Website No-No’s – No Contact Form, Phone, & Address

There are several no-no’s when it comes to web design. They are not including a contact form on your website and not including your phone number and your address.

The whole purpose of having a website is to be able to have information available for prospects 24/7 and to make it really easy for them to get with you to buy your products and services. When you do not have a scripted contact form integrated into your website, you force people to either phone you (not a bad thing in some cases) or force them to send you email which requires that they press send in their email client.

Instead, you should provide a contact form with minimal required information and a one click submit button. Let the script perform the heavy lifting of formatting and sending the completed form directly to you, not the prospect. Some people do not have their email client configured to auto-send and out going mail can sit there for days while they stew over why you have not contacted them, not understanding that their note to you is still sitting in their out box.

The other frequent mistake that I see is client’s not wanting to put their address and phone number on their website. This is a fast way to lose trust. Being an effective salesman on the Web is all about communicating trust. When you refuse to put your phone number, you say “don’t call me, you may have a problem I don’t want to be bothered with”. When you don’t have your address, you say “don’t’ buy from me, if you do, try to find me to get a refund”. Clients and prospects want to know who they want to or will be trading with and how accessible that person will be when they have a problem. Make sure to include these important items on your website to communicate trust and build your sales opportunities.