How Do You Write & Design An Effective Website Contact Us Page?
Firstly, let’s remind ourselves why a Contact Us page is so important.
At its best, your Contact Us page offers a great opportunity to provide valuable information for existing clients/customers and an overview for new visitors to your website.
Fact: Because your ‘Contact Us’ page is one of the top four most visited pages on your website, it stands to reason that it’s important what content is chosen, how it’s written and then how it’s designed.
Reasons to create an awesome contact us page:
Whether you’re launching a new site or refreshing your current site, read on for my suggested steps for creating a great contact us page.
As stated above, your Contact Us page is usually one of the most visited pages on your website, so it makes sense to make a great impression.
Convenience. Users who are already engaged with your website often have questions or queries and having a handy Contact Form on your Contact Us page makes it easy for them to get in touch. It saves them the hassle of having to search for the answer within your site and potentially risking becoming uninterested and clicking away.
Bots. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bots out there and if you don’t have a contact form and your business email or contact number is displayed on your site, you can become an easy pick for any potential scammer.
Highlight other content. Since this is a highly visited page, it’s a great idea to include high value content.
My contact page.
5. Feedback. Your Contact Us form makes for a great opportunity to ask for feedback. These insights can be really helpful for your business and website.
6. Email marketing. Since this is a highly visited page, why not include an embedded link to sign up for your email list. These days email marketing is the best way to acquire new customers/clients with a much higher click-through rate, versus a social media post.
7. Get back the information you need. By embedding a strategic contact form, you can decide what relevant information you want to gather from that lead. This means that when you get back to them, you have the relevant information and therefore don’t need to trade emails. You also have the information in their language which can help with identifying the needs of your audience.
8. It’s more professional. Contact forms make your site more professional and send a clear signal that you’re interested in doing business with your potential clients. Without this page, it may appear that you’re uninterested or aloof.
Step 1. Above the fold/hero banner section.
Contact Us link/button. Best located in the main navigation bar within the header and therefore easily spotted. I’d recommend it be the last item to the right.
Use a contrasting colour from your brand palette for the button to bring attention.
Hero image. Perhaps a smiling image of yourself and
Heading and sub-heading. Remember to include what you do and how you can help to solve the problem for your audience.
Dominant emotion. Is this evident within the header and sub-header text and does this continue in the copy below?
Step 2. Visitor goals /actions.
What are your primary and secondary goals for this page?
Possible actions / goals might include:
Contacting you via an embedded form? * Most likely your primary option.
Clicking an FAQ page?
Connecting with you via social media?
Visiting your shop?
Starting the process with handy links to your services?
Step 3. Content for the page.
Always remember to think about user experience first and not your personal preferences. What do they need to know and understand?
Copywriting is key and can be forgotten. Keep any text as brief as you can and make it all about them and their needs. Include ‘you’ - personalise it.
Link the page to the footer area of your site.
Check how the page looks on different devices and on most browsers ie. Google, Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer etc.
Alongside a simple contact form, other content options to include on this page:
Testimonial or kind words.
A link to your ‘special’ offer or newsletter sign-up.
Links to relevant or new blog posts say 3 (don’t overwhelm).
Linked graphics and/or buttons to your key services/products.
Give them the option to engage with your business ie. socials.
Step 4. The simple contact form.
When considering the content and design of your contact form, remember to think of the following.
Is it at the top, middle or bottom of the funnel for you? Are you answering many enquiries, and therefore it needs only be brief, or are you nurturing clients at the bottom of the funnel who are deciding whether to work with you? If the latter is the case, then your form needs to be more detailed so that you have the necessary information when answering their query, which can hopefully close the sale.
Always provide an alternative call to action button should they not want to use the simple form ie. on-page email link, mail address, or link to Instagram for DM’s (if you regularly engage on the platform).
Don’t forget to always redirect the completed form to a well-thought-out ‘thank you’ page or message explaining when and how you will return their email. Your visitors will appreciate knowing the next steps.
Contact Us Page Design Examples.
As you’ll see from the examples below, the best ones are consistent with their brand, other pages on their website i.e. brand colours, fonts, buttons and images etc and most of all, when they can express how they can help their audience and point them clearly in the direction of contacting you or pointing them to other resources that can help answer their needs.
Conclusion
I think you’ll agree that a well-crafted contact us page can help to support your business in a variety of ways including building a rapport with your audience, providing your customers with easy access to you, and helping to protect you from bots.
So why not take a look at your contact page and see how it fairs?
So, based on the above, what might you change or include on your contact us page in order to give your audience a better, easier and more enjoyable experience?
As always, I’m cheering you on every step of the way and should you need some fresh eyes to give you feedback and recommendations, please book a strategy call or website audit. I’m here for you.
Jane x
