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AI chatbots have improved to the point where a small business can have one answering customer questions around the clock. They have also become easy to add badly. A chatbot that gives wrong answers or blocks people from reaching a human does more harm than having none. This guide covers the options, the costs and how to set one up so it actually helps.
What a chatbot can realistically do
- Answer common questions about services, prices, opening hours and policies.
- Collect a visitor's details and enquiry outside working hours.
- Point people to the right page or product.
- Book appointments through a connected calendar.
- Hand over to a person when it cannot help.
It will not replace your support team, and it should not be making promises about refunds, legal matters or anything else where a wrong answer costs you.
Three ways to add one
| Option | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted chat service | You sign up, train it on your site, and paste a snippet or install its plugin | Most businesses |
| WordPress chatbot plugin with your own AI key | The plugin runs in WordPress and you pay the AI provider for usage | People who want more control and lower running costs |
| Custom build | A developer builds it around your data and systems | Complex needs such as order lookups or account data |
Start with the simplest option that meets your need. You can always move to something more custom later.
What it costs
- Hosted services charge a monthly fee, usually based on the number of conversations.
- Bring-your-own-key plugins have a plugin licence, plus usage charges from the AI provider that rise with traffic.
- Custom builds have a development cost plus usage.
Set a spending limit with the AI provider from day one. A bot left open to the public with no limit can run up a bill if it is abused.
How to set it up well
- Decide its job. One clear purpose, such as answering pre-sales questions, works better than trying to do everything.
- Give it accurate source material. It can only be as correct as the pages and documents you train it on. Fix outdated content first.
- Tell it what not to answer. Have it say it does not know and offer a human contact when a question is outside its material.
- Make the human route obvious. Always show a way to reach a person or leave a message.
- Say that it is an AI. Visitors should know they are talking to a bot.
- Test with real questions from your inbox before you go live.
- Review the transcripts every week at first. They show you what customers ask and where the bot fails.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Slowing the site down. Chat widgets load extra scripts. Set the widget to load after the page, or only when the visitor clicks the chat button.
- Covering the screen on mobile. A widget that hides your call button or cookie notice costs enquiries.
- Privacy. Conversations may contain personal data. Mention the chatbot in your privacy policy and check where the provider stores data.
- Wrong answers. Never let it quote prices or terms it has not been given.
- Auto-opening on every page. It annoys people. Let them open it.
Is it worth it?
If you receive the same ten questions every week, or you lose enquiries overnight, a well set up chatbot pays for itself. If your site gets little traffic, a clear FAQ page and a good contact form will do more.
We can add a chatbot to your WordPress site without hurting its speed, and connect it to your forms or CRM. See our WordPress solutions or book a free call.
Planning a new site and want the chatbot part of it from day one? That is easy to scope on a free call, and our WordPress website creation page explains how a build with us works.
