When a new lead learns about your business from a Google search, Facebook, an ad or even a personal recommendation, most of the time, they’ll visit your website before deciding to shop or work with you.
Whether or not that lead becomes a customer depends — in large part — on whether or not you have a conversion-based website.
Contact forms can help to improve your conversion rate by giving your leads an easy, fast and convenient way to convert. But not all contact forms are made equal. How you design your contact form will have a direct impact on how well it converts.
5 steps to designing a contact form that converts
Step #1. Consider intent
Before you start building a website form, take a few minutes to think about why you’re building it. What’s the goal of your form? What kind of information do you want to get from your leads?
And, don’t just think about your own intent. Think about the intent of your leads as well. Put yourself in a lead’s shoes. What are they trying to accomplish by filling out the form?
Effective contact forms do more than simply ask for a phone number or an email address. They anticipate the needs of potential leads.
#2. Provide value
People are not going to give you their email address or phone number for no reason. If you want your form to convert — for people to fill it out — you need to give them one.
What will someone get when they fill out the form — a phone call, an email, a free estimate, a free sample? If you were them, would it be enough of a reason to fork over your information?
Think of it like a teeter-totter. You need to balance the value of the information you’re receiving with the value you’re providing. If you design a form that’s unbalanced, it’s not going to convert.
The more information you’re asking for from your leads, the more value you need to provide them in exchange.
#3. Don’t be greedy
No matter what kind of value you’re providing, there’s a limit to what you can ask for in a contact form — at least there is if you want the form to convert.
Even if you have a great offer, don’t get too greedy when it comes to contact forms. Don’t ask for the kitchen sink from your leads. They’ll never give it to you anyway.
A basic rule of thumb is to limit it to only what you need to make first contact with the lead. That’s usually a name, phone number and email address.
In some cases, it might also make sense to ask what services they’re interested in or what problem they need to solve. But remember, the more you ask for, the more value you need to provide.
#4. Design for mobile users
In this day and age, you can reasonably assume that most of the people who will be visiting your website — and eventually filling out your form — will be using their smartphone.
When designing a form for your website, make sure that you keep your mobile users in mind. Here are a few tips for designing a mobile-friendly contact form:
Make sure that buttons are large enough (and have enough clearance) to click with a thumb
Have simple form fields, and limit them to only what you need
Provide pre-selected options for leads to choose from
Once your form is built, test it out on your own smartphone to make sure that it works smoothly on mobile.
#5. Provide a roadmap
Have you ever driven somewhere new and found yourself turning down the music?
People don’t do this because loud music impairs their vision or ability to follow directions. It’s because, when we’re in unfamiliar territory, we don’t want to be distracted.
For a new lead, the closer they are to convert, the less familiar the territory they are in. The more information you provide about what they can expect, the more comfortable they’ll be.
Give your leads a roadmap by telling them what to expect when they fill out your form.
“Get an instant quote” tells leads when to expect a response. “No credit card required” reassures leads that you won’t ask for more than they’re willing to provide down the road.
Contact forms make it quick and easy for leads to convert, but only if you design them to convert.