Improve Conversion Rate with Form Optimization

Not all website traffic is good traffic. While the ultimate goal of every site is to convert leads to customers, a conversion doesn’t always need to begin or end with a sale. Gaining new customers often starts with the first point of contact, through means of requesting a demo, downloading a white page or merely asking for more information. If your main goal is to receive more leads which you hope to turn into customers, improving your contact form is a great place to start.

OPTIMIZE YOUR FORMS

Contact forms can make or break a user’s experience with your website, as this is the first correspondence they’ll have with you. Use the following tips to make sure that your potential customers’ desires are met:

1. Keep it short and sweet - When constructing forms, you don’t need to gather unnecessary or invasive information. This causes your company to lose credibility with the user, which will result in their abandonment of filling out the form. Keep your field count as minimal as possible and only focus on the absolute necessities like name, email address and phone number.
2. Allow automated form input - Time is always a factor when using the web. If conversions are important for your business, making the customer’s life easier is a step in the right direction. This is easily accomplished by automating your form inputs. This means less time putting in information and more time engaging with your site.
3. It’s all in the call-to-action - The copy on your submit button is just as important as the rest of your form. Rule number one: Stay away from the word “Submit.” This button should represent the action the user is performing by filling out the form. Since there is no “Submit” action for humans, using the term can create a moment of uncertainty. Try variations such as “Sign Up,” “Register” or “Get Started.”

TEST, TEST, TEST

If you’re not 100% sure which verbiage is the best for your audience, test different options. A/B testing allows you to test against certain variations in your form to see what yields the highest conversion rate. You can A/B test your form fields, call-to-action button copy and form bottlenecks. Try removing a field or simply adding the word “Optional.” If the copy on your button says “Submit,” try changing it to something more clear.

You don’t need to guess on aspects of your form that need improvement. Tools like Google Analytics Funnel Visualization and Goal Flow help you find exactly where in your conversion process a user is dropping off. This will help you determine whether you should try updating the copy, colors or call-to-action on your landing page. And don’t forget about copy length! Depending on your niche and audience, short copy may outperform long copy and vice versa. Make changes one at a time to see if you can solve your conversion woes!

TL;DR:

People have websites to generate business, either new or recurring. Optimizing your site goes far beyond images and load time. Optimizing your contact form is a great way to ensure that your site can produce the highest conversion rate possible. After you launch your site, start testing. Test your forms. Test your colors. Test your copy and its length. All of these elements can and will affect your conversion rate. Don’t spend all that time and effort producing an awesome site only to neglect it once it’s out there in the world.