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Eight Easy Ways to Build Trust with Your Contact Page

Are you losing potential customers at the last minute?

Your Contact page is probably one of the shortest pages on your site … yet it’s one of the most vital. If someone has a question or problem, it’s where they’ll come. And the impression that page makes can either give them full confidence in buying from you, or turn them off for good.

It’s not too hard to get a Contact page right: you don’t need flashy design, or even great copywriting. Instead, you just need to ensure that you’re sending the right messages through the information you include.

Here are eight easy things you can do on your Contact page to build more trust with your potential and existing customers.

Note: Not all of these methods will be perfect for every type and size of company, so pick and choose depending on your needs.

#1: Include a Phone Number

Some customers will always be happiest picking up the phone to talk to you directly, so it’s a great idea to include your phone number on your contact page. Even those customers who prefer to email will be reassured that they have the option to call you if you need to.

If it’s not practical for you to include a phone number (for instance, if you’re a tiny business with no-one to man the phones) then including an email address – not just a contact form – can have a similar effect. Charfish Design do this gracefully with an explanation that they’re very happy to give out their phone number by email.

Example:

Productive Flourishing, who offer business consulting, include a phone number along with other contact methods (email or contact form) on their contact page:

productive-flourishing-500
(click image to enlarge)

#2: Make Sure Your Contact Form is Working

Assuming that you use a contact form – and most companies do – it’s critical to make sure that it’s actually working.

Broken websites definitely don’t inspire trust. If a customer fills in your form only to receive an error message, they may simply go elsewhere to make a purchase. And if your form appears to work but there’s a problem in you getting messages from it, then they’ll likely be frustrated when you fail to respond to them.

If you get a lot of enquiries, it’ll probably be pretty obvious if the form breaks – your support team will suddenly be having a very quiet day! If you’re a smaller company, though, you could find that days or even weeks go by before you realise there’s a problem. Make sure you test your contact form on a regular basis, especially if you’ve had any issues with it in the past.

Example:

We can’t vouch for anyone else’s contact forms, but we can tell you that ours is definitely working! You can see it in action on our Contact page – and of course you’re welcome to get in touch:

zen-optimise-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

#3: Include a Map of Your Location

If you have a physical presence (like an office, shop, or restaurant), then it’s a great idea to include a map on your contact page that shows the location.

This is helpful to people who’ll be visiting you – they can instantly see where you are. Yes, it might only take a few seconds for them to type your postcode into Google Maps – but it’s always a good idea to make life easy for your customers or potential customers!

Even if someone has no intention of visiting you, the fact that you have a physical presence can be very reassuring. They’ll know that you’re not some fly-by-night company that might take their money and disappear.

Example:

The digital marketing agency BlueGlass do this with their contact page, showing their locations in both London and Zurich. (Maps are an especially good idea if you have an international presence, as they help show this off.)

blue-glass-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

#4: Make it Clear Who Will Be Responding

If there’s likely to be any ambiguity, make it extremely clear who will be responding to the contact form on the website. This could be as simple as including a line like, “To get in touch with our support team…”

This is particularly important for very small businesses, where your customers or potential customers might otherwise expect a reply from whoever’s in charge. If, instead, the contact form is answered by an assistant, then it’s a good idea to explain that.

By doing this, you help reassure the people contacting you, and you demonstrate that you’re upfront and clear about what they can expect – something that every customer is likely to want.

Example:

IttyBiz (a marketing company that works with tiny businesses) do this with their trademark humour on their contact page, explaining that the contact form goes to their “ninjas”:

ittybiz-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

#5: Ask for Information Up-Front

While there’s definitely an argument to be made for keeping contact forms simple, it can be more helpful for both you and your potential customers to add extra fields and gather more information.

(If you do this, make sure that you have other, less directive, contact methods – like phone and email – clearly visible, and do ensure that non-essential fields aren’t mandatory.)

By including multiple fields with dropdowns, radio buttons or similar, you make it simple for potential customers to provide all the information you’ll need. As well as preventing the need for a lot of back-and-forth emailing, this demonstrates to your customers that you’re interested in getting a full picture of what they need well before you take their money!

This is a particularly useful technique for firms that work closely with a small number of clients, such as consultancies.

Example:

Oxford Sixth Form Solutions have a detailed contact form on their site. Note how they include email addresses and phone numbers first, for anyone who wants to get in touch with a quick query or similar, and how not all fields are mandatory:

osfs-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

#6: Use More than One Contact Form if Appropriate

Sometimes, having one long form isn’t the most helpful choice. If you’re likely to receive a lot of very different enquiries via your Contact page, perhaps for customers looking to purchase or use a particular service, then it can be useful to create multiple forms.

Again, this helps prospective customers feel confident that you’re well-equipped to deal with their needs. It also demonstrates that you have strong systems in place, and that they’re likely to receive a prompt and efficient reply.

(An alternative way to do this would be to have a dynamic contact form that changes based on the individual’s initial choice(s).)

Example:

WPBeginner include clear links to and explanations of their alternative contact forms on their main Contact page, so that enquiries can be easily routed to the right place:

wp-beginner-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

#7: Include Your Social Media Profiles

It’s almost always a good idea to include links to your social media profiles on your Contact page. This is where potential customers (and bloggers or journalists wanting to write about you!) will often look first, plus some people will prefer to use social media instead of email or the phone to get in touch.

Your social media accounts can, in themselves, be a great way to build trust. If someone clicks through to, say, your Twitter account from your Contact page and sees that you tweet useful information and respond promptly to customer enquiries, this may well encourage them to trust you enough to send in a request for a quote via your contact form.

There’s one important caveat here, though: don’t include social media profiles on sites where you’re rarely active. If you set up a Twitter account two years ago but haven’t logged on in months, there’s no point including it on your Contact page – it could be doing more harm than good.

Example:

Charfish Design include their social media profiles below their contact form, in an unobtrusive, classy way (which has the added benefit of giving potential customers additional confidence in their design abilities):

charfish-design-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

#8: Give a Clear Idea of Response Time

Does your team work weekends? Will they respond to all messages the same day, or might it take a bit longer for enquirers to hear back?

When someone gets in touch by email or through your contact form, it’s really helpful for them to know how long they’re likely to have to wait for a reply. (It may be the case that they’ll choose to phone if they need a same-day response, for instance.)

By including a clear idea of response time on your contact page, you help your potential customers feel confident and comfortable about what to expect. If you’re a one-person business, this could be something as simple as, “I aim to respond to all messages within 48 hours.” For larger companies, you might include the hours that your help team is available.

Example:

Moz include their help team’s hours (7am – 5pm, Monday to Friday) right at the top of their Contact page:

moz-contact-500
(click image to enlarge)

 

Could you do more with your Contact page to inspire trust in the potential (and existing) customers who are deciding whether or not to reach out to you?

What small step could you take this week – like adding your phone number to the page, or testing your contact form to be sure it’s working? Drop a comment below to tell us.

 

SEO introduction training

The greatest contact page in the world won’t do much for you if no-one can find your company online. Check out our introduction to SEO for beginner-friendly tips that will see you making real progress straight away. All our courses are taught in small groups (max 8 participants) and include plenty of time for hands-on practice.

 

 

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