What is in­ter­ac­tive content and how can you use it suc­cess­ful­ly?

In­ter­ac­tive content is a crucial way to not only inform website visitors, but also entertain them and actively engage them. Today more than ever, it’s important to focus on unique, high-quality content and elements to stand out from the crowd.

Key Takeaways ⓘ

• In­ter­ac­tive content actively involves visitors and can increase time spent on your website.
• Formats range from quizzes and slideshows to con­fig­u­ra­tors and in­ter­ac­tive maps.
• Tools and costs depend on the format, features, and usage you need.
• Privacy re­quire­ments depend on the ap­plic­a­ble law and call for trans­paren­cy and ap­pro­pri­ate safe­guards.

Why is an in­ter­ac­tive website important?

The reasoning is simple. In­ter­ac­tive content engages users on multiple levels. Visitors don’t just read a text or look at an image; they can actively influence an element, unlock access to ad­di­tion­al in­for­ma­tion, or express their own thoughts. In this way, content becomes an ex­pe­ri­ence and is more likely to stick in people’s minds. In­ter­ac­tion with the website—and by extension with the brands or services behind it—is sig­nif­i­cant­ly more engaging than simply consuming content passively. This higher level of en­gage­ment increases the chances of user sat­is­fac­tion, en­cour­ages con­ver­sions, and leads to longer time spent on the site.

What formats of in­ter­ac­tive content are there?

There are many different ways to implement an in­ter­ac­tive website, all of which can be in­te­grat­ed into your own web project with varying levels of effort. Depending on the format, this may require a wide range of tools or pro­gram­ming skills. Ul­ti­mate­ly, this means that the in­di­vid­ual types of content also differ sig­nif­i­cant­ly in terms of the costs involved. The following table provides an overview of selected solutions for creating in­ter­ac­tive website content.

Data privacy and in­ter­ac­tive content

In­ter­ac­tive tools such as surveys, quizzes, forms, or embedded third-party services may involve the col­lec­tion or pro­cess­ing of personal in­for­ma­tion. In Canada, PIPEDA (the Personal In­for­ma­tion Pro­tec­tion and Elec­tron­ic Documents Act) generally applies to private-sector com­mer­cial ac­tiv­i­ties, subject to its scope and ex­emp­tions. Ap­plic­a­ble provin­cial privacy laws must also be con­sid­ered, including sub­stan­tial­ly similar private-sector laws in Alberta, British Columbia, and Quebec.

Website operators must explain the purposes for col­lect­ing, using, and dis­clos­ing personal in­for­ma­tion, obtain mean­ing­ful consent where required, and protect the in­for­ma­tion with ap­pro­pri­ate safe­guards. Consent re­quire­ments have statutory ex­cep­tions. In­di­vid­u­als generally have rights to access their personal in­for­ma­tion and challenge its accuracy so that it can be corrected. Retention and disposal must follow ap­plic­a­ble re­quire­ments; PIPEDA does not provide a blanket right to deletion. Trans­par­ent data practices also help build trust and protect user privacy.

The best tools for creating in­ter­ac­tive content

All of the content types discussed involve a con­sid­er­ably higher level of effort than tra­di­tion­al text or image-based content. They also come with increased costs, largely driven by the tools, tech­nolo­gies, and services required to build and maintain in­ter­ac­tive elements. For instance, if in-house expertise in game de­vel­op­ment is lacking, in­te­grat­ing a game into a website will typically require working with an external agency.

The situation is similar with pro­fes­sion­al 360-degree videos, which involve far more work than is apparent at first glance. The need for high-quality equipment and the time required to post-process the raw footage can quickly lead to costs in the five-figure range—and that for just a few minutes of video.

However, certain types of in­ter­ac­tive content—such as in­ter­ac­tive graphics, quizzes, or slideshows—can often be created without relying on external service providers. All that’s needed is a well-thought-out concept and the right tool. For this reason, we present some of the most in­ter­est­ing tools below.

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ThingLink

In 2011, the Finnish company ThingLink launched its Rich Media Tags software, enabling links to be embedded directly into images on websites and social media platforms. Since then, the de­vel­op­ment team has con­tin­u­ous­ly refined the web ap­pli­ca­tion, now known simply as ThingLink. Today, it allows images and graphics to be enriched with ad­di­tion­al elements such as text boxes, images, audio, videos, or links.

To do this, users can rely on an intuitive, AI-supported web editor that makes it easy to import original images or graphics via drag and drop. The added cus­tomiz­able buttons clearly indicate where in­ter­ac­tive elements are embedded, guiding viewers to ad­di­tion­al content.

The image editor is available as part of a free trial. The basic version includes standard buttons in various colours to highlight in­ter­ac­tive elements. The number of permitted views depends on the selected plan and the provider’s current terms and con­di­tions.

The current business plans are Team, starting at EUR 425 per month, and Business, starting at EUR 1,300 per month, both billed annually. En­ter­prise pricing is available on request. Features and usage limits depend on the selected plan.

Infogram

If you want to present data in an engaging way while making use of in­ter­ac­tive elements, Infogram is a strong choice. The web-based tool is now owned by Prezi, which also offers pre­sen­ta­tion software and other visual com­mu­ni­ca­tion products.

Infogram provides a wide selection of layouts and modular building blocks for creating in­ter­ac­tive in­fo­graph­ics, maps, and charts. Content can be added manually using your own datasets or imported via built-in functions. The tool also in­te­grates with services such as Google Drive, Google Sheets, Dropbox, and OneDrive. Finished visuals can be embedded into your web project using an embed code or down­loaded as JPG or PNG files, which is only available with paid plans.

The Basic plan from Infogram is available free of charge for personal use. Busi­ness­es, or­ga­ni­za­tions, and pro­fes­sion­als need a paid plan. The Basic plan’s func­tion­al­i­ty is fairly limited. Only a small number of maps (including the USA, Europe, and Africa) and a re­strict­ed selection of icons and images are available. In addition, all projects must be saved as publicly ac­ces­si­ble.

To create private projects and gain access to more than one million images and icons, a paid plan is required. Infogram offers Pro (up to 100 projects, from USD 19 per month), Business (up to 1,000 projects, from USD 67 per month), Team (from USD 149 per month), and En­ter­prise (10,000+ projects; pricing on request). The listed monthly prices are billed annually and exclude ap­plic­a­ble taxes. Business, Team, and En­ter­prise also allow you to use your own logo instead of Infogram branding.

Qzzr

Qzzr is a powerful tool for creating cus­tomized quizzes, surveys, and top lists. With this solution, you can create questions, answer options, ex­plana­to­ry de­scrip­tions, and tips in no time—adding images, videos, or audio files further enhances the in­ter­ac­tive content. Finished content can be linked, embedded directly into a web project via embed code, or al­ter­na­tive­ly shared with one click across various social networks. It is also always au­to­mat­i­cal­ly optimized for mobile devices.

Qzzr not only enables the creation of in­ter­ac­tive content but also provides detailed user activity analytics. For example, you can see how many users completed a quiz or took part in a survey, how long they spent on it on average, and whether they worked through the content from start to finish (com­ple­tion rate). If a call to action is linked to the content, the con­ver­sion rate can also be tracked.

Qzzr includes 300 free com­ple­tions with no time limit and access to all features from the start. After that, Qzzr Pro costs EUR 9 per month, including 1,000 com­ple­tions per month. An ad­di­tion­al 1,000 com­ple­tions cost EUR 5.

Cincopa

The mul­ti­me­dia platform provider Cincopa, founded in 2006, offers solutions for in­te­grat­ing and managing media content in web projects. Users can use it to enhance their website with custom video portals, podcasts, or slideshows. For this purpose, Cincopa provides, on the one hand, dedicated web editors that let you create the desired in­ter­ac­tive content. On the other hand, the company also provides the required hosting resources for the media files used (audio, video, images, etc.), which are mainly operated on servers outside the EU, es­pe­cial­ly in the US.

In addition, there are several ways to embed the finished content, such as via HTML code, a landing page, linking, or a CMS-specific plugin (including WordPress, Joomla, Blogger, Drupal, and Wix).

To design the in­ter­ac­tive media content you want, you can choose from a wide range of templates, including options for collages, slideshows, video players, playlists, and timelines. Cincopa offers a 14-day free trial.

For ongoing use, Cincopa offers Starter at USD 99 per month and Growth at USD 350 per month. En­ter­prise pricing is available on request.

Adobe Express (formerly Adobe Spark)

Adobe is known, among other things, for its Creative Cloud (formerly Creative Suite). With Adobe Express, the software company also offers a powerful solution for visually crafted sto­ry­telling and web-based content creation. Whether you want to enhance a photo with text and design filters, create high-quality pro­mo­tion­al or in­for­ma­tion­al clips, or present content in an appealing, page-based format is entirely up to you. Adobe Express can also be seam­less­ly connected to the Creative Cloud and Adobe Stock.

To fill your own projects with content, you can of course upload and use your own images. You can also create headlines, text blocks, and buttons and position them wherever you want. Choosing a theme also lets you influence the design. Clips can be imported by entering the re­spec­tive URL. The content can be shared via the au­to­mat­i­cal­ly generated link, sent by email, or embedded into your own website via code. Using Adobe Express is free, but sub­scribers can, for example, remove the branding.

Typeform

The company Typeform, founded in Barcelona in 2012, provides a platform for creating in­ter­ac­tive forms, surveys, quizzes, and polls. The tool is designed to make data col­lec­tion feel con­ver­sa­tion­al and user-friendly, replacing tra­di­tion­al static forms with a step-by-step, in­ter­ac­tive ex­pe­ri­ence. Typeform is commonly used for lead gen­er­a­tion, customer feedback, on­board­ing flows, and market research.

Typeform offers a browser-based editor that allows users to build in­ter­ac­tive content using pre­de­fined question types, logic jumps, and con­di­tion­al flows. Responses are collected and processed in real time. US and EU data hosting options depend on the selected plan.

The finished forms and quizzes can be embedded in various ways, including via HTML embed code, pop-ups, landing pages, direct links, or CMS in­te­gra­tions such as WordPress, Webflow, and Wix.

To create in­ter­ac­tive content, users can choose from a wide range of templates for surveys, quizzes, lead forms, and feedback forms. The free plan includes 10 responses per month across all forms, logic, branching, cal­cu­la­tions, and selected in­te­gra­tions. Typeform branding remains in place, and some in­te­gra­tions and other features require a paid plan.

For higher response limits or ad­di­tion­al features, Typeform offers paid plans including Basic, Plus, and Business, with En­ter­prise options available on request. Branding options, in­te­gra­tions, and analytics vary by plan. Check the provider’s current terms and prices before sub­scrib­ing.

Mapme

With the web editor Mapme, you can create high-quality, in­ter­ac­tive maps even without pro­gram­ming skills. Users can choose from various map styles, such as satellite imagery, street maps, or nature. The number of locations depends on your sub­scrip­tion: Starter supports up to 30 locations per map, Pro­fes­sion­al up to 300, and Expert up to 500. Each pin marks a location and provides in­for­ma­tion about it.

It’s also possible to customize the look of the pin (premium plans also let you use your own icons) and add images, audio or video files, as well as social media buttons. Depending on the selected layout, the in­ter­ac­tive pin content appears in a slider menu at the bottom of the map (Slider Style) or in a list on the left side of the map (List Style).

Mapme offers a 14-day free trial that lets you publish and embed a map with up to five locations and 100 map views. For ongoing use, Starter, Pro­fes­sion­al, and Expert start at USD 30, USD 55, and USD 110 per month when billed annually, re­spec­tive­ly. With monthly billing, the prices are USD 50, USD 90, and USD 180 per month. En­ter­prise pricing is available on request.

The Expert plan adds expanded CSS and branding controls, team col­lab­o­ra­tion, and advanced filters. It supports up to 500 locations per map. API and CRM in­te­gra­tions and extended reporting and analytics are listed under En­ter­prise, not as standard Expert features.

Best practices for in­ter­ac­tive website content with examples

The tools presented above make it possible to add in­ter­ac­tive elements to a website even with limited resources and a modest budget. Companies with larger budgets can, of course, also work with spe­cial­ized agencies to design, implement, and maintain more complex in­ter­ac­tive ex­pe­ri­ences. Re­gard­less of the approach, in­ter­ac­tive content can sig­nif­i­cant­ly enhance a website—provided it is used pur­pose­ful­ly and does not distract users from the core product or service.

The key is to create the right context for each in­ter­ac­tive element and to achieve a balanced mix of in­for­ma­tion and en­gage­ment. When done well, in­ter­ac­tive content supports decision-making, improves usability, and keeps users involved. The following websites demon­strate how this balance can be achieved in practice:

• Airbnb: Airbnb fre­quent­ly uses in­ter­ac­tive maps, filters, and data-driven vi­su­al­iza­tions to help users explore listings and des­ti­na­tions. In addition to per­son­al­ized rec­om­men­da­tions, in­ter­ac­tive elements such as map-based search results and dynamic pricing insights make complex in­for­ma­tion easier to un­der­stand and navigate. This approach shows how in­ter­ac­tiv­i­ty can directly support usability and con­ver­sion.
• Nike: The Nike website makes extensive use of in­ter­ac­tive product ex­pe­ri­ences, par­tic­u­lar­ly through its “Nike By You” con­fig­u­ra­tor. Users can customize shoes by selecting colours, materials, and design details, pre­view­ing changes in real time before pur­chas­ing. This type of in­ter­ac­tiv­i­ty not only enhances en­gage­ment but also strength­ens the emotional con­nec­tion to the product.
• Starbucks: Starbucks demon­strates effective use of in­ter­ac­tive content through its store locator and rewards tools. In­ter­ac­tive maps, filters, and per­son­al­ized dash­boards allow users to find nearby locations, track rewards, and explore menu options. These features combine practical in­for­ma­tion with a smooth, in­ter­ac­tive user ex­pe­ri­ence that supports both online and in-store en­gage­ment.