For any business to succeed in the modern highly competitive market, it is prudent to reach people using all gadgets. The number of those using their phones to surf has continued to rise steadily and every website owner wants to reach them and make the experience enthralling. One way to do this is making the phone numbers clickable so that visitors can simply click the phone number and make direct calls to the company, support or website owner. This article demonstrates how to make your phone number clickable for mobile devices in WordPress.
Many smartphones are designed to recognize phone numbers that are added in websites and convert them directly into links. However, for people who want their telephone numbers to have an animage link or anchor text, it is paramount to create them manually in WordPress.
Table of Contents
Add the telephone numbers in the right format
The right format to include a telephone number is using country code, area code and local number; for example, +1 (555) 555-1413. However, many smartphones will also sense the above number when it is written in the following format.
- +15555551413
- +1.555.555.1413
- 555-555-1413
- 555 555 1413
People using iPhone and Android phones will see the link for mobile phone numbers and click them.
<a href="tel:+15555551413">+1 (555) 555-1413</a> <a href="tel:15555551413">Call Me</a>
In case the visitor to your website is using older phone model; the link will not be visible because they do not have requisite features. For those viewing the website from a desktop, the link will be visible but return an error if it is clicked on Mozilla and do nothing when clicked on Google Chrome.
Using call to: protocol to make telephone number clickable
If you are using a desktop or notebook, the telephone number link may open Skype. If it is a smartphone, you apply the call to: protocol and the link will ask the user whether he/she wish to open Skype or dial the number from the mobile phone
<a href="callto://15555551413">+1 (555) 555-1413</a>
This protocol is applied by Skype and clients using Smartphones can enjoy calling the number through their service providers. For desktop users, it will be easy to make calls via Skype.
Linking the telephone number using image
To link the mobile phone using an image, you apply Skype’s Calto Protocol.
<a href="callto://15555551413" title="Call Me"><img src="/images/call-me.png" alt="Call Me" /></a>
However, this syntax has a problem because even if smartphones will directly recognize the image, the phone number might not be captured. Besides, it might fail to provide the option for calling.
Conclusion
Making phone numbers clickable enables clients to call, book, enquire, order, or follow-up with a website, seller, or company about a product/service. It places the website at a better position to draw larger traffic, raise customer satisfaction and increase conversion. Remember that the links will only work if the clients have the right phone models such as smartphones and not the old designs.
