Here’s something I see all the time. A business owner or ministry leader tells me, “Nobody uses our contact form.” Then we test it together, and we find out the form has been broken for months. Messages were going to an old email address, or into a spam folder, or nowhere at all.
Nobody told them, because the people trying to reach them simply gave up.
I’m Jube Dankworth. I’ve been building websites since 1999, and Net Media Consultants has helped family-friendly, conservative, and Christian businesses and ministries for about 25 years. Of all the things that can go wrong on a website, a broken contact path is one of the quietest and one of the costliest. It’s also one of the easiest to check.
Why this matters right now
The holidays are coming. Black Friday is November 27 and Giving Tuesday is December 1. That’s when more people look you up, ask a question, or try to give. If the form doesn’t work, you won’t know who you missed.
The 15-minute contact form test
Grab your phone and a cup of coffee. Then do this:
- Send yourself a test message. Fill out your own contact form like a stranger would. Did the message arrive? How long did it take? Did it land in spam?
- Check where messages go. Make sure form messages go to an email inbox someone actually reads every day, not an old address or a former staff member.
- Try it on your phone. Can you tap each box easily? Does the keyboard cover the Send button? Is the text big enough to read?
- Look at what happens after you hit Send. People should see a clear “Thanks, we got your message” note. If the page just sits there, many people will think it failed.
- Count the boxes. Ask only for what you need to reply. Name, email, and a short message is often enough.
- Find your contact page in two taps. Start from your home page. If it takes more than a tap or two to find how to reach you, make it easier.
Make your form easy for everyone to use
A form that works for you may not work for everyone. A few simple fixes help people who use screen readers, keyboards, or larger text, and they make the form easier for everybody else, too:
- Every box needs a clear label that stays visible, not just gray hint text that disappears when you start typing.
- Error messages should say what went wrong in plain words, like “Please add your email address,” not just a red outline.
- You should be able to fill out the whole form with only a keyboard, using the Tab key to move from box to box.
- Watch out for tricky “prove you’re human” puzzles. Some are very hard for people with low vision. Simpler spam protection often works just as well.
Give people more than one way to reach you
Not everyone likes forms. Make sure your website also shows an email address and a link to your Facebook page or other social pages. For ministries, make sure your prayer request and volunteer forms get the same test as your main contact form. Those messages matter just as much.
Where to start this week
Do the test above today. It really does take about 15 minutes. If everything works, great. You can stop worrying about it. If something’s broken, you just found a leak you can fix before the holiday rush.
Want a quick checklist to go through the rest of your website, too? Grab the free 10-Minute Website Check: https://netmediaconsultants.com/website-check/
Rather talk it over? Book a free 30-minute Website Check call: https://calendar.app.google/JDsKTcPaLWQ4KCbv6, or email me at jube@netmediaconsultants.com.
Let’s make sure the people looking for you can actually reach you.
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