No Contact Information

There are certain types of sites where contact info is not such a big deal, but if you provide products or services, or if you produce information for which credibility is an issue, then easily accessible contact information is essential!

If you sell a product or service, the lack of easily visible contact info is a statement right from the start that you do not intend to back up the sale. Look at websites for the unquestionably successful corporations. You will find that almost without exception, there is a contact link available from every page in the site.

As a personal aside, two of the most visited pages on EVERY SINGLE website I own, are the Contact page, and the About page. I rarely actually get emailed, but they go there to see who I am and where I come from before they trust me.

Contact information can be provided by one of two standards:

  • Place a Contact link on every page of the site. Put it in the same place on every page so it is predictably available. Standard places for Contact links are Top of the page (in a horizontal nav bar), Bottom of the page (again, in a horizontal bar), or bottom of the left hand sidebar navigation.
  • Place full contact information at the bottom of the left hand sidebar. Placing this info here is an alternate placement, and removes the need for a Contact page. Sites with a lot of links in the sidebar, or which have a lot of advertising in the sidebar will not be as appropriate for this option.

If you provide a Contact link, you'll want to create a separate page just for the contact information. It should include the following items:

  • Company or Individual name (sometimes both).
  • Specific contact name if applicable - If you have different people for support or orders, then that needs to be included.
  • Company address - If you put a P.O. Box, a note at the bottom as to why may help with credibility.
  • Contact Phone number - This isn't essential, but it does help, because there are people who still prefer to call and talk in person.
  • Email address - This one you MUST have.
  • Any other support or contact options that you offer.
  • Listing of company hours, notice about how fast it takes for replies to be received by sender, etc. Anything that might help them feel better about your operating procedures.
  • If you have a contact form, then PLEASE provide a standard email address also. Forms are notorious for malfunctioning in unpredictable situations, and it is highly frustrating for someone to not even be able to tell you that the form doesn't work!

Now, even if you have a contact page, you should also have a direct email link on each page. Yes, this is somewhat redundant, but for some people, that email link is just simpler and faster, and they'll use it more readily than they'll go to a Contact page.

The whole point here is that you WANT feedback. You WANT people to be able to contact you easily. For a business, feedback is very important to developing successfully.

If you don't listen to your customers, then you really aren't well suited to operating a business. Because the business isn't about what you want to sell, or how you want to sell it, it is about THEM. It is about what they want to buy, and how they want to buy it! Shut them up, and you just shut the door on your greatest success roadmap.

The issues are pretty much the same if you are providing information, because they need a way to contact you if they feel your info is in error, or a way to let you know your site is not working for them, or a way to contribute a comment which can be used to your advantage. Keep the lines of communication open, and your site visitors will return information to you that is of value.

Contact links and placements are pretty standard online. Stick with the standard expectations and your customers might not even notice that you did, but if you neglect to provide that information, they WILL notice, and they won't trust you.

Now, there are sites, mostly "one page sales sites", or "squeeze pages" which are all hype. Their goal is not to develop a relationship with the customer, but to blow them over with hype, overpower their sense of reason, and persuade them to buy against their better judgment. Those pages almost NEVER have contact info on them. But they don't get repeat sales either. They don't build a solid reputation, and their business does not gain momentum.

If you want a solid foundation for your business, then give your potential customers reason to trust you, and make yourself accessible to them.

Written by Laura Wheeler