Contact forms are the easiest way to ‘have a conversation’ with your site visitors. You can get in touch with people for whatever reason with the help of a well-designed contact form. It could be simple with a few basic details or you could make it thorough and in depth. However, there are certain tips you must keep in mind to develop something that catches the eye and helps you get authentic information in an effective manner.
Use the following steps to help you create an effective contact form for your Local Business website.
- At the top of the page make it clear what the benefit is to your website visitor. Let the viewer know who they are leaving the information for.
- Make sure you use the same branding as the rest of the site.
- Label each box. Make the labels short and to the point.
- If the form requires the user to think for even a second, include a description that makes it clear what they should enter into that field.
- Make sure to mark the required fields. Check that the form provides clear and informative error and warning messages.
- Add a little fun. Color and images, even some clever text on the page, make the form a little more interesting.
- Limit the number of fields. Keep it simple and short as possible. This will get you the highest conversion rate. Too many fields is not only a lot of work it also makes the form look cluttered.
- Instead of using a ‘done’ or ‘submit’ button, go for something more aligned with the activity. If they are signing up for a list, use something like “Sign up now”. If you are offering an eBook, you could use “Get my eBook now”.
- Make the CTA button prominent. Make it brightly colored, in a bold font and stand out from the page. If you can’t see the button from five feet away it doesn’t stand out enough.
- If there is ‘no’ or ‘decline’ button make sure it is less prominent that the ‘yes’ or action button.
- Make sure the form is mobile friendly. On a mobile device, in addition to making sure the form adjusts to the device, the text and input fields may need to be larger on mobile devices. Since a majority of users will visit your site from mobile devices, this is an immensely important factor.
- At the end of the form, write a little message that tells the user what will happen after they click the ‘send email’ button?
- Include a message below the button to ensure them that you will not send them spam messages and that you will keep their information safe and not release their information to another party.
- Try to avoid including a ‘captcha’ as that minimizes conversions. Instead use ‘honeypot’ field if that is available.
- Make the form(s) available on multiple pages. More the forms, more the chances people provide their information.
- Make sure you direct them to a Thank You page after they submit the form.
- It’s ok to include additional information on the thank you page. You can even include an additional offer or bonus.