As online marketers, your major focus is probably on generating leads, engaging, and converting them to potential customers. Most of the time, your objective is to attract and inform them. For this reason, you need to give priority to optimizing and modifying your contact form design to maximize your conversion.
There is not much difference when it comes to a high-converting and a low-converting contact form. It all boils down to the details and the choice of contact form design features that can help increase your success rate of.
There are several ways you can get maximum conversion from your contact form. Here are 10 research-based tips and best practices on improving your contact form design for better conversion rate.
1. Use The Right Layout
Finding the right layout can be crucial for your contact form. A one-eye tracking study by Google revealed the following when it comes to the right layout for your contact form:
- Input fields should be proportional to the size of the expected length of answer. Most people have 8 or less letters in their first name. Don’t make the input field more than 20 characters long.
- The label should be positioned above the appropriate input field for quick reference.
- Forms should never be split into several columns. One question per row is ideal.
As intricate as they are, using the right layout will make your audience comfortable and, in the process, avoid unnecessary confusion.
2. Limit the Number of Fields
Answering too many fields can become overwhelming for the user. As much as possible, limit the number of fields to just three.
According to our latest research, limiting the number of fields to just three will yield a minimum conversion rate of 25 percent. Another study by Hubspot confirms that three form fields generate the highest conversion rate.
3. Position the Form Properly
Make sure that the conversion form is located in a conspicuous place. Normally, it should be above the fold and must clearly stand out among the other page elements. When you place the conversion form at the bottom of a landing page, it will not be visible to most of the visitors.
4. Get Rid of Captcha
While the captcha is used for spam filtering, others may not like them. A study has revealed that they can actually have a negative impact on conversion rates, losing around three percent of overall conversion. A better protection from spam solution is to use honeypot technology.
5. Select The Right Color for your CTA
The call to action button is an important aspect of your website, and this is the reason why choosing the right color matters. It is best to choose a color that matches your current design and layout.
Several studies have revealed that the highest performing color is red. However, depending on the situation, orange and green can also perform better.
6. Avoid The Numbers
Aside from having too many form fields, some customers are also wary of giving away their telephone numbers. There is too much work that already keeps the customer busy throughout the day, and a persistent sales person calling them every day can only add to the stress.
If the phone number is necessary, provide your user with an option. Studies reveal that making the phone number field optional rather than mandatory can decrease abandonment from 39 percent to just 4 percent.
7. Don’t be Choosy
You should avoid being choosy with the information you are looking for. It can be frustrating for a user to fill out information and then being informed that their date of birth needs to have forward slashes rather than dashes.
Let your users fill them out, and process their input in the background. Remember that most people just don’t have the time to fill out a form twice.
8. Give Your Users A Reason To Believe
The bottom line is to make sure that your users have a reason to believe. How will they benefit from providing their information? Give them a value proposition.
Choosing the right reward is the key. Will the user really care about being on another email list? This is what you will indicate on your value proposition.
You should clearly inform them about the benefits they will get from being listed. You should be clear about this, and you can look forward to achieving better results.
9. Show Social Proof
For some people, filling out a sign-up form is usually made spontaneous and only happens due to influential factors. One of the best ways you can influence people to fill up a form and provide their information is by incorporating elements of social proof such as the following:
- “Over 20,000 other users have already downloaded our eBook!”
- “Industry expert John Doe calls our daily newsletter ‘the most interesting part’ of his morning.”
- “More than 97 percent of first-time users say that they are satisfied with our program.”
You can be creative with providing social proof. The important thing is to make sure that you add social proof in your conversion form. It will make a huge difference for your conversion rate.
10. Explain What Happens Next
People do not want to be left in the dark. They want to know what the next step will be after clicking the submit button.
To do this, you can either improve the CTA or add another field explaining what happens after submitting the form. This will help increase your conversion rate.
Studies reveal that the word “submit” does not provide enough description. Using “go” and “click here” will increase conversion rate by 25-30 percent.
Other studies, meanwhile, suggest using the first person for the call-to-action button. This strategy increases conversion rate by 25 percent compared to using the second person point of view.
Final Word
Contact form design doesn’t need to be complicated and finicky. By determining what you want, you will be able to find the right tool that will help you create a sign-up form that will help improve your conversion rate. Take these contact form design tips into consideration and you can look forward to an improved lead generation campaign.
