The Incredible Importance of Contact Information

Posted by Samuel Ballen on Jan 12, 2012 in Marketing, Web Design | 9 comments

It is essential that every website, Facebook page, Blog Post and Twitter profile you create includes some form of contact information. The more, the better! In the past, companies and individuals have gone to great lengths to make their contact information visible.

In the professional world, almost every new in-person interaction in the past century has had one thing in common: the exchange of a business card. A business card has multiple purposes. First, it is a reminder that you have met someone. It is a reminder of the interaction that took place and the ideas exchanged during your discussion. The other main purpose of a business card is that it provides multiple forms of contact information. A phone number is almost always featured. Fax numbers, e-mail addresses and mailing addresses are often there as well. Of course, there are some individuals out there confident enough in their web presence to just include a name and the phrase “Google me.” This may work, but it tears down lines of communication. People often give their business cards out when there has been almost no interaction. This is because getting your contact information seen is crucial.

Let’s think about phone books for a minute. For generations, businesses have paid top dollar to guarantee that their phone number was the first one seen by a potential customer. Many businesses were willing to give up their family name and the recognition that came with it and are now called things like #1 Auto and A+ Plumbing. Yes, these names imply merit, but they are primarily created to get a top listing in a phone book. Being the first business listed in your field is a cheap and effient alternative to taking out a half page ad. Savvy business owners were willing to give up recognition just to have their phone number seen (and dialed) more often.

Businesses clearly understand how important it is to get their contact information where the public can see it. No matter how good your name, product, or message is, consumers need to be able to reach you to access it. Why then, is there a total collapse of this idea on the internet?

Time and time again we have all struggled to find the address or a phone number of a company on its website. Do we click the link that says “About”? Should we head to the “FAQ” page? We click “Contact Us” buttons only to see Outlook create a new e-mail for us. While e-mail is great, and built in e-mail contact forms on sites can be useful, sometimes we need another way of contacting you. This applies to other organizations too. Even if your organization is not a business, you must be trying to stay in contact with people if you have a website. It is unbelievable how difficult it can be to find the phone number for a small town fire department or even a big-city governmental department.

I implore you to listen to the wisdom of generations of business-people before you. Display your contact information immediately, easily and often. Put it on the bottom of every page of your website (or even the top). Put it on your blog, your Facebook page and your Twitter profile. After all, the whole point of all the time you spend marketing is to get people to contact you. Make it easy for them!

We are DotCO Law Marketing.
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Featured image courtesy of  Jamiesrabbits licensed under creative commons.