If you have been using the internet doe some time, you would have noticed a few years back when you went to a business web page they started using web forms to be contacted on, rather than listing an email address on their web sites.

It is probably just as easy to click on an email address as to filling in a contact form on a web site, so why do people use them?

The answer is very simple and it is something I tell all my customers who we create web sites for to do.

Minimising SPAM

The longer you have an email address, the more SPAM you will get.

Many people, myself included will change email addresses every few year because the amount of SPAM businesses get is just ferocious.

Whether it is software which generates spam, or criminal syndicates who pass your email address around and add it to lists, it is very easy to be on a multitude of spam lists, easily contacted with the click of the button.

Having a contact form hides your email address and makes it harder for spammers to scan for your email address on your site.

Of course they can email you through a contact form and wait for your reply to get your email address. But most wont go to such an effort and use software to scan your site looking for email addresses.

If they don’t find it they simply move on to the next site – in the blink of an eye.