What's reason behind having a contact form on a website, when a simple e-mail link is enough? Why do so many web sites have contact forms? Is it just a habit?
Why do websites have a contact form? isn't an email address enough?
email;content;forms;contact page
Top reasons that I'm aware of:To force customer to provide specific details which otherwise most likely be omitted by customer (like, order/invoice number, contact telephone number).To perform some basic validations on such data ensuring that the existing customer provides correct information (checking if such order does exist, validating input).Convenience to the customers -- they can type message straight away without the need to use their email program/web-based email. Very useful when customer is accessing the site from some random location (someone's PC, public place) and does not want others to see his emails (in case if he uses web-based emails) ... or simply does not have his PC with him.SPAM? Yes, but not that much -- there are quite a few good ways to stop more than average spam bots from picking up email addresses (usually requires JavaScript).If a company is a bit dodgy (eg. selling grey import software -- software that is meant to be sold in USA but they sell in in UK) they may simply do not want customers to contact them directly (their email could be just some-company@gmail.com .. which does not give much confidence to a customer these days if buying from online shops).