I’m sorry to say, you might be losing leads.

If you’re site doesn’t have a contact form that lets someone easily email you, you’re not getting as many leads as you can.

You might say “But I have my email address listed.”

Doesn’t matter.

When I first started freelancing I built a website with a contact form on it. I felt that I didn’t really need it but since I was using Ruby on Rails it was a quick thing to add. All it did was to email me what someone typed into it.

I thought that I’d get more spam than actual email, but I didn’t.

Instead what I was getting was one to two actual leads each week. (And a few requests for free support)

The interesting thing was that I also had my email address and phone number on this page. I was getting maybe 4x contact form submissions as direct emails from people.

If I had to guess, I’d say that having the contact form made it easier for someone to contact me. All they had to do was to fill out their name, email, message, and click send.

To email me directly, they’d have to open their mail client, copy my email address in, pick a subject, enter their message, and click send. Oh and ignore all of the new email that appeared in their inbox while this was happening… oh hey, look something new just showed up, let me read that really quick… what was I doing again?

By having a contact form on your website, you’ll make it easier for people to contact you, which makes you more approachable. Anything you do to be more approachable means it’s easier to build a relationship with a potential client. And we all know that building a strong, lasting relationship is the key to turn a so-so contract into a long-term contract. Right? Right.

I’ve since switched from a custom Rails application for my sites to using WordPress. My contact form has remained, but it’s now powered by Wufoo (the free plan).

One of my longest-term clients started from him emailing me with my contact form. He might not have reached out to me otherwise.

Eric Davis