When you want to find out where a company is located or how to reach a live person by phone or email, the contact page is an intuitive first stop. But if your online encounters are much like everyone else’s, then you run into a lot of boring and redundant “Contact Us” pages. The world doesn’t need another.
You can help your web design team spruce up your contact info and improve this page’s ability to do its part to wow your online visitors. The first thing to know is that there’s a logical flow to most small business websites. You introduce yourself on the home page, tell visitors a bit more about the company on the about us page, and describe your product in the Services section. Then there’s the contact us page, where you provide details about how to reach you.
Sure, your name, address, phone and fax numbers, email address, and social media buttons certainly belong on the Contact Us page, but this information should really be on every other page of your website, too. So if that’s all you’re offering on your Contact Us page, then you’re missing an opportunity to wrap up your messaging and motivate users to act. Plus, most Contact Us pages are boring, making them essentially useless as business builders.
To ensure that your Contact Us page is supporting and furthering your promotional messaging, consider these three aspects of a punchy last stop for visitors on your site:
Contact prompts
Along with your postal and email addresses and company phone number, consider including a contact form on your Contact Us page to gather information about your visitors. If your form allows customers to enter their question or comment on demand, then you make it easy for them to articulate their need while it’s top of mind. In return, you gain an email address along with the ability to consider how you want to respond to the question or comment before making contact with the visitor.
Keep in mind that contact forms can be easily added to a page, and they don’t have to copy the common fill-in-the-blank format. The important thing is not to miss the opportunity to turn a prospect into a customer.
Branding
Many companies invest enormous amounts of time and money on each page of their website, and then create a bland Contact Us page that feels like an afterthought and does nothing to add value. Make sure your marketing message carries through to the Contact Us page to reinforce your brand and move your prospects and customers further into the sales cycle.
If your company is building business, include a call to action here. If you’re trying to build thought-leader cred, include helpful information. Whatever your overall objective is for your website, be sure use the Contact Us space to carry though your messages.
Just be sure to write and design it as an extension of your About Us page, Services section or other applicable area. In other words, if your website is light and fun, carry that into the Contact Us page. Be creative and keep visitors motivated to do business with you.
Creativity
Think about the websites you most often visit. They’re probably full of relevant information and great artwork, but when you get to the Contact Us page, you get a blob of contact information that’s about exciting as chain letter – kind of a buzzkill.
If you’ve paid a copywriter and web design team to create your website, make sure to use their talent on the Contact Us page as well. Most quality designers will embrace the challenge of turning the normally mundane into something cool.
Aside from functionality and consistency, providing customers and prospects with creative and unexpected tools and features on your Contact Us page is a great way to stand out and build a distinctive position for your brand.