The principle: interrupt intent, not attention
A proactive invitation is a judgment that this visitor, on this page, right now, likely has a question worth asking. That judgment is credible on a pricing page after forty-five seconds. It is not credible on the homepage after five. Every invitation spends a little of the visitor's patience — spend it where the intent is.
Where invitations earn their keep
- Pricing pages — the visitor is comparing; objections are forming. "Any questions about the plans?"
- Checkout and cart pages — hesitation here is money. "Questions about shipping or returns before you order?"
- High-value product or listing pages — long dwell time signals real consideration.
- Documentation dead-ends — a visitor bouncing between help articles is a visitor not finding the answer.
Conspicuously absent: the homepage, the blog, and "every page." Site-wide invitations are how chat widgets earn reflexive close-clicks.
Timing: later than you think
Fire the invitation after the visitor has demonstrably engaged — commonly 30 to 60 seconds of dwell time, or a repeat visit to the same page. An invitation that appears before the page is read is a pop-up; the same invitation after a minute of visible consideration is service.
Say something specific
"Hi! How can I help you today?" is furniture. The message should prove a human (or a well-configured trigger) noticed the context:
- Pricing page: "Deciding between plans? Happy to give you a straight answer on which fits."
- Checkout: "If anything about shipping or returns is unclear, ask here — real person, quick answer."
- Docs: "Looks like you're digging. Want to just ask?"
Measure it or turn it off
An invitation earns its interruption when it starts conversations that go somewhere. Watch three numbers: how often the invitation is accepted, how many accepted chats become qualified conversations, and whether pages with invitations convert better than before. If acceptance is low and falling, the message or the timing is wrong — fix one variable at a time. And keep one control page with no invitation; it keeps you honest.