Capability 2 — interactive functionality: the visitor supplies input and the site returns a computed or looked-up result (calculator, quote, search, booking, configurator)
Capability: A feature where the visitor supplies input and the site returns a computed or looked-up result — a calculator, a quote / estimate tool, a search box, a booking flow, a configurator.
The defining test: the output depends on what the user entered. (A static page that says "call us" doesn't qualify; a quote form that returns a price range based on inputs does.)
Source: Industry-consensus definitional framing.
Confidence: Industry-consensus (definitional).
Caveat — evidence base for outcomes is thin: unlike capability #1, no clean current primary dataset ties interactive features specifically (calculators, booking, account state) to conversion or retention for general SMB marketing websites (GAP — no clean, current, primary dataset ties interactive features (calculators, booking, account state) specifically to conversion / retention for general SMB marketing websites). Available figures are vendor-sourced and frequently recycle the quarantined Mediafly stat (QUARANTINE — "Interactive content drives 52.6% more engagement / 13 min vs 8.5 min" traces to a single Mediafly press release 2022; B2B sales-enablement decks, NOT marketing-website visitors). The argument rests on definitional / mechanism grounds, not strong outcome data.
Business types most served: trades (booking + availability), consultancies (calculator / assessment), retailers (configurator), any service where the answer "what will this cost me?" is non-trivial.
Why this matters for Candid: Commodity parts now make this capability buildable at SMB scale — see the companion falling-cost-floor brief Research brief: the falling cost floor of "real" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026).
Related
- reference Research brief: the falling cost floor of "real" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026)
- reference Capability 3 — live or frequently-updated data: content whose value depends on currency (availability, pricing, status, hours, inventory) refreshed on a cadence rather than written once
- reference Capability 4 — account / state: the site remembers who the visitor is and what they have done (login, saved items, order history, progress) so returning visitors resume rather than restart
- reference GAP — no clean, current, primary dataset ties interactive features (calculators, booking, account state) specifically to conversion / retention for general SMB marketing websites
- research-notes QUARANTINE — "Interactive content drives 52.6% more engagement / 13 min vs 8.5 min" traces to a single Mediafly press release 2022; B2B sales-enablement decks, NOT marketing-website visitors
Referenced by (6)
- reference Research brief: the website as a working surface of the business — four capabilities, AI-citation decoupling, freshness as a real signal (June 2026) relates-to
- reference Capability 1 — structured, queryable data: content stored as records with fields, types and relationships so it can be filtered, sorted, searched, and assembled on demand relates-to
- reference Boundary: a static page with a contact form (or "occasional email trigger") exhibits NONE of the four working-surface capabilities relates-to
- research-notes QUARANTINE — "Interactive content drives 52.6% more engagement / 13 min vs 8.5 min" traces to a single Mediafly press release 2022; B2B sales-enablement decks, NOT marketing-website visitors relates-to
- rule R1 — Most businesses benefit from AT LEAST ONE of the four working-surface capabilities, NOT all four; match the capability to acquisition / service mode relates-to
- rule R7 — Match the working-surface capability to the business type: booking + live availability for trades, calculator / assessment for consulting, queryable products + account for retail relates-to