For many small businesses, incoming calls from potential customers are a vital source of sales and revenue. However, new website owners often overlook the importance of setting up call forwarding.
At CanadaCreate, we have observed over the past 15 years that when businesses facilitate easy communication through their websites, they tend to increase sales and boost profits.
Call forwarding ensures that when a visitor to your website wishes to contact you, their call is directed to the appropriate phone number. This could be your office line, mobile phone, or even a dedicated service that handles calls for you.
In this article, we will provide a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to effortlessly set up business call forwarding from your WordPress site.
What Do You Need to Establish Business Call Forwarding from Your Website?
Typically, you can add a phone number to your WordPress website or online store, allowing your visitors to easily make a call.
However, standard phone services lack advanced features such as call forwarding, business hours, call waiting, and more. Additionally, they can be significantly more expensive, even for basic functionalities like call forwarding.
To implement effective business call forwarding, you will need a reliable smart business phone service provider.
We recommend Nextiva as the top business phone service available. It enables you to efficiently manage your business calls at significantly lower costs compared to traditional landline or mobile phone services.
Important Note:At CanadaCreate, we utilize Nextiva for our business phone number.
Reasons to Choose Nextiva
- Nextiva offers a VoIP phone service, which utilizes the internet for making and receiving calls instead of traditional landlines.
- By using VoIP, you can lower your expenses and access advanced features such as call forwarding, call recordings, voicemail, call waiting, and more. Additionally, you have the flexibility to select a phone number from any location or obtain a toll-free number.
- Most importantly, you can handle calls using your current mobile phone, computer, or even a desk phone.
- You can share a single number among multiple team members, making it ideal for remote teams like ours.
If you’re seeking alternatives to Nextiva, consider exploring RingCentral or Ooma.
Now, let’s explore how to set up business call forwarding from your website.
How to Set Up Business Call Forwarding
To get started, you need to create a Nextiva account. During the registration process, you will have the option to select a business phone number and connect your existing phone number as well.
After setting up your account, you can easily make and receive calls using your business phone number on any device you prefer.
Next, you can configure call forwarding for your website.
Simply navigate to the Users » Actions » Voice Settings section and choose ‘Forwarding’ from the menu on the left.
Here, you can input any phone number in the ‘Call forward (selective)’ section.
Below this, you can specify when to forward calls by clicking on ‘Forwarding Conditions’. You can set conditions based on time, phone number, and more.
In addition to selective call forwarding, you can also enable always-on call forwarding, busy call forwarding, or forward calls when they go unanswered.
Once you have configured call forwarding, be sure to test it before adding it to your website.
Integrating a Click-to-Call Feature in WordPress
Now that business call forwarding is set up, consider adding click-to-call buttons to your website.
First, install and activate the WP Call Button plugin on your site. For detailed instructions, refer to our step-by-step guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
After activation, go to the Settings » WP Call ButtonThis page allows you to configure the settings for the plugin.
The plugin features a sticky button that remains visible on your website. You can choose to hide or display it on specific posts or pages, and you can also set it to appear only on mobile devices.
If you prefer to display the button manually, switch to the ‘Static Call Button’ tab. Here, you can customize the button settings and copy a shortcode for use.
After configuring the settings, you can insert a sticky call button into your posts and pages using a block or a widget.
Simply search for ‘WP Call Button’ and click to add it to your site.
In the block settings, you can customize the colors, text size, alignment, and choose to display or hide the phone icon.
Once you have completed your adjustments, save your changes and visit your website to see the call now button in action.
For additional methods to add a clickable phone number in WordPress, check out our tutorial on how to create a click-to-call button in WordPress.
Your users can now easily click to call your phone number, and their calls will be forwarded according to your call-forwarding settings.
We always suggest that website owners offer multiple contact options for their customers. In addition to a phone number, consider including a contact form and, if feasible, implementing a live chat or chatbot feature on your site.
We hope this guide has helped you learn how to set up business call forwarding from your website. You may also want to check out our guide on configuring an auto attendant phone system for your website, as well as our expert comparison of the most affordable VoIP phone services.
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