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Read the original medium article here.
What is the average number of hoops users must jump through before they are able to contact the owner of a desired domain name?
Let’s find out.
Let’s first make a few assumptions and set the scenario:
Click #1 — Google
The first click goes straight to none other than Google.com.
Because the user is not a power user nor a domainer, they will have to look up a WHOIS query website to find your contact information.
We are assuming that the average internet user will not have a WHOIS website bookmarked out of convenience.
We’ll be counting the amount of clicks it takes to find the contact information for each of these WHOIS query websites.
Click #2–4*— WHOIS Query Website
As you can see, three of the seven websites only had a single extra click before being presented the contact information.
Another three had reCAPTCHA forms tied to their queries. For those of you reading who are unfamiliar with reCAPTCHA forms, it’s basically Google’s method of preventing spam and bots from abusing these forms and services. However, that security does come at a slight cost of usability.
*Our testing added up to seven extra clicks if the reCAPTCHA forms required us to solve a challenge.
Click #3–7+ — Copy + paste
Now that the user has your contact information, they need to actually get in contact with you.
In the worst case scenario (with multiple CAPTCHA challenges and a not so efficient WHOIS website) we are looking at an additional fourteen clicks.
A few extra clicks? So what? Is it a big deal?
Now you may be wondering, what’s five or so more clicks going to do? How can five clicks possibly hurt my profits? It’s no big deal!
Well, a lot of people seem to disagree…
Friction is the enemy. We need to provide a seamless user experience to our customers to ensure that they don’t get cold feet and leave halfway through.
What is the average number of hoops users must jump through before they are able to contact the owner of a desired domain name?
Let’s find out.
TL;DR: it can take upwards of 10 extra clicks for customers to contact you when trying to purchase your domain name.
Don’t lose potential sales by hiding away your contact information. Create a landing page today and reduce friction in your purchase funnel.
Let’s first make a few assumptions and set the scenario:
- A user stumbles onto your domain name parked page
- The domain landing page does not have a contact form
- The user is interested in reaching out to the owner (to buy or make an offer)
- The user is not a domainer (i.e. does not have WHOIS query websites bookmarked)
Click #1 — Google
The first click goes straight to none other than Google.com.
Because the user is not a power user nor a domainer, they will have to look up a WHOIS query website to find your contact information.
We are assuming that the average internet user will not have a WHOIS website bookmarked out of convenience.
We’ll be counting the amount of clicks it takes to find the contact information for each of these WHOIS query websites.
Click #2–4*— WHOIS Query Website
As you can see, three of the seven websites only had a single extra click before being presented the contact information.
Another three had reCAPTCHA forms tied to their queries. For those of you reading who are unfamiliar with reCAPTCHA forms, it’s basically Google’s method of preventing spam and bots from abusing these forms and services. However, that security does come at a slight cost of usability.
*Our testing added up to seven extra clicks if the reCAPTCHA forms required us to solve a challenge.
Click #3–7+ — Copy + paste
Now that the user has your contact information, they need to actually get in contact with you.
- One click to copy that email address. +1
- Then another click to open their favorite email application. +1
- Then a final click to compose an email and paste in the domain owner email address. +1
In the worst case scenario (with multiple CAPTCHA challenges and a not so efficient WHOIS website) we are looking at an additional fourteen clicks.
A few extra clicks? So what? Is it a big deal?
Now you may be wondering, what’s five or so more clicks going to do? How can five clicks possibly hurt my profits? It’s no big deal!
Well, a lot of people seem to disagree…
Friction is the enemy. We need to provide a seamless user experience to our customers to ensure that they don’t get cold feet and leave halfway through.
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