Mail To, Forms and Wizards
Helps With
- Understanding how people can contact you
- Understanding Pros and Cons of each
There are two main ways to collect visitor information from your website:
Both can result in an email being sent to you.
Mail To
The visitor clicks on a hyperlink and this results in an email window being opened using the visitor's email . Then type a message and press send.
Advantages
- Guaranteed correct email address
- Very cheap and easy to implement
Disadvantages
- Relies on their email system
- Cannot control what they enter
- Enables spiders to get your email address.(which can result in unwelcome email - spam)
Form
The visitor is taken to a page that has a several fields to be filled in. Some fields can be made compulsory. When submitted, the server generates the email to you.
Advantages
- Can make fields compulsory
- Can collect specific information
- Conceals the email address it is sent to
- Can develop into a Wizard
Disadvantages
- More complex (costly) to set up
- can discourage visitors
- less user friendly?
Wizards
A Wizard is an extension of a form. It appears as a form to the user but can store the information in a database and use it to develop the interaction with the customer by:
- asking more questions
- offering more information that is relevant
As an example, it might be possible to take some personal details, collect a brief requirement and then offer a quote based on the requirements selected.