[chazthetic]

forms or lists of ways to contact?

i sometimes think people are a little wary of filling out forms and i fear it may come off as impersonal.

On the other hand, they can be a little more informative in that you can ask specific questions and you can protect your information better than a list of your phone number, email and what-not.

Which do you think yields more leads?

[mystique824]

my past 10 yrs of experience have taught me that you should ONLY ask the most relevant questions at first contact. Everything else can be covered thrue a followup contact moment. If you ask too much, people will leave. It's that simple. Besides that, try to offer some freebie, (Doc download, wallpaper, proj.factsheets, etc.) as a bonus when people signup or submit the form.
Good luck!. cheers. M.

[babydutka]

hmm really depends on the application. I sometimes use a combination but often opt to simply list the info. I'm not a huge fan of the forms unless it's for a customer service system - but thats just a personal opinion on ease of usability.

[skyrocket]

Originally Posted by chazthetic

forms or lists of ways to contact?

use both on the same page. why not? gives the customer options. the interweb can be a very impersonal medium so i don't think you can overdo the contact page options.

[Paul_F]

Originally Posted by mystique824

my past 10 yrs of experience have taught me that you should ONLY ask the most relevant questions at first contact.

I agree, any questions over and above their phone number or email address should at the very least be optional. Once they have established contact, then you can find out more.

I have even removed the captcha from my contact forms, as these are an extra hassle for genuine potential clients. Means i get more spam of course, but i think it is better to sift through 100 spam emails than lose even one genuine client.

[DigiSquid]

I've experimented a bit over the years but right now my contact page lists real contact info, has a direct link to email me and offers an online form. It's all about options, I guess. I'd say 90% of all correspondence is through the online form (which surprised me). Second most common is a simple phone call.

[Aen]

Provide both an email address and a form.
Most importantly imagine how you want to be able to contact the company if you are a user, then try to make yourself happy while keeping things simple.

[Knox]

On the sites I have made I still left out the directe email link because I do not want any spam. So it's only the contact form. A couple of years ago you saw a lot of mail - at - name.com adresses which left out the at sign. Why is it that nowadays more and more direct email link are coming online? Less spam? Or do you just work around it with some scripting all the time?

[DesignBits]

When I create a contacts page, I always implement a contact form with e-mail of the author, title and content of message and below the contact form I put other info like ICQ number, Skype ID, telephone (if wanted) and so...

[pixelenvy]

Originally Posted by mystique824

my past 10 yrs of experience have taught me that you should ONLY ask the most relevant questions at first contact. Everything else can be covered thrue a followup contact moment. If you ask too much, people will leave. It's that simple. Besides that, try to offer some freebie, (Doc download, wallpaper, proj.factsheets, etc.) as a bonus when people signup or submit the form.
Good luck!. cheers. M.

this seems the most logical to me..

[intrinzic]

List of ways to contact and a contact form. Offer it all!

[iskander_w]

That totally depends upon what website that is. I mean if customer service is required than contact form should have as many features as needed (inquiry subject etc.). At the other end of this contact there should be a ticket system with a support department employees.
Besides tickets are to be answered within 24 hours, customers LOVE this attention.
And if this is a website that doesn't involve customers a simple feedback form (or even the email) would be enough.