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View Full Version : where/how often to place contact info/form?



rezzy
02-18-2009, 10:54 AM
This one question that popped into my head as I looked at various sites. Which is a better approach?

1. Placing contact information and form on each, and every single page?
2. Directing the contact form to a specific page?

From one side, you want to make it easy for people to contact, so I could see that information being on every page useful.

What are your thoughts on this?

vangogh
02-18-2009, 11:25 AM
I don't know that either is necessarily better. First it depends on the goals of your site. How important is it to you to have your visitors contact you? I think the main thing it to make sure the contact info is on the site and to make sure it's obvious where it is.

On my old site I had the single contact page and directed people there. On the new site I still have the dedicated contact page, but also added a contact form to every page outside of the blog. I'm not sure I notice any great difference in how many people contact me. I am getting more spam through the form now that it's more visible. Oddly it's usually someone thinking the contact form leads to a forum so I get a lot of the same spam posts we might get here.

The decision to add it to every page was somewhat done for aesthetic reasons. Without the form the page looked a little empty and I wanted something in that space. My thinking was that more people would contact me through the form or at least be reminded to contact me. I actually do get more contacts now than I did previously, but I'm not really sure if it's because of the form itself being on more pages or that I'm simply pulling in more targeted traffic tot the site.

KristineS
02-18-2009, 12:42 PM
We always have one page that is a contact form, but there is a link to the contact form in the menu on every page.

It seems to work well for us.

rezzy
02-18-2009, 01:11 PM
We always have one page that is a contact form, but there is a link to the contact form in the menu on every page.

It seems to work well for us.

I tend to agree with just one contact page and linking to it. I like to make sure I am always making the best decision in sites I make.

I would hate to think that just by not putting the contact form on every page instead of one could have netted a few more conversions.

Dan Furman
02-20-2009, 04:45 PM
I look at this in very simple terms:

My main writing site is there to get a contact. It's the biggest reason my site exists. Thus, I have contact info on every page (clickable e-mail link and phone number).

In addition to this, I have a "get a quote" page that has a form. The link is in my top level navigation, and also appears on every page.

Lastly, I have a generic "Contact Us" page, but that's buried under the top level "support" link.

Essentially, I leave nothing to chance - it doesn't hurt me at all, as the "every page" contact info is non-intrusive and looks nice (small font, under the left navication bar).

In analyzing my weblogs, it is clear to me that some people have e-mailed and called without going to the contact or quote page. That tells me I might not have gotten them if I didn't have the "every page" contact info.

EDIT: Now, this also depends on the size of the site - my "clear writing" site is big - it's got a ton of info. Thus, contact info on every page is, I feel, necessary. My "Dan Furman Online" site is small - not needed as much. Plus, the DFO site is somewhat of a site that readers of my books can go to... I really don't want contact info everywhere there.

vangogh
02-20-2009, 05:32 PM
Dan everything you mention was also my thinking for adding the contact form. The point of the site (at least the pages outside the blog) is to get people to contact me so might as well give them a way on every page at the very least to remind them that they can.

Harold Mansfield
02-23-2009, 01:14 PM
One thing that I think a lot of sites miss out on is the header. Particularly if you have an office, or a brick and mortar store, is putting you physical address, phone number, and business hours right on the front page above the fold.
I have always thought that it gives a physical business immediate credibility. With so many virtual businesses online, I would think that having a location as well would be one of the first things that you would want people to know, yet I see so many missing the opportunity and putting their location on a back page, or in the footer.

rezzy
02-23-2009, 01:25 PM
eborg9, this makes me reconsider a site I made for a recent client. I may go back re-work some of the content.

Business Attorney
02-25-2009, 10:17 AM
I agree with eborg9 about the brick and mortar address and would say the same thing should go for people that have live operators to take orders. Put "Call now 800-000-0000" in the header. Making the user dig through the website to find the number is silly, in my opinion.

Spider
02-25-2009, 10:58 AM
I notice that there have been several mentions to a contact form. I wonder how much contact you are losing if you do not also have an e-mail link. I find completing a form much more cumbersome than sending an e-mail through my own e-mail application, a form generally does not provide the sender with a copy of what they wrote and replies are often not as clear as the company might think. I often wonder who and why they wrote to me. Add a less-than-clear e-mail in amongst all the spam that comes down the pike and the legitimate reply is often mistaken for spam and promptly deleted.

Unless I absolutely must fill in a contact form, I usually click away and move on to the next possible supplier. There is always someone else who can supply my needs and if one company does not make it easy to contact them, the next one is only a click away. The company that let's me e-mail them usually gets my business and the company that forces me to use a form usually loses it

vangogh
02-25-2009, 11:30 AM
I think the contact form mentions are because Bryan happened to mention contact form in his original question. I know I shouldn't speak for everyone, but I think we're all generally talking about contact information, whether that's a phone number, an email, or a form.

You're right that you should offer more than a form. My guess is a form is probably the least favorable means of contact, though I suspect for some it's their first option. It's usually best to offer as many ways as possible for people to contact you.

rezzy
02-25-2009, 02:48 PM
I tend to want to stay from publicizing an email address, because it allows such a large amount of spam to flood through. By requiring the use of the form, I can filter those spammers through my system which can remove them.

vangogh
02-25-2009, 04:02 PM
You can create a separate email just for the business and try a few tricks to limit the spam, though you'll still get spam. Your contact form is going to get spammed too and it still has to go to some email address. I laugh at some of the things that come through my contact form. People spam it like it's a forum. I get all sorts of "I've been lurking on this forum for awhile now..." stuff. I find it amusing and it's not that hard to clear out.

Spider
02-26-2009, 12:33 PM
In my early days on the 'net, I had my e-mail address on every page of my website and must have been quickly added to every spamlist then in existence. My worst spam day was 1,752 messages.

Someone told me this dodge - use ascii numbers for characters, so, in code, your e-mail adress looks like this -- <A HREF="mailto:frederick& #64;& #102;& #114;& #101;& #100;& #101;& #114;& #105;& #099;& #107;& #112;& #101;& #97;& #114;& #99;& #101;& #046;& #099;& #111;& #109;?Subject=MENTORING ENQUIRY">e-mail address</A>

(Remove all the spaces, of course.)

That almost immediately reduced my spamload to a tiny proportion and it has never returned to any great quantity. I don't know if this dodge still works and my lack of e-mail spam is due to later more efficient spam filters. But that's how I still code my e-mail address.

vangogh
02-26-2009, 01:02 PM
That helps, but spammers can still pick it up in time. It does help block some people so it makes sense the spam would be reduced. I don't think there's anything you can do to completely prevent your email being found other than not posting it all. Some people use javascript, some replace the @ with [at], though you then have to type it in and don't get the link. Some people use images. I just use an email address I don't use for anything else.

billbenson
02-26-2009, 03:48 PM
I use the javascript approach. I'm on every spam list in the world. I think that happened because my email is sitting in the inbox or address book of virus infected computers used by my customers.