Start with that contact page!

Trust me, if anything, contact pages can beat you down to the ground and make your cry.

So, if you’re creating a website or writing content for one, start with the contact page first. Here’s why:

Contact pages list some of the most annoying information. Stuff that’ll delay your project: phone numbers, map locations, addresses, not to mention contact forms. And some of these, if not all require input from your client, which can be a hassle at a later date. So get everything collected early on from email addresses to social media links.

Contact forms come with all kinds of challenges of their own, from what goes on the form, to how you want the user to fill it in (lists or radios or checkboxes), it’s decisions all the way. Have a word with your client early and figure out what’s right for them. Ideally, create a form that’s short, easy to fill out and doesn’t let the user sweat. Then go design and code it, don’t forget the little security features that help, like a captcha or honeypot! Yeah, that’s a thing, a honeypot. Once everything is done, and you’ve figured out whether form data gets emailed or stored in a database or both, test it out on your development server, as well as the production server (where the site is eventually published).

Maps were easy to embed, they still are but can get annoying once you’ve got to get a Google API key issued and setup, so plan for that. Adding a live map may be cool, but if you’re only using it as a branding element, use an image instead and link to your location directly on Google Maps. That way, there’s one less thing to worry about and if someone’s planning to visit your office, they can do that online or via the Google Maps app.

With the contact page out first, and all items that go on it sorted, the SEO bit too (meta title and description), you’ll find most other pages easier to design and write for. And remember, if you feel you’re stuck, take some inspiration from someone else’s contact page! Here’s ours: https://spiderz.com/contact/