In this video, you’ll learn how to improve your consulting website contact page with a “Now” section, as well as adding the principle of scarcity.
The consulting website used in this demonstration is Kurt Elster’s contact page.
[Slides]Transcript
Welcome to Consulting Website Design 007: Contact Now.
In today’s episode, you’re going to learn how to improve your contact page by adding a “Now” section to it.
Let’s take a look at one of my favorite, and most well-designed contact pages, Kurt Elster’s contact page.
There’s nothing worse and more uninviting than a contact page with a generic “Contact Us” headline and submission form.
And we can see here that Kurt does the exact opposite.
Even though it’s a very minimal, black and white style of design, I can tell you right now that this contact page does so many things really, really well.
There are a lot of subtle copy and design aspects of this page that I want to touch on in this episode.
First, I really like this topmost “Now” section of the contact page, hence the episode name: Contact Now.
In this beginner paragraph and bullet points, he’s explaining what he’s doing, what his business is up to, with links to various pictures and other resources that are related to his business.
In the middle here, we see a really helpful list of bullets that explains to the reader here’s how I can help you, and just as importantly, he explains what he’s not doing.
And finally, for his “Getting in Touch” Section, Kurt gives 5 ways that you can get in touch with him: paid call, apply to be an Ethercycle client, talk to his assistance, request a quote or interview, and join his group to ask your question publicly.
Consider what you think of Kurt’s brand after reading the copy on this page.
Because of the clarity of the copy and options he provides, it’s easy to start seeing him as a very in-demand subject matter expert.
He’s not saying contact me if you want to talk about your business…he’s saying if I have the time, I can improve your Shopify store, guesting on your podcast, host a speaking engagement with you, etc.
All of it is very clear and direct — and he provides a variety of different options of here, each of which is very straightforward.
Now one of the things I might do if this were my page is change this background to a light green to match the button.
And I might even move this “Getting in Touch” section to the top of the page.
You can see how this one places a bit more emphasis on the “Getting in Touch” CTA’s and has the “Now” section at the bottom.
But again, I think Kurt’s original design is great. It does a great job of positioning him, his business, and expertise.
It helps him play hard to get — but in a friendly way, where he’s telling you more about what he’s working on and giving you an idea of what he’s doing now, and he even has a nice little line about his family with a picture, and all of this does a good job of letting your prospects know a bit more about you, both personally and in business.
And this quote, taken from Derek Sivers NowNowNow.com project, it reads:
It’s useful for the same reason an “about” page is useful on your site: because people on your site want to know more about you.
Besides answering the common question, “What are you up to these days?”, those who have a now page say it’s a good reminder of their priorities. By publicly showing what you are focused on now, it helps you say no to other requests.
This “now” section of your contact page helps both you and your intended audience understand what you’re doing, what you will do, and what you won’t do as well.
It provides a much greater user experience for your prospect because you’re making it clear how, when, and why to get in touch with you.
Action Step
Today’s action step is to add a “Now” section to your contact page.
Write out three things that you’re doing in your business (or even outside of your business) that tells your prospect a little bit more about who you are and what you’re up to.
And one more optional step: add an element scarcity to your contact page.
I’m sure you’re not available to work for anyone, at any time, for any price, so make that crystal clear on your website.
Scarcity makes you, your business, and your services more valuable.