In Paraguay, almost every small or medium sale happens through WhatsApp. The customer finds you on Google, on Instagram, or in an ad, and what they want is to write to you. If at that moment they have to copy your number, save it, and find you in their contact list, part of them gets lost along the way.
The WhatsApp link solves that: one tap and the chat opens with your number, and if you want, with a message already written. It's free, it doesn't need any extra app, and it works on the phone and on the computer.
What a WhatsApp link is
It's an address with this format:
https://wa.me/595981123456
When someone taps it, WhatsApp opens a conversation with that number. The person doesn't need to have you saved as a contact. If you also add text, the chat opens with that message already written in the box, ready to send:
https://wa.me/595981123456?text=Hola%2C%20quiero%20consultar%20por%20el%20precio
The text is encoded for the internet: spaces are written as %20, commas as %2C, and so on for each character. You don't need to memorize it. The generator below does it for you.
WhatsApp link generator
Type your number the way you use it every day, with the 0 in front if you want, and the message you'd like to receive. The link builds itself as you type.
How to write the number in Paraguay
The most common mistake is the number format. WhatsApp needs the full international number: no + sign, no leading 0, no spaces, no dashes.
| How you write it | How it goes in the link |
|---|---|
| 0981 123 456 | 595981123456 |
| +595 981 123 456 | 595981123456 |
| (0971) 123-456 | 595971123456 |
| 0991 234 567 | 595991234567 |
The rule is simple: 595, which is Paraguay's country code, then your cell number without the 0. If the link has the 0 or the + sign, on some phones it won't open the right chat, or it will just say the number isn't on WhatsApp.
How to write the prefilled message
The prefilled message is what the person sees written when the chat opens. It doesn't send itself: the customer can change it before sending. Even so, a good message does two things for you.
- It takes away the fear of the blank page. A lot of people don't write because they don't know how to start. With a "Hi, I'd like to ask about the price of..." they're already halfway there.
- It tells you where they're coming from. If the link on your installations page says "Hi, I saw the installations page," you know what they're interested in before you even reply.
Some rules that work for us:
- Short, one or two lines. Nobody sends a paragraph they didn't write.
- In first person, the way your customer would say it: "I want," "I'm interested in," "do you have...?"
- It should say what they were looking at: the product, the service, or the page.
- No information the person doesn't have: don't ask for the order number in the prefilled message.
Want us to build yours?We send you a free analysis of your business before we start.
Message me on WhatsApp →Where to put your WhatsApp link
Once you have it, put it everywhere a customer might want to write to you.
On your website
This is where it pays off the most. On the websites we build, the WhatsApp button is on every screen and each page has its own message: someone who comes in from a service page writes to you with that service already named. For example, the department pages on our own site open the chat naming which department the person is writing from.
On Instagram and Facebook
On Instagram, the link goes in your bio or in the contact button. On Facebook, in the page button. Use a different message than the one on your website, so you know which network brings you more conversations.
On Google Maps
On your Google Business Profile, the website field should lead to your page, not to the WhatsApp link. But your page does need the button clearly visible, because a lot of people arrive from the map ready to write right away.
On paper: QR code
A QR code with your link, on the shop window, on the counter, on a card, or on the side of the delivery van, lets someone write to you without typing anything. Any free QR generator works: paste in the link and download the image. Always test it with two different phones before printing.
In your email signature
A line that says "Message us on WhatsApp" and the link at the end of every email saves your customer from having to look up the number.
WhatsApp Business and its short link
If you use WhatsApp Business, the app builds its own link for you from the business tools. That link can also carry a message and it also shows you a QR code to share. It works well, but there's one difference: the format with your number (wa.me/595...) you can build yourself whenever you want, with a different message for each place, without opening the app.
WhatsApp Business also adds a product catalog, quick replies, and labels to organize conversations. If you sell on WhatsApp every day, it's worth using. The link works the same way with both versions.
How to know how many people write to you from the link
WhatsApp doesn't tell you where each conversation came from. There are two ways to measure it:
- Different messages for each place. The simplest way: if the Instagram message and the website message are different, you count how many arrived with each one.
- Tracking on your website. On the websites we build, every tap on the WhatsApp button gets logged in Google Analytics with the page it was tapped from and the message it carried. That way you know how many people wanted to write to you, from which page, and at what time, even if they never send the message.
That data changes decisions. On several client sites we see taps on the button at night and in the early morning, when nobody's answering the phone. The page is selling at that hour; the link is what makes the message wait for you until morning.
Common mistakes
- The number with a 0 or a + sign. Check it against the table above.
- The same link with no message everywhere. It works, but you lose the data on where each conversation comes from.
- A hidden button. If people have to scroll all the way down to find it, many will leave before they do.
- A number nobody answers. The link brings people to the chat; if it takes a day to reply, that sale goes cold. If you can't answer right away, leave an automatic reply that says when you will.
If you want your website with the WhatsApp button on every screen, a different message per page, and click tracking included, check out our website service.