Making Good Use of Your Website Contact Form

Web design
Web design

Although you may think that your website contact form just sits there and doesn't serve any major purpose, that could not be further from the truth. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. It is one of the few ways in which your target audience members have to be able to connect with you and to begin to interact.
A means to an end
If you don't already, you should start to consider your website contact form to be a major contributor to your traffic (and eventual clients). The truth is that you don't have a large number of ways to allow the other person so reach out and contact you. You have your call-to-action (CTA) and you have your website contact form. There are not a lot of other ways that you can be connected with your online contacts. It is very important for you to understand the significance and the impact of the contact form. It is also very important for you to leverage the form to its maximum potential.
The main reason that it is so important (and beneficial) to get people to contact you is that you can then develop a meaningful relationship with those people and you have a good chance of eventually turning them into loyal customers. It is that simple. That means that you will be one step closer to selling more of your products and/or services. You may not realize that you are sitting on a gold mine of sorts.
Try to look at what you have from a fresh perspective
Undoubtedly, the CTA in any of your content is critical to your business' success. However, it is not the only thing that should get your attention. Your website contact form is underrated. It is a much more powerful tool than you may think and it has the potential to produce desired results over and over again. There are many different reasons why a person may use your contact form.
  • As a search tool: If the person is looking for something and can't find it, your form may be a way for he or she to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. Nowadays, people don't have the time or the patience to stick with something for too long so the form is a great way to allow them to get what they need without exerting too much effort.
  • An easy way to return something: If you sell products, the person may not be satisfied with what he or she purchased. The form can help give that person the information that is needed to achieve the return easily.
  • Help with ordering a product: Sometimes, a customer gets confused during the ordering process. That can happen for a variety of reasons, including the process being complicated. The order form can help clarify and simplify the experience for the customer.
  • Operating hours: The order form can state the hours of operation so that the person can buy at the most convenient time.
The fact is that from a search engine optimization perspective, the website contact form is also a really good thing. It is fairly easy to optimize the form and the result of that will be that it appears at the top of the search engine's pages. That is exactly what you want to happen.
Be a minimalist
When it comes to the content on your website contact form, you don't want to have too many fields. Otherwise, you run the risk of overwhelming the customer (or prospect) and there is a much better chance that the person will abandon the form entirely. That is the last thing that you want to happen. You want to keep your form short and include only those fields that are really important for your particular business. Of course, you want the other person to opt-in but you should focus on the information that is most pertinent to your business. In many cases, people become uncomfortable if too much information is requested of them. After all, you need to build your relationship, which means that you also need to build trust between you.
Trust takes time and must be earned. You should not automatically assume that the minute you begin your relationship, the trust will materialize. It just doesn't happen that way. An important thing to remember is that when the other person reaches out to you through the form, you have a responsibility to respond in a timely manner. You don't want the other person to feel that his or her needs are not important to you.
Focus on what is important
When it comes to your website contact form, you should remember to focus on what is really important (and relevant). Your design elements in the form are far less important than the information that you have in the form. You want the other person to be comfortable with what you are asking for. If it is reasonable, the other person will probably be willing to give you what you want. Your form should be user-friendly and quick to fill out. That is the best way to cultivate your relationship.
Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has over 25 years of experience in IT and web technologies. Mr. Cohn spent a significant amount of time at a major telecommunications company, where his main focus was on initiating and leading synergy efforts across all business units by dramatically improving efficiency, online collaboration, and the company's Intranet capabilities, which accelerated gains in business productivity. He also reduced company travel and travel costs by introducing and implementing various collaboration technologies.
His expertise includes business analysis; project management; management of global cross-matrix teams; systems engineering and analysis, architecture, prototyping and integration; technology evaluation and assessment; systems development; performance evaluation; and management of off-shore development.
Mr. Cohn earned a Master's degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master's degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.
Mr. Cohn is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).


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