Remaining Accessible: Mailto Links vs. Contact Forms

Remaining Accessible: Mailto Links vs. Contact Forms (0)

Gillian Lindsay | 15/12/2008

If you have a website or blog you probably want to provide a way for users to contact you privately. While email is the perfect vehicle for this type of communication providing your address in a secure but usable manner can take some planning.

The simplest way to provide your address is to use the mailto tag to display it as a link on your site. When clicked the default email program on the user’s computer will automatically launch and create a new message populated with the address in the mailto tag. Adding this ability requires very little technical knowledge and works consistently on all major web browsers.

While this approach may seem ideal on the surface there are several drawbacks you must consider.

The biggest concern with the mailto tag is that it exposes your on the page. At first, you may think that is the point. However, visible addresses become instant targets for spam. Spammers can harvest these email addresses utilizing automatic bots resulting in a nearly unmanageable amount of spam.

Since the mailto tag simply opens a blank email you have very little control over the information provided. Depending on your market you may find it necessary to collect additional information such as phone number or URL. With this method you can ask for more specific information but the user does not have to provide it.

Mailto tags don’t always work as seamlessly as you would expect them to. There are numerous mail clients and there is no guarantee each will behave the same way. Additionally, web clients are becoming increasingly popular. In most cases mailto links cannot open a new message in a web client rending the tag ineffective.

Fortunately, there is a simple alternative that can alleviate most of the concerns attributed to the mailto tags. Contact forms allow users to send a message without exposing your address to the web site or blog. These forms also provide a greater range of options and customizations. You can define specific fields within the form to ensure you receive all the necessary information. While contact forms are generally a bit more complicated to setup than a mailto link, they are still fairly simple. Many web hosts now offer free tools to assist with form creation.

tags: Online Trends ,  Technology ,  Web Design