You design your new website and put a contact us form on your about page, and wait. Nothing happens. You know that people are visiting the site, but unfortunately nobody is contacting you. Finally, you get one hit! You carefully read the email only to realize it was a Russian visitor offering to submit your website to millions of directories for a small amount. That is enough to deflate anybody. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Web forms like anything else can be improved to perform better. And even though it helps to know a thing or two about digital marketing, you don’t have to be an expert to improve your conversions today.
Here are some specific tactics that can help you improve conversions on your web forms and therefore get more value from your audience.
Make the form short and simple:
Keep the form as short as possible by only asking for essential information. This will reduce the time and effort required for users to fill out the form, which can increase conversions. Users are busier than ever. We all get bombarded with request after request and we seek the path of least resistance. So making forms short and including only what is truly necessary is a must. Also, fill out the form yourself asking: “Is this truly necessary?”
Use clear and concise language
Use language that is easy to understand and avoid using jargon or technical terms. This will help users feel more confident and comfortable filling out the form. This is often a problem when the web forms are created by technical people. As human-beings we have difficulty seeing the world from the perspective of others. So make sure that you ask young people, someone your trust, or even a professional, to check your form to see if they understand it and find it simple enough.
Optimize the form for mobile
With more and more people accessing the internet from their smartphones, it’s important to ensure that your form is responsive(mobile-friendly.) This means using a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes and easy-to-tap buttons. Now, forms for mobile and desktop can often be the same, but not always. Long forms with graphics and maps tend to be very difficult to properly convey in a smaller screen. So make sure that your forms are optimized for mobile not only in form but in content as well.
Use persuasive design techniques
There are several design techniques that can help increase conversions, such as using strong headlines, directional cues, and visual hierarchy. For example, instead of designing a form that has 9 fields, you may decide to break it up into three steps each of three fields. Why? Because the form will look less intimidating and easier to follow from the very beginning. Also, try to arrange the form in a logical and helpful way. If there are more time-consuming fields, ask those by themselves. Finally if necessary provide a way for people to save an incomplete form to fill out later. And if validation is part of your form, make sure that you prefill their fields after a failed validation, otherwise they may just quit in frustration that they have to fill it again from scratch.
Measure, test and optimize
The best way to improve conversions on a web form is to measure the performance and to test different versions and see which one performs the best. You can use tools like Google Analytics and A/B testing to compare different versions of the form and see which one converts the most users. The key is understanding that if you don’t measure, you can’t improve.
Next time that you create interactivity with your users via a form on your website, you should be much more prepared to get a higher response. If you wish to learn more about how Merkados can help you with attracting new customers, improving your digital marketing and creating leverage for your brand, contact us today!