Posted by Ray Litvak from Leading Website Designs...
I recently volunteered to write a blog for AIMS on Web Design – Kathryn suggested writing about something I know and enjoy; so web design it is. My AIM – pun intended – is to address web design elements from a usability and marketing standpoint; including the good, the bad and the ugly.
Let’s review the ‘Contact Us’ section - the Rodney Dangerfield of web pages, usually getting “no respect” yet able to make or break a site.
We’ve boiled it down to 7 deadly “Contact Us’ page sins we frequently come across;
1. Who should I contact? The prospect has found your site and wants more information, but can’t identify who – from your contact list – is responsible. Is it Sales@yourco.com, Info@yourco.com, Service@yourco.com? Why make them think?
2. How long until someone gets back to me? Informing prospects of business hours and when they can expect a reply, builds credibility & trust.
3. Did they get the completed form I e-mailed to them? Auto Responders assure prospects their query was received – especially important in an emergency.
4. Why can’t I call them? Suppose the prospect’s Visa bill arrives and Amazon charged them for the wrong item - they want to speak to someone and soon: Amazon claims to be “committed to being Earth's most customer-centric company,” but try finding a phone number to speak to a ‘customer-centric’ person on their site. Unfortunately, this type of frustration is not specific to Amazon: still don’t believe me, check out the http://www.gethuman.com/earcon/standard.html project in the U.S.
5. Where’s the toll free number? The prospect lives in Windsor and wants to buy flowers for mom on Mother’s day – May 13th. Mom’s in Toronto. The prospect found your site and wants to call to place the order, but there’s no toll-free number. Maybe they’ll call, maybe they won’t. Why risk it?
6. What will they do with my “Contact Information”? The prospect found your e-tail site via Search and wants to place an order. With credit card in hand, they notice there is no Privacy Policy. An online (risky) purchase just got a whole lot riskier.
7. Why haven’t they replied to me? The prospect completed & sent the online ‘Request for Information’ form, but was never contacted. The prospect wonders how they’d be treated if they were an actual customer. Unless you are selling an egg-laying long-beaked echidna - or something as rare - chances are they’ll search for it elsewhere.
Essentially, make it easy for prospects to contact you. You’ve invested time, money and advertising to create and promote a professional web presence: providing easy and accessible contact options and alternatives just makes good business sense. As Geico says, make it "So easy a caveman can do it."
You have very nice site!
http://www.volny.cz/coachshoesitaly/
http://idisk.mac.com/louisvuittonsunglass/Public/index.html
http://amping-water-heaters.blogspot.com
Posted by: Victor | June 04, 2007 at 12:07 AM
It is hard a bit to see facts referring to this postand essay writing service can advice to buy essay to get proper facts and it is achievable to buy pre written essays per very low costs!
Posted by: Amelia26nw | January 21, 2010 at 11:18 PM