Contact pages get no love, but it’s one of the most important pages on your website.
Krista’s always gushing over the About page. It’s how you connect with your ideal client, she claims. And she then rambles about “being genuine” and “authentic connection.”
And on and on she goes. Boring.
But, my favorite page? The Contact page. How does your ideal client connect with you? That’s right—through the Contact page.
And this is where the magic happens. This is the beginning of the relationship. This is the first “small yes” that someone makes on the way to buying your core product or booking your services. Inquiries made through your website are a validation that your website is doing its job.
It’s the page of victory!
Alright I’ll tone it back for a second. After doing tons of website reviews, we consistently recognize the same errors made on contact pages. Here are 7 of our best tips for making sure that your contact page isn’t preventing people from pushing the Submit button.
7 Tips for a Contact Page that Converts
- The contact page should be a part of your top level navigation and it should be listed last.
This should be done for a few reasons, but mostly because that’s where people expect to find it. Some businesses put this in the footer of their website, but they’re generally large companies where the person-to-person touch isn’t as important. And human touch is super important if you are a service-based business.
It’s also important due to the serial position effect. People tend to remember the first (primacy) and last (recency) items in a list better than what’s in the middle. If you’re a service based business, one of the main objectives of your website is probably to get people to inquire. You’ll want them to remember where to do that.
- Keep it simple: Only ask for the information you need.
Don’t get cute. About pages are great for cute. Cute in contact pages often destroys conversion. What do we mean by getting cute? Adding a ton of images, links to other pages, or any other information that’s not necessary. Don’t let people get distracted—everything should encourage people to hit Submit on the contact form.
And do not—I repeat—do not ask people to answer a ton of questions on the contact form. The contact form should only ask for the information you need to take the next step. This probably includes their name, email address, phone number (maybe), and maybe 1-2 industry specific questions (such as wedding date and venue if you’re a wedding planner or photographer). Oh, and make sure you include the most important question of them all (see Tip 7).
- Always include a back-up method of getting in touch, and test your form on a weekly basis.
Guess what, forms break. It happens all the time, and there’s generally not an alarm for when they do. And sometimes the internet gets all weird and certain forms fail to play well with certain browsers. So include a back-up method of getting in touch. This could be an email address or phone number.
Save yourself from a few headaches by testing the form each week and checking your spam folder at the same time for any rogue inquiries.
- Set expectations: When and how will you reply?
Set expectations at the outset by telling people when and how you will reply to their inquiry. This is as simple as saying something like, “Fill out the form below and we will get back to your message within 24 business hours.
The sooner you respond, the better. We live in a world of Netflix and Amazon Prime. But also be sure to set boundaries. If your first response is at 10 in the evening, that person expects that you’ll be available during the evenings. A great way to provide an immediate response is by using an autoresponder or an app like Boomerang that allows you to schedule when emails are delivered. That way, you’re promptly responding, assuring the prospect you received their message, and have the opportunity to give them some information in the meantime.
- Make sure the page and any forms are mobile responsive.
Duh. I almost didn’t include this because it’s 2017. It’s been a few years since mobile search has surpassed desktop search. There’s nothing worse than trying to fill out a form on your phone that’s not formatted for mobile. Don’t make people’s first interaction with your brand a frustrating one.
- Add a picture of you and/or your team—if you want.
Like we mentioned above, the human touch is super important for service based businesses. Remind prospects that they are reaching out to people—not some automatons behind a computer screen. It’s not necessary, but could be a nice touch.
Add the image to the left of the form. But do your best to keep the form “above-the-fold” (in the top half of the page so it’s seen immediately). Remember, the point of the contact page is for people to complete the form and hit submit.
- Include the most important question: How did you hear about us?
Yes, it is the most important question on the contact form. Yeah, asking for a name and contact information is important, too. But you can learn a lot from asking people how they heard about you.
If you’re serious about growing your business than you should have some sort of method for understanding which marketing efforts are working. This doesn’t have to be a super tedious process—especially for a solo entrepreneur or small team. But, it should be done. Otherwise you could be wasting a ton of time on things that don’t work.
Related Post: The Art of the Follow-up
How did you hear about us?
We believe this question is really important for two reasons: 1) Understanding which marketing efforts are working; 2) So we can thank those businesses or individuals that refer us.
It’s important for businesses to have a clear understanding of where customers are coming from. And this is especially important for small businesses that have limited resources and need to make sure that every dollar spent on marketing counts. If you have no idea where your customers are coming from, you’re playing a risky game.
We used to ask this question after an inquiry was made because it would still let us understand where our most qualified inquiries were coming from. However, we’re now asking it on our inquiry form so that we also understand where unqualified leads are coming from.
Let’s say you’re a wedding photographer and you know that the last 10 people who inquired heard about you through WeddingWire, and none of them booked because you were out of their price range. Well, now you know to say, “No, thanks!” when WeddingWire calls to sell you that “preferred ad spot.”
And beyond that, now you know who to thank so you can continue developing that relationship. If there’s an event planner referring you a ton work, write ‘em a note and, if it’s appropriate, send them a gift.
Related Post: How Gifting Can Change Your Business
And the Unsung Hero Award goes to…
So, hopefully, you see why my favorite page is the Contact page. It’s the “Unsung Hero” of the website. Providing a great experience during the inquiry process can go a long way in making a great first impression, too.
P.S. It’s easy to track inquiries and answers to questions like, “How did you hear about us?” We made a simple Google Sheet like this one to track our inquiries, and you can access to it here:
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