Have a look at this fragment of my current contact page on this blog:
What’s wrong with it?
By itself, nothing. It looks quite nice, you have a contact form. But you need more. You need some sort of proof that I, Olivian BREDA, am alive, that I use some technology, that I have a real face, that I use some social networks. You need:
- Proofs that I exist in real life.
- More than one method of contacting me.
- To imagine how I look like (even how I act – a video could also do – see Clipurile video convertesc. Sau, cel puÈ›in imagini (statice sau animate): Olivian BREDA).
- Know my stuff (in my case, that I am good with technology).
You actually need these things. Sure, a contact form is a nice way to contact (email, name, phone, message; you write this, and voilà , your message gets to me).
But you need more than this, you need to connect with me.
An online store needs to demonstrate it’s not a virtual image / brand, located somewhere in the virtual space. No! It is a very real space. For this, it needs to prove that:
- It has a headquarters.
- It has more than a phone (more phones).
- It has more than one person answering the phone.
- It has a map.
- If they deal with money, that they have contact data for the online processing parties of those money.
- They use social networks.
- They know email.
If you give me a contact form, I might trust you or not. If you give me a headquarters / map / lots of phones, I’ll trust you more.
Good examples:
- eMAG Info (open in new tab the image below):
- Detalii contact PC Garage (open in new tab the image below):
- Contactează-mă: Olivian BREDA (open in new tab the image below):
No example above is perfect. Everyone needs a video. I need a postal address. eMAG needs a personalized email and social networks. PC Garage needs the fiscal data of the company. So does eMAG. I need an email address. eMAG needs to make the contact phone larger. So does PC Garage.
Still, all of the above examples are much better than just posting “this is a contact form”. Use this. Make yourself non-virtual in the online world. Make yourself as real as it gets.
Also see (in Romanian):
- De ce să fii “real” pe un site? De ce să fii tu însuÈ›i? De ce să intri în concret: Olivian BREDA
- Despre “Despre noi” – cum să faci o pagină care să te descrie: Olivian BREDA
PS, 2019.06.18 If you add a link to a Google Maps map on contact page, you may also want to include a link Waze map.
PS, 2020.10.01: 39 Inspiring Examples of Contact Us Pages.
PS, 2022.04.26: 10 recomandări pentru o pagină de contact eficientă:
Pagina de contact poate fi și remarcabilă și eficientă, nu doar standard sau… plictisitoare. Avem 10 recomandări.
PS, 2022.05.26: Make Every Web Page a (Better) Contact Page – Leadferno.