Where should a link to a contact page be placed?

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Matt Benson: I have a client doing a site redesign and reorganization. They have decided to limit their primary site menu at the top of the site significantly with the objective to keep it less cluttered. I noticed that they didn't include any link above the fold to their contact page. There is one included on every page in the site footer though. I feel like that is a mistake from both a usability and an SEO perspective. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that Google doesn't like that. Does anyone know of any reference that officially suggests where contact info or a link to a contact page should be placed? Do you think having their contact page link so low on the page will have a negative impact on their serp placement?
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  Harry Dance: Hi Matt , I'll be honest but i've never heard of it influence search results directly. Potentially it could if people can't find the contact form so bounce off the page. ;
  
  Regarding though the placement of the bottom, without clogging up with with a self promotion of an article I wrote about the psychology of a call to action, I would recommend the article by contentverve(dot)com/10-call-to-action-case-studies-examples-from-button-tests/ . It basically highlights that a Call to action can be any where, however it should be placed in an area which has minimal competition of visual stimuli. I.e if it is below the fold, make sure it doesn't have to much stuff competing with the users attention there
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  Matt Benson: +Harry Dance ;Thanks Harry. It's an ecommerce site that sells very specialized products. So the contact issue isn't really about a call to action need. It's more about usability in my mind and I could have sworn there was a study or something done within the last few years that found Google was downgrading listings of sites that didn't include contact info or a link above the fold. I can't seem to find it though.
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  Harry Dance: If you do find it, send it my way! That would be really interesting to see. I'm with you though, you do need a contact form which is easily accessible, Interesting to see what others have to say on this
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  Collin Davis: +Matt Benson I am not sure that Google has come up with such a directive. Not having a contact us page doesn't go against any Google webmaster guidelines nor does it manipulates search results in any way.
  
  My bet is that it was written by someone else rather than confirmed by a Google representative or published on Google's blogs. Either ways do let us know if you manage to find the link.
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  Artur Palvanov: When it comes to e-commerce websites, I like to look at what the large online shops are doing. ;
  
  So, if you have a look at Amazon, CrateAndBarrel, Eddiebauer, etc - you'll see that they either have a tiny "Help" or "Support" link (typically on the top right corner), or they put the link in the footer (like in your client's case).
  
  For smaller e-commerce websites, having 'contact' information clearly visible is more important, because the owners of the website probably didn't invest a lot of resources into building "self-serve" content (like product information, order tracking, shipping, etc)
  
  From Google's perspective (and SEO) this is not an issue, as long as you have 'Contact' details accessible from the navigation (header or footer).
  
  The verdict: if your client's e-commerce website is relatively small - then show contact information (1-800 and link to Help/Contact page) above the fold (ie. so its very obvious to see). ;This will add trust and reduce bounce rates and abandonment.
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  Tim Capper: I agree, with the fact that i have never seen / heard of a "contact us" playing any role.
  
  However from a usability,  ;it should be fairly prominent, even in the footer it can be made larger, more visible to the user.
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  Edwin Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 00:24:45 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/where_should_a_link_to_a_contact_page_be_placed +Matt Benson
  
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