Customize your contact forms to make sure they meet prospective clients’ needs.
When it comes to designing a website, attention to detail is extremely important. After all, you need to make sure your brand is carried through every aspect of the site to create a unified, professional look that will build trust from your clients. This includes your contact forms!
Contrary to what you might think, just about every business that has an online presence also needs a contact form of some kind.
Why?
Because some of your prospective clients are going to want to communicate with you online. Having a contact form is much more convenient—and professional—than making clients use your email address. A contact form also has the advantage of being available 24/7 so that people can contact you with questions, appointment requests, or feedback even after business hours. Contact forms are also beloved by people who may be prone to multi-tasking on their smartphones at times when they are unable to actually place a call.
If you don’t have a contact form—or if your contact form is poorly designed—you may very well lose business to a competitor who is meeting prospective clients’ needs better. Don’t risk it! Just be a bit more mindful of how you design your contact form. Here are some ideas that could help increase conversions through your contact form.
Include a Reply Promise: Sometimes submitting a question through an online contact form can feel a bit like speaking to the void. Users may wonder if anyone will ever read their comment, much less reply to it. Including a sidebar beside the contact form that details your company’s commitment to replying to contacts with 24 hours (or what have you) can help ease this concern and encourage potential clients to communicate.
Allow Users to Choose their Contact Preference: Often, when people contact service companies online it’s because they don’t want to give out their phone number. However, some people may prefer to receive a response by phone rather than by email. Assuming you have the capability to respond to contacts in either format, make life easier on your potential clients by letting them choose to be contacted by email or phone and don’t make them provide both details.
Pair Complicated Forms with a Simpler Option: Your primary goal with your contact form may be to drive users to a particular action, such as scheduling an appointment or even making a purchase. You could risk missing out on leads from clients who may not be quite ready to take this action yet—unless you provide a simpler alternative for them. A simple “request a callback” form can give you another opportunity to convert these indecisive users.
Make Sure Your Forms Work on Mobile: Remember, many users are viewing your site and trying to fill out your contact forms on smartphones or tablets. Be sure you design your contact forms so that they are easy to use on a mobile device.
Get Expert Help: Here’s one final tip that will help make your contact forms as effective as possible: don’t DIY them. Generic contact forms may not meet your needs, so don’t be afraid to ask for professional design help when you need it.
If you would like to learn more about revamping your website design and/or content to make it more effective in driving conversions, please contact Webstract Marketing today.