Getting Forms Completed

Most website owners know that getting a form completed on a website is usually a good thing. It can be a sale, a new member joining a newsletter, or a lead. There is really an endless supply of reasons to have forms, but almost all of them face one common problem. Only a small percentage of visitors fill them out. So how do you get them completed?

Speed Things Up

The reason I am writing this post is because I did an analysis on a site yesterday, that I kid you not, had over 200 form questions just to consult an attorney. Visitors are typically hooked when interaction begins. Once they hit that submit button, they will often wait for a response, and will give some dedication to your company. Putting a visitor over the coals as an introduction will most likely result in no interaction, and no form submission. This same form, could have been reduced to just a few items, like name, phone, and reason for contact. Two minutes to fill out a form, or half hour? What do you think will get submitted more? Fill in the blanks after you have captured the visitor.

Consistency in Form Element

Another method to speed things up is by being consistent in method of questioning. Imagine your form is long, and has to be, because it’s for a credit application. To speed this form up try to use consistent form elements, or at least try to group them together. To better explain, avoiding having a form that follows a path like this: Text box, drop down, text box, drop down, check box. When a visitor fills out a form like that, they have to keep switching from keyboard to mouse, and back. Try to keep them at one spot as long as possible without switching between devices. The ideal form element is a text box, and if possible I would suggest using it.