Build a simple chatbot for your small‑business site with Cohere

Create your Cohere account

Start by visiting cohere.com in your web browser. You'll see the Cohere homepage, likely with a prominent "Sign up" or "Get started" button. Click this button to begin the registration process. Follow the on-screen prompts to enter your name, email address, and choose a strong password. After submitting, you'll usually receive a verification email – open it and click the link inside to confirm your new account.

If it looks different: If you can't find a "Sign up" button, look for "Log in" and then a smaller link to "Register" or "Create an account."

You'll know it worked when you are redirected to a success page or automatically logged into the Cohere platform.

Start a new chatbot project

Once logged into Cohere, you'll likely see a main Dashboard or Projects area, which acts as your central workspace. Look for a large button or link that says "New Project" or "Create Chatbot." Click this to start building your AI assistant. You'll then be prompted to select the type of project you want to create; choose "Chatbot" or a similar option. Next, you'll need to give your chatbot a clear name, like "ShopHelper" or "SupportBot." This name helps you identify your project later and won't be visible to your website visitors.

If it looks different: The "New Project" button might be in a sidebar menu, at the top of the screen, or represented by a "+" icon. Just look for a clear option to start something new.

You'll know it worked when you see a new project workspace open, ready for you to add content to your chatbot.

Build conversations with the visual editor

Cohere provides a visual, drag-and-drop editor where you can easily design how your chatbot responds. Imagine a whiteboard where you arrange conversation "blocks." First, find the "Add Block" or "+" button to add your first "Question" block. Type one of your common customer queries into this block, such as "What are your opening hours?". Then, drag an "Answer" block directly below it and type the correct response, for instance: "We're open Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm, and Saturday 10 am-3 pm." Repeat this process for each of your top questions, building a simple conversation flow for your bot. This visual approach lets you "teach" the bot without writing complex code.

If it looks different: The layout of the blocks might vary slightly, but the core idea of connecting questions to answers remains the same. Look for clear labels like "Question," "Response," or "Message."

• Answer block: “Yes, we ship to Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Shipping costs are calculated at checkout.” You'll know it worked when you see your question and answer blocks visually linked together on the canvas, forming a basic conversation path.

Generate your web widget code

A widget is like a small, self-contained mini-app that you can embed directly onto your website. Once you've set up a few question-and-answer pairs, you'll need to turn your chatbot into this embeddable widget. Look for a "Deploy," "Publish," or "Embed" tab or button within your Cohere project interface. This section is usually dedicated to getting your chatbot onto other platforms. Here, you'll find options to create a web widget. You might even be able to customise its appearance (like its size, colour, or where it sits on your screen). After you've made your choices, Cohere will automatically generate a snippet of code, typically a combination of HTML and JavaScript. This code is the essential link that allows your website to communicate with your new AI assistant.

If it looks different: The exact location of the "Deploy" or "Embed" option might be in a sidebar or a top-level menu item. Don't worry if the customisation options look slightly different; the key is to find the generated code.

``` You'll know it worked when **you see a box containing lines of code that you can copy to your clipboard.**

Add the widget to your website

Now it's time to put your chatbot on your live website. Log into your website's Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. Navigate to the area where you can edit the HTML code of your pages or the site's footer. This is often labelled "Theme Editor," "Custom Code," or "Embed Code." Paste the code snippet you copied from Cohere (in Step 4) into this designated HTML area. A common and effective place is just before the closing </body> tag in your site's footer, as this ensures the chat icon appears on every page. After pasting, be sure to save and publish your changes to make them live.

If it looks different: In some CMS platforms like Wix or Squarespace, you might look for an "Embed Block" or "Custom Code" section within your page editor. On WordPress, you might go to Appearance → Theme File Editor → footer.php (or a similar template file) and paste the code there.

You'll know it worked when you visit your live website in a browser and see a small chat bubble or icon appear, usually in the bottom-right corner.