You should think of your contact page as your digital handshake: it's a moment you can use to put your best foot forward. People tend to form judgments within seconds of meeting somebody. They may act in a similarly judgmental fashion when they take a look at your "Contact Us" page. The question is this: How can you put your best foot forward when you only have a small amount of space to do so? Check out these tips.
1. Edit, Edit, Edit
If there's one thing people like judging, it's someone's grammar—typically, with a focus on spelling. Grammatical errors are like little red splotches on an otherwise all-white suit. No matter how good the rest of the outfit looks, people hyper-focus on those little red marks. Take the “suit” of your contact page to the cleaners: scrub out those misspellings, missing verbs, and anything else that misses the mark.
2. Use Shapes, Color, and Images to Your Advantage
Your contact page is the perfect place to position your branding. Because the page has a simple function, there is a lot of empty real estate for you to play with. Use it for branding. Try the following:
- Keep the color scheme consistent with those of your brand.
- Incorporate an image that leaves a positive impression, such as that of a featured home.
- Use an image of you or your team to both make the page welcoming and a warm invitation to come back.
- Use your company logo, slogan, or name as a large, yet subtle watermark in the background.
3. Check the Layout of the Page on Multiple Devices
Some web design platforms make it easy to view your page on multiple devices. With others, it seems like every minute shift makes your entire page look like a dropped jigsaw puzzle. While getting a good platform will help, you still may have to pull up the site on a laptop, phone, and tablet to see how it looks.
The most important aspect of a contact page's layout is the alignment of the information fields with their labels. For example, if the word "Address" is on one line on a visitor's phone, but the box where you enter your phone number is on the next line directly underneath it, a visitor could quickly get confused. Someone could also enter the wrong information, which could hamper the process of gathering contact information altogether.
Another layout problem arises when images and text don't play nicely with each other. If an image isn't correctly positioned and formatted, it may look good on a desktop—but push words or entry fields into the wrong areas on an iPhone.
Simplify the Layout
Resist the temptation to glean more information than you need to. A contact page that asks for too much data can come across as prying. People are also afraid of having such data sold, and they can construe the contact field's questions as attempts to harvest valuable personal information. Try to ask for the bare minimum. Your request could include the following:
- Name: The name doesn't have to be a full name, either. If you don't need the individual's complete name, you can include just one field for their name.
- Email address: Some contact forms include wording such as "Email address you check often." This kind of request is unnecessary because it's implied.
- Location: Asking where the person is is another slippery slope. If you can make the field a dropdown box, the request may seem less intrusive. Keep in mind that some people interpret "location" as meaning where they are the moment they are visiting the page.
- Phone number: While it may be tempting to ask for a home phone and cell phone and business phone, you may be shooting yourself in the foot by doing so. You want the best phone to use to get in touch with the person, not a Rolodex of all their numbers. Limiting the "Phone" field to just one box forces the visitor to put the phone number they are most comfortable using. That's useful information to have.
While designing a contact page might seem easy on the surface, once you dive into the details, it can seem a bit daunting! Your contact page is a lot more than a simple, "Hi, nice to meet you;" It's your opportunity to make a strong first impression. If you have a well-edited, simple design with the right fields, you'll be giving your potential customers a firm but welcoming digital handshake.
Optimize Your Website With Geekly Media
If you need support when it comes to crafting your contact page, Geekly Media is here to help. We've designed contact pages for property management partners nationwide to help them draw and convert leads. Get in touch with us, and see how we can put our skills to work for you.
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