Every single page on your website is important; there shouldn’t be a single page that your visitors can click into that hasn’t been thoughtfully designed, tested for functionality, and created with your brand in mind. Yes, your home page is important, as are your landing pages. Your blog posts are important as well. However, let’s take a moment to discuss your ‘Contact Us‘ page.
How does it compare to the pages on your site? If users click the link to that page will they be led to a page with a nice form to fill out, up-to-date information, and the same design scheme as the rest of your website?
If so, you’re on the right track. If your contact page, on the other hand, is a little pop-up box that sticks out like a sore thumb – or worse, if your website attempts to launch Outlook on the user’s PC when they click the contact us button, it’s time for a redesign.
For a bit of inspiration, let’s look at some websites that have done a great job with their ‘Contact Us’ pages and explore what they are doing right.
Buzzworthy Studio, a design and marketing agency out of New York City, utilizes simple yet playful design for their contact page. This design and development work not only showcases the skills of Buzzworthy, but also clearly directs the user to their next steps. In this case, that is to “Start A Project.”
There are two primary reasons as to why this contact page does an extraordinary job of guiding consumers through the process. First, the primary call-to-action is the only place, aside from the logo, that implements the colour red. This instantly draws people’s eyes to the large circle.
Second, even if someone scrolls past the button, the shape of the map pulls the user back up the page, towards the button. Finally, once users click on “Start A Project” they are guided through an illustrated questionnaire before submitting their form.
The outdoors outfitter behemoth YETI has done an amazing job of creating an effective contact page while maintaining some fun branding. There are two major features that make this page fantastic for the audience they’re speaking to. First, YETI divides users into categories that directly relate to this concern. This not only makes life easier by YETI, but also creates a better culture of customer service. Second, and most enjoyably, the header copy is a playful way of speaking to an audience that can relate.
This is another example of a contact page that has design elements and images that match the other pages on the website. Not only is it colourful, but it effectively shows off the developers’ talents! In addition to this, the form is short and simple. By keeping the form simple and short, the web designer makes it more likely that the customer will leave feedback. The web designer also provides a direct email and Twitter link to visitors who don’t want to fill out a form.
This ‘contact me’ page for a freelance web designer is embedded directly onto the home page of the website. This is a useful technique because visitors don’t have to click – they just scroll down to enter their contact information and send a message. The web developer helpfully provides the email address and phone number. What is especially notable here is the automatically rotating series of customer testimonial quotes.
Littlelines is a software company, and its contact page is minimalistic and utilitarian: the company only asks for 5 things, the majority of which are basic information! By keeping it simple, users don’t get discouraged by overwhelming requirements to fill. It also starts with an exciting and confident title. Starting something great is the exact kind of mindset you want users to have when they reach out.
The first thing you will notice about this production company’s contact page is the design: the company logo is prominently displayed, and the web designer has selected a subtle background image to accent the form in the foreground. The form itself is short and easy to fill out. Even better, the page includes alternative methods for making contact, both through social media and through instant chat boxes.
This contact page is great for a few reasons. First, it clearly provides the company’s email address and physical address, and it links users to available positions. However, the absolute best part of this contact page is that users can instantly book an appointment! As an even bigger positive, this appointment is with the CEO, Giles, which only builds trust as users consider the company whole.
Hootsuite’s contact page is cleanly designed and immediately funnels users into sales, support, or careers. They also include links to all of their social accounts, which offer 24/7 support through direct and public messaging. Additionally, they make it possible to send messages to sales support or security and offer maps to each of their brick and mortar locations. Finally, they provide a link to a feedback channel where users can inquire about existing problems, suggest features, and provide feedback about the company’s performance.
Now that we’ve seen a few great examples of contact pages, let’s go over what you should include on your page. The first thing you want to have is a contact form. Ideally, it will be as short as possible. The more information you gather about a customer the better business and content strategy you can design.
Let your visitors know why they should contact you. If they feel as if their feedback is welcome, they are more likely to engage with your blog or website. However, if somebody has a customer service issue or is interested in doing business with you, don’t frustrate them by forcing them to enter a bunch of extraneous information. Keep the form short, like on TechWyse’s page below, or make the extra fields optional. You also want to include a call to action. This could be to follow your blog, subscribe to your email list, or contact you on social media.
If you’d like more help with taking your business’ contact page to the next level, TechWyse’s web design team is the right choice for you. Why not contact us to learn more? We can’t wait to hear from you!
Courtney is a Project Manager at TechWyse and coaches soccer in her spare time. Her favourite way to spend her time is with friends in the sun!
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on
Hello, you have a great finesse in writing the blogs. Keep writing more on these lines, enjoy reading this. great insights. Thanks!
on
I remember back in the day when I was new to all this and I didn’t know the importance of building an immersive “contact us” page, how foolish I was. I remember I decided to give it a go since everyone had a contact page and once I finally set up one I got some really nice feedback and business enquiries.
It’s one of the best things you can do for your website!
on
Leona, just wanted to say that this post is really wonderful. The contact us pages you’ve compiled are indeed nice to look at and functional too. I think I’ll follow your advice when I’m making my own “contact us” pages.
on
I have seen many “Contact Us” pages in my lifetime, and I always liked how they were all different. My least favorite, of course, is when there is a link that tries to launch Outlook. Unless, of course, you can see the email address without clicking it; then the Outlook link is okay. But I know that people who set up pages like that risk receiving a lot of spam, so perhaps a full-blown contact form is a good idea. Not exactly sure how to implement a contact form in my favorite website software, MediaWiki (which I personally prefer over WordPress); perhaps I have to make the switch to WordPress if I want a full-blown contact form. But I know very well that the contact form is very important! Some sites make their contact info very hard to find! Some sites don’t post it at all, but I guess some site owners want that. But if you’re doing real marketing, this is great advice!
on
Great post Leona, I’ve always thought of the contact part of a site as something hard for users to contact, if made easy for them I can be a great customer experience, the idea of getting back to them it’s great. Cheers!
on
Currently our contact us page is just holding general contact info with an option of filling in a web form that send us an email.
I love the visuals and how much effort has gone into a page generally thought as a list of ways to contact.
Will also take up the idea of positive messages about getting back to the visitor and that their feedback is important.