Feedback forms - also known as contact forms, are used to let your visitors immediately get in touch with you about any questions, suggestions or concerns they have about your website or products. Forms like this can be used for more than just making an initial contact, though.
You can use a contact form to encourage your visitors to get a free estimate or product sample. They can also be used to let your visitors request more information - such as a catalog of products.
This ensures that your catalog, brochure or other product listing only goes into the hands of people who want to receive it instead of a blanket "mass mailing". It saves you money - and it saves trees!
If you have several employees with different functions throughout the company such as technical support and sales, you can use contact forms to route a customer's inquiry to the appropriate person.
Once you get a form inquiry, do your best to respond within 48 hours (although preferably, an e-mail reply letting the customer know that you received their note should be sent within 1-2 hours within receiving their message). You or your web designer can configure this "auto-response" so that you don't have to manually type out a message every time.
Finally, many spammers have caught on to the form submission trick and, if you're not careful - they can use your web form to send their junk email offers out to other people - sometimes even under your name!
To stop this practice dead in its tracks, you'll want a form that includes a series of letters and numbers (called a CAPTCHA) that humans can recognize, but the computers that send out these junk mails, cannot.
With these tips in mind, all you have to do is worth with a reliable web site designer to help add this simple programming feature to your own website!
P.S. If you enjoyed reading this article, you can find even more web design tips at http://www.iElectrify.com/resources/
Sherice Jacob holds an M.A. in Media Studies and has played an integral role in creating several successful web businesses - for herself and others. She currently manages a full service web design and internet marketing firm at http://www.iElectrify.com
iElectrify specializes in creating professional, affordable and creative websites that get results. With a strong background in internet marketing and niche marketing, iElectrify.com works with small to medium-sized businesses to help them easily create and manage their own websites.