A Contact page is an essential requirement for any website. After all, one of the main purposes of a website is to provide prospective customers an easy way to get in touch with you. So, aside from your email address and phone number, what other information is appropriate for your Contact page?
1. More is not always better
Avoid cluttering the page with extraneous information like a fax number unless it’s routinely required. If you need to offer contact information by department, use a drop-down list. And don’t make a visitor to figure out whether to call Main, Business or Cell — simple call management technology solutions are available.
2. We are here
If you have a brick and mortar presence, include your complete physical address, along with an online map that enables mapping or directions.
3. Business hours
While our ever-connected world means the days of 9 to 5 are no longer the norm, include your official business hours, along with your time zone.
4. Inquiry form
Some users prefer to use an inquiry form to contact you, rather than calling or sending an email. Include a simple form with a drop-down menu of choices and an open response message box showing an allotted character count. The more information you require on your form, the fewer inquiries you’ll get, so keep the mandatory fields to a minimum. Acknowledge submitted inquiries with a confirmation statement or email.
5. Response interval
How soon will you respond to inquiries? State your commitment and be sure to meet it.
6. Continue the dialogue
Where else online (or offline) are you? Potential customers may prefer to connect with you via a Facebook message, tweet or an online Zoom call. Include visual icons with hyperlinks to connect with you on social media platforms and to subscribe to your blog or email newsletter. If you conduct events or attend a certain meeting on a routine basis, include a mention such as “you can also find us at [group or meeting name] every Thursday morning.”
7. Try before you buy
Persuade an indecisive visitor to make the connection with a free consultation or a downloadable asset that demonstrates your expertise.
8. Close the sale
Include links to FAQ content or your About page for added credibility to persuade a visitor to contact you.
9. Don’t require users to decipher the unreadable
Use a nimble spam reduction filter to avoid frustrating a visitor. In case of submission errors, retain form information provided and provide a specific and succinct error message.
10. Use clean design
Both the page look and feel and the verbiage should be consistent with your brand – whether that’s playful, minimalist, or informative. Break up the page visually with relevant design elements and consider including a photograph of your storefront or of you with clients conducting business.
If your Contact page isn’t converting inquiries into customers, it may be time to make some changes.
Anytime Nancy!
Great post here Nancy! A contact page that engages a customer and employs them to action is vital. Fielding customer inquiries, providing a way for them to see FAQ, and allowing them to interact with the business builds trust and can really help in the purchase process. I have seen this in my own experience as our customers often employ a Q&A tool/widgets for this purpose. This is great for a contact page, and a Q&A widget can be employed on every page of a site. There are some easy plugins available for this to include , , and . Have you ever explored this as a solution for customer support or contact pages?
Thanks Blake. A widget to enable sharing by a user on their own social profiles (or by email) is a key component for websites, and ours seems to have disappeared, so I appreciate the comment!
Nancy,
You always provide clean, clear and concise advice and this post is yet another example of your professional expert knowledge on the contact page do’s and don’ts. Thank you!!
Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for taking the time to comment, Roberta.