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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers various aspects which are important to visitors who land on your "contact us" page, including what information they expect and how to make contacting you easy for them.

Why this is important: Those who land on this page are showing clear intent in wanting to to get in touch with you. Providing only a few ways to contact you can alienate visitors who have a particular preference. Providing robust contact options and information ensures that you capture as many would-be customers as possible.

What to look for:

  • Easy to find: Make sure your visitors can find your Contact page easily. Don't make them hunt, scroll and rollover multiple dropdowns just to find it.
  • Multiple contact options: Don't limit your contact options to your preferred method. Unless you just have too much business and don't need the "hassle" of having customers.
    • Phone: provide local and toll free numbers.
    • Fax: Not many people will try to communicate by fax, but it's still an essential number to provide for those that need it.
    • Email: An email contact is essential to making sure visitors can feel as if you are accessible. It provides assurances that forms can't.
    • Form: Provide a contact form that'll deliver messages to your email box.
    • Chat: Instant chat can allow you to quickly take care of customers needs without them having to wait hours or days for a response.
    • Customer feedback: Provide a way for customers to provide feedback regarding the site, products or services.
  • Street map: Showing a map of your location can help locals know that you are truly accessible and where to find you if they want to check out your operation.
  • Hours of operation: If your hours are limited then post hours of operation (for at least phone support) on this page.
  • Final call to action: Give one last call to action to spur the visitor to take that next step.
  • Multiple points of contact: Give your visitors options in who or what department they contact.
    • Customer service
    • Tech support
    • Inquiries
    • General info
    • Job applications
    • Billing
    • Management team
  • Ad-free: Keep this page completely free of ads.
  • Form requires only essential info: Make sure any web forms require only the information that is absolutely essential to helping them. Keep it easy and succinct.

Did I miss anything? Add to this list with your comments below.


Stoney deGeyter founded Pole Position Marketing in 1998 working from a home office and has since turned it into a leading search engine marketing business with a small team of seasoned Reno SEO and marketing experts. Stoney pioneered the concept of Destination Search Engine Marketing which is the driving philosophy on how Pole Position marketing helps their clients expand their online presence and improve online conversion rates.

Stoney is a moderator at the Small Business Ideas Forum, a regular contributor to the Search Engine Guide blog and has a monthly column on Search Engine Land. He posts his SEO and business insights at the E-Marketing Performance blog where you can also find his e-books: E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies for Building, Optimizing and Marketing your Website Online and Keyword Research and Selection: The Definitive Guide to Gathering, Sorting and Organizing your Keywords into a High-Performance SEO Campaign.

Stoney is married with five wonderful children and, if away from the computer long enough, enjoys riding his dirt bike, watching DVDs, reading books and spending quality and quantity time with the family.

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Comments (5)

"Did I miss anything?"

Stoney,

The one thing you left out is a final call-to-action. Give the prospect one last push to take the next step and contact you. Best if you can include a benefit statement too. As an example, here's what I say on my Contact page:

Want compelling copy that delivers results? Let's get started on your copywriting project today!

Susan

Hi Stoney -

It's also a good idea to incude links to social networking sites your company may have - like facebook, linkedin, or a blog.

@ Susan - excellent point. I've added this to this list as well as the master list. Thanks!

@ Rebecca - excellent point as well, though I could not decide if those links should go on the contact us page or about us page. I've updated the about us checklists. But if you can give me a good reason why I got it wrong let me hear it and I'll make the change.

WOW.. What a great post. Thanks for sharing such a great information with us. I saved this page for future reference. :)

Stoney -

Good points, and whenever I'm working on a site, these things make their way onto the contact page. However, I would like to point out that 37signals does pretty well without a clearly demarcated contact us page (heck, I can't even find it) and just throwing the email of their company founder at the bottom of the homepage. And when it comes to usability, they're the tops. Just a thought!

Thanks,
Clay

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Stoney deGeyter founded Pole Position Marketing in 1998 working from a home office and has since turned it into a leading search engine marketing business with a small team of seasoned Reno SEO and marketing experts. Stoney pioneered the concept of Destination Search Engine Marketing which is the driving philosophy on how Pole Position marketing helps their clients expand their online presence and improve online conversion rates.

Stoney is a moderator at the Small Business Ideas Forum, a regular contributor to the Search Engine Guide blog and has a monthly column on Search Engine Land. He posts his SEO and business insights at the E-Marketing Performance blog where you can also find his e-books: E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies for Building, Optimizing and Marketing your Website Online and Keyword Research and Selection: The Definitive Guide to Gathering, Sorting and Organizing your Keywords into a High-Performance SEO Campaign.

Stoney is married with five wonderful children and, if away from the computer long enough, enjoys riding his dirt bike, watching DVDs, reading books and spending quality and quantity time with the family.

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Stoney deGeyter founded Pole Position Marketing in 1998 working from a home office and has since turned it into a leading search engine marketing business with a small team of seasoned Reno SEO and marketing experts. Stoney pioneered the concept of Destination Search Engine Marketing which is the driving philosophy on how Pole Position marketing helps their clients expand their online presence and improve online conversion rates.

Stoney is a moderator at the Small Business Ideas Forum, a regular contributor to the Search Engine Guide blog and has a monthly column on Search Engine Land. He posts his SEO and business insights at the E-Marketing Performance blog where you can also find his e-books: E-Marketing Performance: Effective Strategies for Building, Optimizing and Marketing your Website Online and Keyword Research and Selection: The Definitive Guide to Gathering, Sorting and Organizing your Keywords into a High-Performance SEO Campaign.

Stoney is married with five wonderful children and, if away from the computer long enough, enjoys riding his dirt bike, watching DVDs, reading books and spending quality and quantity time with the family.