I am a pro-blogger, and therefore I find it necessary to present my contact information on my blogs, for advertisers and/or readers who have questions or would like to do business with me. Publishing your email (even if it is a graphic image email) is not wise. If you have your email published in text form on your website, roaming bots can collect it and add it to their collection– and you’ll be spammed like all get-out. Some people create graphic images with their email address. Sure, this prevents the bots from capturing it, but humans can capture it! It’s a much slower process, but there ARE email harvesters out there who search websites for such email images, and collect them. Also, having a comment-enabled blog is helpful in receiving communications, but it’s a clumsy and very public way of getting information. So I use a comment form. A comment form is a script that you insert (on a particular “page” on your website). Your readers see a form, and they can fill it out. Usually there are spaces for your reader to type in their name, their email address, and a message. This information goes through a third-party database, where your reader’s typed message is sent out to you in an email. It’s a fantastic way to get communications from your readers, and it looks very professional.

I’ve been searching around for a better third-party host to manage my contact form, as my current one has a lot of downtime (they are hosted on Bluehost, surprise, surprise). The good folks at HotForms123.com asked me to take a look at what they have to offer (Need Forms? We Got Forms. they said, LOL), and HotForms123.com looks great! I was extremely impressed that the contact forms can be customized (color, add graphics or your own logo, animated images). And you can even record and post an audio message for your readers to listen to, with a mini audio player in the form! It’s pretty amazing, and very sophisticated.

HotForms123.com promises that all form submissions are 100% secure, will NEVER end up in spam, and all communications are in SMS real-time. The basic one-form service is FREE and it includes unlimited form submissions, secure SSL forms, unlimited number of fields, and support via email. There are two business versions, if you want additional features, want to download reports, and analyze data. It’s a good one. I’m going to start up a free account. I look forward to being able to include my own logo on my forms! Check it out– HotForms123.com.