Running a business comes with many challenges, however, one challenge they all share is ensuring your contact information is visible and easy to find. Sharing your contact information online is essential for your business to be successful. Although, there are right and wrong ways for sharing your contact information. Oversharing or including unneeded information could cause future problems for your business and website. That is why it is important to understand the basics of the dos and don’ts of sharing your contact information online.
As a business, your contact information is how your customers can reach you in a variety of ways. The most common information to provide is your name, address, email, and number. This allows customers to connect with you or your business directly, on top of whether or not they used your Contact Us form. However, this information can vary depending on how big or small your business operations are.
Ensuring you use the appropriate information saves you from potential issues which will be discussed further down. For now, let’s take a look at what you should include.
When creating your contact information for your website you must have the correct information as well as the placement of the information. This makes it easy to find and provides a quick but simple user experience and journey for your customer. The following are the best practices for including contact information on your website:
The primary benefit of including the correct contact information on your website is that it drives sales. It may not seem like a major impact but easily found contact information is the first step the buyer takes to move along the sales process. Can a potential customer find the number to call or the street address your business is located? Can customers quickly find an email address to ask a question? These are all important questions to ask yourself when inputting your contact information. The longer it takes for a customer to find your information, the less likely it will lead to a sale.
Additionally, the more contact information you have, the more secure the customer will have with your business in the event something goes wrong with your product or service. It provides a sense of legitimacy and confidence for the customer.
Now that we understand what the best practices are for including contact information on your website, it’s important to know what we should avoid when including contact information. Avoid using the following:
Providing incorrect or unneeded contact information can lead to issues that are a hassle to deal with. Those who use a personal email and phone number as a business contact can be subject to mass spam activities. This can be non-stop phone calls or overloading your inbox. Spamming can be a major inconvenience for small businesses and cut into valuable time, essentially causing your business money. That is why we recommend never using your personal contact information for your business and always opting for using domain names and having a separate work phone.
Another potential issue is the threat of sharing your home address if you run your business out of your home. This can lead to people showing up during non-business hours and overall be an overall safety problem. In this case, it is always best to use a P.O. box for mail services and avoid scheduling in-person meetings at your home.
If your business is looking for a boost in website hosting or marketing strategies to keep you competitive in the market and avoid making costly mistakes, IGV can be the solution for you. Contact us and tell us your story.
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Author: Stuart Silcox
