 domain, 5 video/audio files, 1,500 images, 10 GB traffic for a one time payment of $99/£75), 'Plus' (5 domains, 50 videos, 200 audio files, 2,000 images, 100 GB traffic for $25 per month), or 'Corporate' (unlimited domains, 500 videos, 1,000 audio files, 5,000 images, 400 GB traffic for $99 per month).

To fill your own projects with content, you can also upload and use your own image material. In addition, you can create headings, text blocks, and buttons and position them wherever you want in your web stories. By choosing a theme, you can also influence the design. To import clips, you only need to specify the URL. The content can be shared either via the automatically generated link (integrated functions for Facebook and Twitter), sent by e-mail, or embedded into your own website using a code. The use of Spark applications, which are also available as iOS apps, is completely free. Although subscribers of Creative Cloud are able to remove the logo from their content.

If you want to use Mapme to create your own interactive content for your website, you need one of the paid versions. The free version of the web application is only really a demonstration of the tool and does not provide you with the possibility of publishing or embedding created maps. Users can choose between the three premium plans: 'Basic' (from $19/£14 per month), 'Standard' (from $29/£22 per month), and 'Plus' (from $49/£37 per month). The latter plan not only allows an unlimited number of locations to be pinned, but also uses 3D effects for a more interesting map design. In addition, those using the 'Plus' licence can customise the map via CSS.

The aforementioned tools offer different options to make your own web project more interactive even on a small budget. Financially-strong companies also have the means to enlist agencies to take care of the creation and maintenance of interactive website content. Interactive content makes a website more attractive, but only if it is used correctly and doesn’t lead the visitor away from your product or service. It is therefore necessary to create the appropriate framework for the interactive content and, on the other hand, to find the right balance between information and entertainment – a task that has been mastered by the following websites:

• Airbnb: Using an interactive infographic
• Fillory: Using an impressive interactive map, the website welcometofillory.com presents the fantasy world Fillory of Syfy series 'The Magicians' (based on Lev Grossman’s trilogy of the same name). There is also detailed information on the main characters as well as various mini games and quizzes under the heading 'Quests'. When the second season came about, the channel decided to have the website created through the production studio, UNIT9.
• Boots: The landing page of the famous shop, Boots, is an example of how a slideshow works. The slideshow moves automatically to show the shop’s offers and events, as well as services that the chemist provides.
• mymuesli: Users can make their own muesli from lots of different ingredients using the online configurator from mymuesli. Once you’ve chosen a muesli base and added fruits, nuts, or chocolate, you can directly order it, or save it on the website and share the link with friends.