If you think the contact form is an inessential part of your website, then you’re dead wrong. Contact forms are a vital part not just of your online presence but of your digital marketing campaign as a whole. Sadly, many business owners don’t give importance to the contact form.
Contact forms aren’t just a minor part of a website. While they generally serve as a way for your audience to reach out to you for quick answers to their questions, you can actually gain new leads as well as valuable information about your clients. Through the contact form, you can get contact details about your clients and potential leads. Take note, however, that contact forms don’t always guarantee the reliability of all the information you get. So you will still need third-party verification services, such as postal address validation services (offered by Byteplant) or Email validators.
The best contact forms inspire people to reach out to you, give feedback and play an active role in your company’s digital marketing strategies. From being a passive element of your website, you can turn the contact form into a powerful digital marketing tool. How do you achieve that? How to create an effective contact form? Check out our list below.
1. Keep title precise and clear
Never make very long contact form titles. Be concise and clear to avoid discouraging your visitor. The title should be crisp. With just one look, the visitor should know what it is for.
Avoid using the most commonly used action buttons for contact forms: OK, Done, Continue and Submit. These words only confuse visitors. A better alternative would be to use action buttons that communicate what the user gets in exchange for filling up the form, e.g., Get Your Answer Now.
Studies show that website visitors are more receptive to left-aligned labels compared to right-aligned labels. Labels can also be situated inside the field for a more compact and shorter form.
4. Keep the form short
Online users have a concise attention span, so keep your contact form short and direct. Do not include numerous fields as it will only make them impatient. Include only the fields that are vital to your business. Avoid asking for personal information like birthdays, employment, phone numbers, etc. If you need your users’ personal details, make sure you guarantee user privacy and privacy badges.
5. Include an informative description
Aside from the title, you also need to put a description of the form. It should answer the visitors’ basic questions and state what they will get if they fill-up the form.
above the fold encourages visitors to concentrate on the form, thereby increasing the conversion rate.7. Communicate errors instantly and clearly
Alert visitors for errors immediately. Make sure you notify them about the reason for the error and not just a simple error prompt. It can be very frustrating not to know what’s wrong with their form.
8. Provide help text
Effective contact forms contain help text below the fields to guide users on what to input. Aside from giving information, it also ensures they supply the expected answers in the field.
9. Personalized message after form submission
Once the users click the submit button, what happens next? By displaying a personalized message, you show better customer service skills. A personalized message must include the visitor’s name when to expect a reply and other relevant details.
10. Keep design simple and readable
Don’t overdo the contact form design. Aesthetics do help, but the main goal is to ensure the readability of the form. Carefully choose the theme, colors, and style, making sure that it is not an eyesore and is consistent with your website’s overall design. Also, pay attention to the font style, color, and size. Use of funky color schemes and font styles is not recommended.
Captcha technology is an effective anti-spam measure that proves to be useful in deterring bots. But think about how frustrating it can be if you cannot get the Captcha right. Instead of being helpful, Captcha might scare off visitors from your page. You can use simple catch and offer options to change the code. This way, they will not be turned off.12. Cross-platform adaptable forms
The majority of online visitors now use mobile gadgets. As such, you need to design a form that is responsive across different platforms. Invest in technology that will give a good user experience across different platforms.
