AI Chatbots for Small Business Websites: What They Really Do
Used well, a chat assistant catches enquiries you would otherwise lose at nine in the evening. Used badly, it stands between a customer and your phone number.
Half the websites you visit now open with a little box in the corner asking how it can help. Some of them are genuinely useful. Most are a search box wearing a costume, and a few are actively in the way of the phone number. It is worth knowing which one you would be buying.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| What does a chatbot actually do? | Answers common questions and takes details when you are not available, then passes the enquiry to you. |
| Will it replace answering the phone? | No, and it should not try. It catches the people who would otherwise have left without contacting you. |
| When does it help most? | Outside working hours, and for businesses that get the same handful of questions over and over. |
| When does it annoy people? | When it blocks the phone number, pretends to be human, or cannot answer and cannot hand over. |
| What does it cost with us? | An AI chatbot or automation is part of the £649 a month Business plan. |
What the technology is good at
A chat assistant connected to your own content is good at a narrow set of jobs, and genuinely good at them:
- Answering the same five questions you answer every week: do you cover my area, what are your hours, do you charge for a quote, are you insured, how soon could you come out.
- Taking a name and number at eleven at night so you can ring back in the morning, rather than that person moving on to the next firm.
- Pointing someone to the right page when your site has more than a handful of services.
- Pre qualifying a job so your callback starts from something useful rather than from scratch.
That is a real gain for a business where the owner is on site all day. The enquiry that arrives at nine in the evening is the one most often lost, and catching it is worth more than any clever conversation.
What it is bad at, and what that costs you
The failure modes are predictable, and all of them cost you the enquiry the thing was supposed to catch.
Standing in front of the phone
If the chat box is the most prominent thing on the page and your number is in the footer, you have made it harder to contact you, not easier.
Pretending to be a person
People work it out quickly and feel misled. Name it clearly as an assistant and the same conversation goes fine.
Dead ends
A bot that cannot answer and cannot hand over is worse than no bot. There must always be a route to a human and a number.
Answering wrongly
A confident wrong answer about price or coverage is worse than silence, because somebody acts on it. It should only speak from your own content.
The simpler tools that often beat it
For a lot of small businesses, two less fashionable things do most of the work a chatbot is bought for.
The first is missed call text back. Somebody rings while you are under a sink, you cannot answer, and they automatically get a text saying you will ring back shortly and asking what they need. No conversation design, no risk of a wrong answer, and it addresses the single biggest leak in a trade business.
The second is a short, well placed enquiry form with a tappable phone number next to it. Dull, but it converts, and it never says anything embarrassing.
If your website is losing enquiries, fix the phone number and the form first. Add the assistant afterwards, if it still looks useful.
A sensible order to do things in
- 1Make your phone number tappable and visible in the header on every page.
- 2Cut your enquiry form to a name, a contact and one sentence about the job.
- 3Put the five questions you answer most on the site as an FAQ, in plain words.
- 4Add missed call text back if calls are how most of your work arrives.
- 5Then, if there is still a gap outside working hours, add a chat assistant that reads from your own content and hands over to a human.
Done in that order, each step makes the next one worth more. Done in reverse, you end up with a clever assistant guarding a website nobody can contact.
What we offer and what it costs
An AI chatbot or automation is included in our Business plan at £649 a month, alongside a custom SEO strategy, advanced analytics, a dedicated account manager and copywriter, and five hours of support a month. Booking and CRM systems come in at the £249 Professional level.
For most sole traders and small trades, the £74 Starter plan plus a clear form and a visible number does the job, and we will say so rather than sell you the top plan. If you want to see what we change on a site to lift enquiries, read our conversion rate guide.
Not sure where your enquiries are leaking?
Send us your website address and tell us how people usually get in touch. We will tell you what we would fix first.
Frequently asked questions
What does an AI chatbot do on a small business website?+
It answers the questions you get asked most and takes a name and number when you are not available, then passes the enquiry to you. Its main value is catching people who get in touch outside working hours.
Will a chatbot replace answering the phone?+
No, and it should not try. Most people who want a local trade or service would rather ring. A chat assistant is there for the ones who will not ring, usually in the evening or at the weekend.
When does a chatbot put customers off?+
When it is more prominent than your phone number, when it pretends to be a person, or when it cannot answer and offers no way through to a human. Any of those loses you the enquiry it was meant to catch.
Is missed call text back better than a chatbot?+
For many trades, yes. If somebody rings while you are on a job and gets an automatic text saying you will call back, you have recovered the enquiry with none of the risk of a bot giving a wrong answer.
Does Forte Web Solutions include an AI chatbot?+
An AI chatbot or automation is part of our Business plan at £649 a month. Booking and CRM systems are in the Professional plan at £249 a month.
Do I need a chatbot at all?+
Most small businesses do not, at least not first. A visible tappable phone number, a short enquiry form and a clear FAQ page usually recover more enquiries for less money and less risk.
Can a chatbot give customers the wrong information?+
It can if it is allowed to answer from general knowledge rather than from your own content. Any assistant on your site should be limited to what you have published and should hand over to a person when it is unsure.
Keep reading
Web Design Tips That Improve Your Conversion Rate
Seven practical changes that turn more of the visitors you already have into phone calls and enquiry forms.
User ExperienceMobile-First Design for Local Service Businesses
Most people who need a plumber are standing up holding a phone. Here is what that should change about your website.
MarketingHow to Spend a Small Business Marketing Budget
Where to put your first few hundred pounds a month, in the order that usually pays back fastest.
Local SEO5 Local SEO Tips to Rank Higher in South Wales
How to get into the Google map pack in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, starting with the five things that move the needle most.
Wondering whether automation would help you?
Tell us how enquiries reach you now and we will say honestly whether a chatbot would add anything.