Should you put your phone number on your website?

For a website to be trustworthy, it needs a ‘Contact Us’ page. Some businesses put their physical address and their email address on this page. But should you also put your work phone number on your website?

Why don't (some) companies put their work phone numbers on their website?

Large corporations don’t put their work phone numbers on their website because they have several offices around the world. Secondly, the businesses that don’t tend to share their work phone number on their website usually have dedicated customer support.

The third reason is that most big brands have apps for customers to get in touch with them.

But if you’re a small business, you need to put your work phone number on your website. That’s because the requirements, customer profiles and engagement methods are different for independent, local businesses.

Reasons why you should add a work phone number to your business website

It increases trust

It makes it easier for customers to trust you when they see a work phone number. This shows that you’re transparent and look forward to interacting with them. They know that it may not be possible to talk to you in person all the time. But when you share your work phone number, you’re telling them that you and your business are ready to hear from them. While a work phone number builds trust, make sure that you don’t share your personal mobile number.

If you put your personal number on your business website, you might get calls at all hours, including during holidays or when you’re with your family. What you need is a dedicated line for work with auto-reply that would tell them why you can’t take the call and when they can hear from you.

It improves conversions

When a potential customer sees your product or service, it’s natural that they may have questions. Email tends to take longer to get a response and a social media message may not reach the right person.

A phone call, on the other hand, can help a client talk to the right individual. At least, they would get the right response by contacting a work phone number. Remember, it also tells them that even after the purchase, it would be easy to reach you.

Here again, what you need is a second number for work. The last thing you want is not to respond to a work-related call or message. In the age of hybrid work, a phone that allows you to route calls to remote team members would be a significant advantage.

It's easier for customers

Making a phone call comes naturally to anyone who has a phone. They don’t have to open their email or reach out to you through your social media channel, both of which are tedious. Remember that some may not have an email address or social media account.

A work phone number makes it easy for everyone. If you choose a local number as your work phone number, customers will be more comfortable calling since they would think of you as a neighbourhood business.

If you have a dedicated work phone number, you don’t have to worry about your work-related calls getting mixed up with your personal calls. With an exclusive number, you’ll be improving your customer service.

It's what customers want

Here’s something small businesses should know about texting: People increasingly prefer SMS to other forms of communication. A call might sound intrusive to a generation that has grown up with messaging platforms. 75 per cent of people below the age of 44 are more likely to get in touch with a business through a text.

If you add a text or WhatsApp link to your site, it makes it exceptionally easy for a user to start a chat with you. You’ll be able to answer their queries and share images, videos or links with them.

With Chalkboard, you get a second line for work, which you can use with WhatsApp Business. You can share that number on your website and ensure that all your work-related chats will be separate from your personal chats.

Chalkboard: A dedicated work phone number for your business

Why shouldn’t you use your personal phone for work and share it on your website? Because it compromises your privacy, mixes up your personal and work-related communication and damages your work-life balance.

So, should you be carrying two phones? No. There’s a smarter alternative. Chalkboard gives you a highly affordable second number for work packed with business-friendly features.

• You can set auto-reply for all the times you won’t be able to take the call.

• You can organise your contacts, broadcast messages to whole groups and talk to your customers like friends.

• You can use WhatsApp Business with a different number that will protect your personal phone number.

Download Chalkboard and try it now; this is the work phone number that you want to put on your website.