Ways to Help Your Visitors Get in Contact
One of the key parts of an effective website is providing your visitors with a way to make contact. There are many options and opinions on how to do this but here are a few pointers that should you should consider.
E-mail Address
Probably the cheapest and fastest way for somebody to contact you 24/7, e-mail has become synonymous with Internet usage.
To build trust do not use a hotmail, yahoo or aol e-mail address. What you should do is set up a mail redirect with your host so that the address on your website looks like mail@domain.com rather than fred@hotmail.com.
There are some sneaky programs that go sniffing for mailto links so it’s a good idea to disguise your email address. If you check my code you will see how I do it. This useful guide gives you lots of other methods: www.csarven.ca.
Telephone Number
Another important call to action. It allows customers to check information on the website, chase up orders and get immediate help. Having a telephone number on the site also adds credibility to your business.
Of course if you are working from home you may not want to give out you private number but you always have the option of a second line or paying for a freecall or lowcall number.
Address
This is another credibility builder. It shows that you are not anonymous and if you are providing goods it gives the buyer some confidence that you are contactable.
If you work from home you may not want to give out your private address so it may well be advisable to invest in a business address. I’d give you a link but there are too many to choose from, search for ‘business address’ to get a good selection.
Contact Forms
If your customer uses a webmail account or is not sat at their computer your mailto link won’t work for them. They could cut and paste your e-mail address but if it is disguised as detailed above then this is not always possible.
The simple solution is to set up a contact form. What you must do however is sanitize the form to reduce the chances of being hacked. Here is an example of a sanitized and very secure contact form with error checking (link opens in a new tab). If you want the code use the form!
Location
Make sure your contact details are on every page – at the very least include an e-mail link and telephone number. The bottom of the page is where visitors expect to find them. But if your call-to-action is for the visitor to get in contact then put the contact details at the top of the page and even in the main content as well.
Legal Notes
In the UK it is mandatory to include your contact details somewhere on the site. You may get away with leaving them off but it doesn’t help your credibility and if somebody ever makes a complaint to the trading standards then you could end up with some explaining to do (like why you are running a business from home). The out-law has more information.
There is also a legal requirement to make sure your whois details are complete and correct. You can opt-out of displaying your details but this only applies if you are a non-trading individual. If you get is wrong you could find your domain blocked, so don’t upset the men in black.
