Adding a WhatsApp button for website enquiries

Start with a wa.me link

A click-to-chat button is a link. Nothing more. It points to wa.me followed by your number in international format, without the plus sign, the leading zero or any spaces. For a UAE mobile like 052 292 3875, that becomes wa.me/971522923875. Tap it on a phone and WhatsApp opens a chat with that number. On a laptop it offers WhatsApp Web or the desktop app.

You can add a message that's already typed when the chat opens. Put ?text= after the number, followed by your message with spaces and punctuation encoded for a web address. So "Hi, I'd like a quote" becomes Hi%2C%20I%27d%20like%20a%20quote. Most web designers and many free online tools will do the encoding for you.

Use the number that's actually on WhatsApp Business. It sounds obvious. We still see sites linking to an office landline that has never had WhatsApp on it.

Test the link on an iPhone, an Android phone and a laptop before it goes live. One wrong digit means every enquiry goes to a stranger, or nowhere.

Placing a WhatsApp button for website visitors on phones

Most visitors are on phones, so think about the bottom of a small screen first. Make the floating button big enough to hit with a thumb, and check it doesn't sit on top of a cookie notice or the submit button of a form. One button per screen is plenty. Five green icons on the same page looks desperate.

These are the spots that tend to get tapped:

• A floating button in the bottom corner, visible on every page
• The header, next to the phone number
• Under the prices on each service page
• At the end of a project or gallery page
• On the contact page, above the form

Pre-filled messages that do some of the asking

One generic message across the whole site wastes the feature. Give each service page its own. On a pool renovation page, the chat might open with "Hi, I'm asking about pool renovation. My area is". On the maintenance page, something else. You see straight away which page the customer came from, and they've started answering the first question you'd have asked.

Keep it short. A pre-filled message that runs to four lines looks like a form, and people delete it and type "hi" instead.

Put a click-to-call button beside the WhatsApp one. Some customers, often corporate buyers or older clients, would rather phone. Every site we build puts WhatsApp and click-to-call on every page, which you can see on our website design page.

WhatsApp Business app settings worth switching on

If you're still answering customers from a personal WhatsApp account, move to the free WhatsApp Business app. It runs on the same phone and gives you tools a personal account doesn't have. Exact menus change between versions, but the ones most small UAE businesses use are a business profile with your address, hours and website, a greeting message for first-time chats, an away message outside your hours, quick replies for answers you type ten times a day, labels for sorting chats, and a catalogue for showing services or products with prices.

Labels are underrated. Something like "new enquiry", "quoted" and "booked" turns a long list of chats into a rough sales pipeline you can check on your phone.

If several people need to answer from one number at the same time, or you want WhatsApp tied into a booking or CRM system, that's the WhatsApp Business Platform. It works differently from the app, usually through a provider, and most small businesses don't need it.

A slow reply costs more than no button

This is the part people skip. Someone who taps a WhatsApp button expects a reply in minutes, not tomorrow. Often they've messaged two or three competitors at the same time, and the first sensible answer wins the job.

So before you add the button, decide who watches the phone during working hours and who covers lunch, Fridays and holidays. If nobody can, a form that says "we reply within one working day" sets a more honest expectation than a chat icon that goes quiet.

Set the away message to your real hours. Change it during Ramadan, when your hours probably change too. A plain "We're closed now and will reply at 9am" at least stops the customer wondering whether anyone's there.

Counting the chats your website sends

Without some tracking you won't know whether the button brings work or whether everyone found you on Instagram. The page-specific pre-filled messages already tell you where each chat started. Add a "website" label in the app when you reply, and at the end of the month you can count them.

On the site itself, an analytics tool such as Google Analytics can record each tap on the button as an event. Expect taps to outnumber real chats, because some people open WhatsApp and change their mind. Compare the two numbers, then compare chats with jobs actually booked. That last figure is the one worth watching. And if most chats come from one page, that's the page to improve first.

If customers also reach you from Instagram, use the same number there so every chat lands in one place. Our guide to websites and Instagram covers how the two fit together.

Message people who asked, and stop there

A customer who messages you once hasn't signed up for your promotions. Adding every enquiry to a broadcast list and sending offers every week is the fastest way to get blocked, and if enough people report your number, WhatsApp can restrict it. Losing the number your whole website points to is a bad week.

Reply to what they asked. Follow up once after sending a quote, perhaps twice, then leave it. If you want to send offers, ask first and keep a list of the people who said yes. Voice notes are fine for a quick answer, but send quotes in writing so there's no argument later.

If you'd like WhatsApp set up properly on a new or existing site, call or WhatsApp us on +971 52 292 3875, or send the details through our contact page.

Questions people ask