WhatsApp click-to-chat links for your business

For many businesses, WhatsApp is where conversations with customers actually begin. Even so, on plenty of websites it appears as a bare number in the footer: “Message us on +57 300 123 4567”.

Anyone who wants to get in touch has to copy the number, save it as a contact, open the app, find it and work out how to start. Each of those steps is a chance to leave it for later. A WhatsApp link removes all of them: one tap and the chat opens with your number and, if you like, with the first message already typed.

What is a wa.me link?

WhatsApp has a feature called “click to chat”. It is an ordinary web address that looks like this:

https://wa.me/573001234567

Opened on a phone, it takes the person straight into a chat with that number in the app. On a computer it opens WhatsApp Web or the desktop app. The person does not need to have your number saved, and you do not need a special account: it works the same with regular WhatsApp and with WhatsApp Business.

There is a second, older form that starts with api.whatsapp.com/send?phone= and does the same thing. The short one is the one to use almost always: it reads better, fits in an Instagram bio and prints without taking up half a business card.

The number: international format, nothing else

This is where most hand-built links fail. The number goes in international format, the one defined by the International Telecommunication Union’s E.164 standard: the country code followed by the national number, up to 15 digits in total. Inside the URL it goes as digits only:

• No + sign.
• No spaces, dashes or brackets.
• No leading 0, the trunk prefix many countries use for domestic calls.

As it appears on your card	As it goes in the link
+57 300 123 4567 (Colombian mobile)	573001234567
07700 900123 (UK mobile)	447700900123
+34 612 34 56 78 (Spanish mobile)	34612345678

A wrong digit gives no warning. The link still opens, but it leads to a chat with a stranger or to a notice that the number is not on WhatsApp. That is why it is worth testing it from a phone other than your own before publishing it, and above all before printing it.

Which message to leave ready

The message is appended with ?text= and URL-encoded: spaces become %20, and accents, punctuation and emojis turn into similar sequences.

https://wa.me/573001234567?text=Hi%2C%20I%20would%20like%20to%20book%20an%20appointment

The person sees the message typed in the text box and only has to press send. They can change it or delete it: it never sends itself. A few guidelines for writing it:

• Short, and in the customer’s voice. They send it, not you. “Hi, I would like to book an appointment” sounds natural; a paragraph introducing your company does not.
• Specific to where it sits. The button on a product page can say “Hi, I would like to know more about” followed by the product name; the one on the booking page, “Hi, I would like to book an appointment”. Whoever replies knows from the first message what the conversation is about.
• No blanks to fill in. Text such as “[your name]” or “(type your order here)” often ends up being sent exactly as it is.

Where to place it

• On your website. A visible button on the contact page, on product or service pages and on the booking page. A floating button on every page works too, as long as it does not cover content or other buttons on mobile.
• On social media. Your Instagram or TikTok bio, the contact button on your Facebook page, the description of your videos.
• In print. You cannot tap a link on paper, so it becomes a QR code: posters, the counter, a restaurant menu, business cards, packaging. If you are curious why a QR code still scans with a corner damaged, it is covered in how QR codes work. For printing, an SVG QR code stays sharp at any size.
• In your email signature and auto-replies. Some customers would rather chat than follow an email thread, and this gives them the route.
• In ads. Many advertising platforms have their own button for opening WhatsApp; where they do not, the link does the job.

Telling where the chats come from

WhatsApp does not count clicks or tell you which link a conversation was opened from. There are three simple ways to find out without special tools.

1. A different message per channel. If the Instagram link starts with “Hi, I found you on Instagram” and the one on the shop poster with “Hi, I saw your poster”, every conversation arrives with its origin written in. It is the simplest approach and works on paper as well. Since the person can edit the text, treat it as a reliable indication rather than exact accounting.
2. Measure the click on your website. Any analytics tool can record a click on an outbound link. That tells you which pages start the most conversations and which start none.
3. Route through your website first. If an ad or an email points to a page on your site with campaign parameters in the URL, analytics knows which campaign the visit came from, and the WhatsApp button on that page completes the journey. Those campaign links are built with the UTM builder.

Whichever you use, it pays to note the origin in your customer records as soon as the conversation starts. After a few weeks of data you can see which channel brings conversations that end in a sale and which only brings questions.

Common mistakes

• The number with a +, spaces or a leading 0. The link does not reach the right chat, or any chat.
• A number nobody answers. If nobody replies during business hours, the link makes the experience worse, not better. WhatsApp Business lets you show your hours on the profile and set up an away message.
• One link when several people answer. A link opens a chat with one number. If sales and support are separate, give each its own button.
• Very long pre-filled messages. It is the first message of a conversation, not a form.
• Printed QR codes pointing straight at the number. A printed QR code cannot be updated. If the number might change one day, point the code at an address on your own website that redirects to the WhatsApp link: when the number changes, you update it in one place and the posters keep working.

Creating yours

The WhatsApp link generator builds the link from the country and the number as you would dial it locally. It strips spaces, the + and the leading 0, and warns you when the length of the number does not add up. You add the message (several common ones are a click away), see how the chat will look and copy what you need: the link in both forms, the QR code as PNG or SVG, and an HTML button to paste on your website. It all happens in your browser.

If you plan to use a different message per channel, generate one link for each and keep a sheet noting which goes where. That is what will let you read the results a few months from now.

---

A bare number makes the customer do the work; a link does it for them. International format, a short message that says where it came from, and a test from another phone before publishing: with that, the channel where you already talk to your customers starts working from your website too.