How to Create a Chatbot (Step-by-Step Guide)

In 2025, every business needs automation to keep workloads under control and ensure customers get timely answers. And every support team should be looking at chatbots to make that automation smarter, faster, and more cost-efficient. 

If you’re worried chatbots might feel robotic or frustrate customers, think again: `IBM reports that modern bots now handle up to 80% of routine questions, while companies using them cut support costs by nearly 30%.

So now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s explore how to create a chatbot for your support team. 

In this guide, we’ll cover both no-code and code approaches, walk through the key steps, and highlight what to keep in mind before launching your own chatbot.

Table of Contents

• Why do you need to build a chatbot?
• Create Your First Chatbot: A Beginner’s Roadmap
  • 1. No-code chatbot development 
  • 2. Low-code
  • 3. Full-code 
• How to Create a Chatbot Without Coding (Recommended For Most Users)
  • Step 1: Set goals
  • Step 2: Choose a platform 
  • Step 3: Design conversation flow
  • Step 4: Train and Refine Your Bot
  • Step 5: Test, Integrate, and Deploy
• How to Create a Chatbot With Code
  • Step 1: Set up prerequisites
  • Step 2: Simple Starter Script
  • Step 3: Add Simple NLP Logic
  • Step 4: Add Memory or API Integration
• Best Practices to Build a Successful Chatbot
  • Use an Iterative Approach
  • Prioritize Speed and Reliability
  • Be Transparent and Manage Expectations
  • Give Your Chatbot a Personality
  • Monitor and Collect Feedback
• Key Considerations Before You Create a Chatbot
• Build a Chatbot Easily Using Hiver
• FAQ

Why do you need to build a chatbot?

A chatbot is a computer program that interacts with people through text or voice. The main goal of building a chatbot is to improve customer experience by giving quick and relevant responses.

Beyond customer service, businesses build chatbots to automate routine work, qualify leads for the sales team, and ensure 24/7 support availability across all digital channels. Chatbots also collect customer data and insights from conversations, which can be used to improve products and services.

Create Your First Chatbot: A Beginner’s Roadmap

You can build a chatbot in many ways, depending on your skills, time, and what you need the chatbot to do. Most beginners follow one of three paths:

1. No-code chatbot development

If you’re new to chatbot development, no-code tools are the fastest and most beginner-friendly way to get started. It doesn’t require you to write a single line of code. Instead, you design conversation flows using visual drag-and-drop interfaces.

Most no-code platforms offer pre-built live chat templates for common use cases, such as customer support, lead generation, and e-commerce. These pre-built flows allow you to launch a fully functional chatbot in hours, without hiring developers.

2. Low-code

Low-code combines visual design with a small amount of scripting. It gives you more room to customize while still being accessible to non-developers. You can choose this approach for projects that need custom rules or integrations but don’t call for complete coding.

3. Full-code

Full-code development is an entirely technical route where you write the code, connect APIs, and manage data directly. The full code approach works best for developers or advanced teams creating complex, highly customized chatbots beyond the limits of visual tools.

How to Create a Chatbot Without Coding (Recommended For Most Users)

You don’t need programming skills to build an AI chatbot. No-code tools make it possible to set up a working chatbot in just a few steps:

Step 1: Set goals

Start by defining what you want the chatbot to do. Your chatbot is only effective when you know the problem it’s solving and who it will serve. Ask yourself:

• Purpose: What issue will the chatbot handle? Will it answer FAQs, guide users through a process, or offer product recommendations?
• Audience: Who will interact with the chatbot? Customers, employees, or another group? What tone and style will resonate with them?
• Outcomes: What results do you expect? Faster response times, more leads, higher sales, or improved customer satisfaction?

Once you define these, you can shape the chatbot’s role. 

For example, if your goal is to build an FAQ bot, you’ll need to map out the most common questions in advance and create flows that answer them clearly. That preparation makes the chatbot useful from day one.

Step 2: Choose a platform

Once you know your goals, pick a no-code chatbot builder that matches your needs. Look for platforms with a visual interface where you can design conversation flows using drag-and-drop tools. 

Features like integrations, analytics, and rich media support can make the chatbot more effective.

Hiver makes it easy for support teams to build and deploy chatbots without writing a single line of code. You can automate responses, design conversation flows, and manage all your customer chats in one place. This helps your team resolve routine queries instantly while freeing agents to focus on complex issues.

Step 3: Design conversation flow

Here you’ll build the chatbot’s logic. Using the visual editor, you’ll create a series of branches and conditions that guide the user through the conversation. 

A basic flow might look like this:

• Start with a trigger: The event that activates the bot, like a visitor opening a specific page.
• Create a welcome message: Greet the user and ask, “What can I help you with today?”
• Set up actions and options: Design a menu or a series of button-based questions for the user to select from.
• Include a fallback: Plan for a response if the user provides an input that the bot doesn’t recognize.

Step 4: Train and Refine Your Bot

Train your AI chatbot with relevant data for more advanced AI capabilities, like natural language processing (NLP). You can do this by uploading relevant documents or connecting to your knowledge base.

Step 5: Test, Integrate, and Deploy

Once the flow is ready, most no-code platforms give you a small script or widget to add the chatbot to your website’s HTML. You simply copy and paste it, then adjust the look and feel to match your brand’s colors and style.

How to Create a Chatbot With Code

If you’re comfortable with programming, you can build a chatbot from scratch using different languages. Python is one of the most popular options, so we’ll use it as the example here.

Step 1: Set up prerequisites

• Set up Python: Install the recent version of Python on your system.
• Get an IDE: Use an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like VS Code or PyCharm for a better coding experience.
• Learn the basics: Get familiar with Python’s syntax, variables, loops, and functions.

Step 2: Simple Starter Script

The foundation of any chatbot is an echo bot that takes user input and responds. Below is a simple Python script for a basic conversational bot. 

The code uses an infinite loop to listen for user input and a simple conditional statement to provide a custom response.

Step 3: Add Simple NLP Logic

Once the basic script works, you can make the chatbot smarter. Instead of repeating whatever the user types, teach it to recognize keywords like “hello,” “order,” or “help” and reply with predefined answers. 

That way, the chatbot feels more interactive and can handle basic queries right away.

Step 4: Add Memory or API Integration

A simple echo bot is a good starting point, but most useful chatbots need to remember information or access external data. This is where you can integrate with more powerful tools.

• Memory: To make the bot “remember” things within a conversation, you can use dictionaries or lists to store a user’s previous inputs or preferences.
• API Integration: Connect the bot to external APIs to make it more useful. For example, you could connect your bot to the OpenAI API to give it advanced language understanding capabilities. You can now generate more natural and contextually relevant responses.

The Python code is a basic example you can run to see how a chatbot works from scratch.

Best Practices to Build a Successful Chatbot

Once your chatbot is up and running, the next step is ensuring it’s easy to use. Here are some best practices for building any chatbot, regardless of whether you’re using code or a no-code platform.

Use an Iterative Approach

Don’t expect your bot to be perfect on the first try. Deploy a simple MVP (Minimum Viable Product) chatbot that covers the basics. Focus on getting it live, then refine over time.

Prioritize Speed and Reliability

Response time for a chatbot is critical. Ensure your bot’s infrastructure is reliable and can handle traffic spikes. Implement clear loading indicators or “Bot is thinking…” messages for bots with complex integrations or API calls so users know the bot is working.

Be Transparent and Manage Expectations

Users should always know they are talking to a bot. Start the conversation by clearly introducing your bot and its capabilities. The transparency prevents the user from getting frustrated if the bot cannot help with a complex query.

Give Your Chatbot a Personality

Just like a human agent, your chatbot should have a consistent voice and personality. A clear tone, friendly or casual, makes interactions more engaging. Conversational language and even emojis can help the chatbot feel less robotic.

Monitor and Collect Feedback

Once your chatbot is live, track its performance and listen to users. Use conversation logs, CSAT scores, or simple thumbs-up/down prompts to understand what works and frustrates people. 

This helps you spot problems early, understand what users find frustrating, and make improvements.

Key Considerations Before You Create a Chatbot

To make sure your chatbot runs efficiently and adapts well with your business, keep these key factors in mind while creating your AI-powered chatbot:

• Cost: Plan for the right balance between free and paid tiers. Free tools work for testing, while paid options provide advanced features, integrations, and reliable support.
• Data privacy and security: 97% of organizations without proper AI access controls report an AI-related security incident. Customers trust businesses that keep their information safe, so protect sensitive information. 
• Maintenance and training: Keep the chatbot accurate by updating the knowledge base, FAQs, reviewing logs, and retraining responses regularly.
• Scalability: Prepare for growth by ensuring the chatbot can handle more users and higher volumes without slowing down.
• Integrations: Extend the chatbot’s value by connecting it with websites, apps, and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms to share and pull data easily.

Build a Chatbot Easily Using Hiver

When deploying a chatbot, you typically have two main options: Building one from scratch with code or using a dedicated no-code platform. 

While coding offers you endless customization, it often requires significant time and technical expertise. On the other hand, no-code platforms provide a user-friendly way to quickly get a powerful chatbot up and running.

Hiver Chatbots follow a no-code approach and can be built right into your customer support Gmail-based help desk. 

Hiver Chatbots take the no-code path and are built specifically for customer support. They help teams automate routine replies and route complex queries to live agents, focused on support conversations.

Using a simple visual builder, you can design conversation flows.

With Hiver Chatbots, you can:

• Manage and customize chatbot flows easily through an admin panel.
• Automate routine questions so your team can focus on complex issues.
• Provide 24/7 support without additional staffing.
• Hand off conversations from chatbot to live agent.
• Ensure smooth interactions for both agents and end users.

Hiver Chatbots are built around three key modules:

1. Admin Module: Where you create, customize, and manage chatbot flows to automate conversations.
2. Agent Module: Where support agents can monitor bot-managed chats, step in when needed, and keep conversations on track.
3. End User Module: Where customers interact with a clean, intuitive chat interface.

Setting up your Hiver Chatbot:

1. Open the Hiver Chatbot Admin Panel and select Chatbots under “Improve team efficiency”.
2. Pick the chat inbox where you want the chatbot to run.
3. Configure your bot by giving it a name (shown in the Live Chat widget).
4. Create a new chat flow and set the starting event (e.g., when a visitor clicks the chat bubble).
5. Design your flow with blocks like messages, forms, and agent assignments.
6. Save your work and activate the flow to go live.

Hiver Chatbots use flows, FAQs, forms, and handoffs to fit right into almost any industry that requires customer service, from e-commerce to financial services.

A well-built chatbot is a powerful asset, whether you choose to build it with code or without code. By focusing on a clear purpose and a strong design, you create a more effective chatbot over time.

For those ready to embrace the no-code path, Hiver offers an intuitive solution to help you build and manage an engaging chatbot effortlessly.

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80% of routine questions

FAQ