On many Websites, the homepage is the star of the show because it’s the page designed to quickly and effectively capture someone’s attention. As a result, the homepage gets most of the love and attention.
At the other end of the spectrum is the “Contact” page, which is often an afterthought. If a Website visitor is interested in a company’s product, they are supposed to hit the “Contact” page to, well, contact someone.
Unfortunately, most “Contact” pages are poorly designed and structured. Rather than serving as a valuable conversion mechanism, most “Contact” pages don’t have enough information or options and, as a result, do not build consumer confidence.
An effective “Contact” page needs to the following elements:
1. A welcome message that is encouraging, instructive or engaging. In other words, it’s another marketing opportunity delivered at a time when someone shows interest.
2. A variety of easy to see options to contact someone – phone number, email address, physical address (including a map), and social media. The reality is people will want to contact you in different ways so give them a menu of choices.
3. A contact form that lets someone provide their name, email address and a message. That’s pretty much all the information you need; asking for more is a great way to get people to not contact you. For WordPress users, Gravity Forms is a great way to collection information.
While functionality is important, design and creativity should not be under-estimated. A “Contact” page that establishes a good impression can make a big difference in terms of setting expectations when it comes to marketing, sales and customer service.
Bottom line: You need to think about the “Contact” page as an important marketing and conversion engine. It needs to be user-friendly, intuitive and functionally effective, so don’t consider it a second-class citizen.
