Don’t Make This Major Website Blunder

I’m someone who works my ass off to help business owners reach their potential customers. I go through every door, look behind every corner, and under every rock for the best places for a business to scream out to their customers “HERE I AM, COME AND GET ME!”.

When I’m going through this process, I do a A LOT of calling to radio, TV and web properties. There is nothing that baffles me more, than when these entities have very few – or NO ways to contact them on their websites. I understand it a little more when the start-up business who is not in the communications business overlooks this MAJOR step, but come on – radio, TV, web – ALL IN THE COMMUNICATIONS BUSINESS!

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve clicked on “Contact us” only to find a blank page OR simply a list of names with no email links or phone numbers. Come on people!

If your customer has to go through 25 steps to find an email address or phone number – chances are they will be calling the competition at that point. Why is it so difficult to create an easy way for your customers – your very life blood to flow?!?

Especially when I hear the people behind the curtain complain about a lack of “new business”. Yes advertising is down everywhere, but you’re also basically putting up a 20 foot brick wall around your business when you don’t have your contact info ready for your customers to see.

Most people are not going to your website to read your “company history” or read about the “insert company name here : difference” . Chances are they know what they are looking for, they did a Google search – found you – now they simply want a way to TALK TO YOU – or EMAIL you a question. Make sure they can do it easily!

It seems like a no brainer  – but I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why there is no contact info out. The biggest one – “I don’t want to get spammed”. Guess what… no one does. But if you also don’t want customers to contact you – DEAL WITH THE SPAM. It’s just the cost of doing business.

If you are a business who receives checks in the mail, are you also going to cut down your mail box simply because you don’t want another credit card offer, letting the post office send all those checks back to sender?

Then I hear the “We’re in the yellow pages”… Guess what – Your customers stopped using the yellow pages in 1998. So a lot of good that does you.

And then the “If they really need to get in touch with me, they will find a way”. My answer to that is simply – Yes. You are right…

Once they finally run into you at a function, or at the quick mart they will tell you about how they really want to work with you but that YOU lost their business because they couldn’t get in touch with you.

– Tony