Many businesses miss this simple marketing nugget.  Have you?

Among our first tasks for clients is a full review of their website and recommendations on ways to convert more online visitors into prospects and customers. What’s the first thing I look for on a website? The phone number. You know, digits!

You wouldn’t believe how many overlook this obvious marketing nugget. Before you spend substantially on internet marketing, ask yourself: “What do I stand to gain when an online user visits my site?” If establishing immediate contact is your priority, make that contact easier -- position your telephone number prominently on your website.

Prominent can mean many things – noticeable, famous, well known, stand out. Now think about how it applies to your website. Is your phone number noticeable? Does it stand out? If your phone number doesn’t draw immediate notice, take another look at your website design.

Years of research make clear that to maximize user recognition you should place your phone number at the top of the website in a large font or combined with a graphical representation of a call icon. Relegating your phone number to the footer, a sidebar or exclusively in a pop-up box won’t get the job done. You may choose to repeat your phone number elsewhere on the site but for best results, position it at the top of the page.

A website design shouldn’t complicate the ability of visitors to contact you. Give them easy access to your number so they can call you just as soon as they want to know more about you and what you’re selling. And while you are reviewing your site layout be sure to also include other points of contact. I’ll talk about those next time when I write about lead forms and other ways to increase website conversions.