I'm thinking of putting a "live chat" button or link on a site I work on. It should appear on every page, and ideally would be in the same location on every page.
Are there any usability principles that I should be aware of to govern where to put the link and how it should look? Where would users expect to see such a link? And do users have "ad blindness" or something similar to some implementations?
How do users respond to:
- Links/buttons popping in from the side or bottom of the page? (like this)
- Graphics-heavy links (like this)
- Simple text links in the header or footer? (like the "chat" link in the header of this site)
Edit:
I found the article Improving the User Experience of ‘Live Chat’ Can Improve Sales. I like what it's saying, but it's rather light on any sort of evidence. If anyone could back up its recommendations with some sort of evidence that would be helpful.