Why you Need a Contact Form on Your Website

When creating your website, you may think that it’s easier to put an email address and phone number on your contact page instead of building a dedicated contact form. While this may be true, relying on nothing more than an email address can actually hurt your business and limit your potential for growth. Whether you are a custom home builder, a retail clothing store, or a provider of specialty goods, customers need an easy way to get in touch with you.

While your website can serve as an effective showcase for your company, products, and services, it is also the perfect way for potential customers to get in touch with you. A dedicated “Contact” page with an integrated contact form allows customers to quickly and securely get in touch with you to ask questions or request a quote for your services. From increased conversion rate optimization to reduced spam emails, there are several reasons why you need a contact form on your website.

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5 Benefits of Website Contact Forms

Contact forms are ideal for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Adding a contact form to your website offers the following benefits to help you grow your business:

1. Generate More Leads

Whether you’re selling products or providing a service, a contact form is a great way to generate leads. Depending on the questions/sections in your contact form, you can effectively collect submissions and sort them based on what customers are inquiring about. This allows you to delegate these submissions to suitable team members and convert leads into sales.
In addition to responding to contact form submissions, the information entered in these forms can be analyzed to understand your audience. This information can then be used to create email campaigns and other advertising that is uniquely tailored to your target demographic, turning initial leads into additional leads and sales.

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2. Reduce Spam Emails and Increase Site Security

If you leave a contact email address on your website, you open yourself up to the risk of spammers and scam artists. These cybercriminals utilize bots that search for exposed or unprotected email addresses, sharing them with all their scammer friends. A scam email can contain harmful links and viruses that can compromise sensitive information or damage your business hardware, leading to costly downtime.

Using a contact form—especially if it has a CAPTCHA—is a great way to prevent scammers and bots from getting your email address. This drastically reduces the amount of potentially harmful emails you get each week, keeping your inbox clean and filled with relevant leads. A contact form ensures that more than 90% of the inquiries you get are from individuals that are genuinely interested in the services or products you provide, allowing you to spend your time on actual leads.

3. Make Yourself Easy to Reach

A lot of website owners use their social media platforms to connect with clients and potential customers. While this works for customers that are active on social media, it doesn’t really help customers that aren’t. Some customers also simply do not like to reach out to businesses via social media, viewing it as too much effort. In short, using social media as your sole contact form can cause you to miss out on potential business or lose customers over time.

That’s where a contact form comes into play. A prominent and easy-to-access contact form is a great way of letting everyone know that you are easy to get in touch with. They also give the impression that you are always available to answer questions or respond to messages without needing to stay online at all times. When visitors can quickly locate and fill out your form, they will be far more likely to reach out to you instead of looking at your competitors.

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4. Contact Forms Look Professional

While an email address is easier to add to your site, it can look lazy and unprofessional to some visitors. A well-designed and properly formatted contact form will take some more time and effort, but it looks far more professional and leaves a better impression. It also enhances the look of your site and shows that you take your visitor’s questions and comments seriously. At the end of the day, you get what you give, so it’s always a good idea to put work into your website.

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5. Automated Responses and Optimized Handling of Requests

In addition to making it easy for customers to reach you, contact forms can save you a lot of time. Instead of manually typing out an email to respond to every inquiry, a contact form allows you to set up automated responses to let customers know that you received their message. This allows you to increase customer engagement while freeing up time to handle other aspects of your business.

For example, you can spend time assigning these requests to suitable members of your business or take time to assess the information in each submission to determine an appropriate solution. This optimizes how you handle requests, increasing efficiency and enhancing customer satisfaction without spending a significant amount of extra time on each inquiry. Contact form submissions can also be integrated with your email marketing tools, allowing you to bring in new contacts for campaigns and generate more sales.

To learn more about the benefits of contact forms for your website, get in touch with the experts at FirstPage Marketing. We can be reached through our own contact form and will be happy to answer any questions you may have about your existing website or building a new website.

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