Why would I want to have multiple options for communication on my website?
Every visitor is different. Every visitor’s day is different.
Phone Communication
If you only offer your phone number on your site you are only going to hear from the people who are comfortable calling you. A small percentage of people are comfortable calling a new company. Your website visitors are trying to find out if you are going to be able to give them what they need. If you and you were visiting a website to search for products/services and the only kind of contact you saw was a phone number would you call right away?
Sometimes when I visit a site I am not in a position to get into a long conversation, so a phone call is not the best option.
Contact Form
If you only have a contact form on your website it could be that a visitor is not physically able to fill out a contact form if they are in transit or between errands, so the best way for them to communicate could be to hit the call button, but if a visitor does not want to call then they might wait and submit the contact form when he/she has time.
I like to submit contact forms when I don’t have time to start a conversation but I want to check “starting the conversation” off on my To-Do list. What that does is puts the ball in that company’s court…so to speak. I love this theory because If I am very likely to submit a contact form because I can check it off my list, I am sure that other visitors will do this as well. Contact forms are good for accommodating the deaf community.
Live Chat
Another contact option on your website that is also good for deaf/hard of hearing visitors, is instant messaging or live chat. This is a combination of the two.
I will use instant messaging if I want to ask a question and if I have some time but it does not necessarily take the place of a contact form or a phone number, but instant messaging is very trendy and helps to convert visitors.
I wouldn’t recommend having instant messaging that is not a real person. Some chat options use a bot that tries to solve problems, but your site visitors often have specific questions or problems that a bot cannot interpret. When companies do this they lose me as a customer.
If you are on the go and are not comfortable having live chat on your site, I would not include it, but there are options that make live chat easier to monitor. Facebook Messenger now offers a live chat option for your site so you can answer messages on your mobile device.
Booking/Scheduling
Some businesses offer appointment scheduling on their website. This is practical if you have a salon, barbershop, photography studio or if you are a consultant If you offer a calendar on your website know for sure you are not going to double book yourself during requested times; maybe you have times that are available only on the website or maybe it’s connected to your calendar so it immediately updates your calendar. Some of these applications are connected to scheduling software or CRMs so all employees see their own updates.
If you have questions about methods of contact on your website, give us a call or complete our contact form!