CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION
Quick tricks for Optimizing Web Forms in less than 5 minutes
We will go through some best practices that will help you increase conversions on your website forms and could be applied in less than 5 minutes.
There are no hardcoded practices that guarantee you an increase in website form conversions. Still, there are sure some tried and tested ways commonly known as best practices that may help you out.
Just a word of advice: best practices don’t work the same on all sites. It’s contextual. But generally, implementing form design tactics that work more often than not is an excellent way to get started.
Conversion specialists may argue that forms aren’t the most critical part of your conversion process. Still, for me, it’s the most integral part of the whole process. They tend to be closest to the money.
Optimizing forms is a high-impact activity. On most websites forms are very close to — or directly tied to — final conversions. So, form optimization can lead to remarkable growth.
Higher completion rates = Higher profit.
In this blog, we would be going through some practices which are easy (quick as well) to imply and have a vast optimizing capability. There is no shortage of data around the internet for optimizing form fields in the form of A/B tests, ebooks, pdf, etc.
Every website has form, it can be
- Signup forms
- Lead Generation Forms
- Check-out Forms
- Payment Forms
And so on. Most of the forms are indeed a pain to fill. One can hardly find a person who loves completing website forms. If we could, we’d often tear these forms up.
“As conversion optimizers, it’s our responsibility to embrace the power of forms, optimize them, and finally get higher conversions from them.” — Peep Laja, Founder, CXL Institute.
There’s a lot of friction in the mind of your potential customer, and as an optimizer, we should work on reducing them. Some of the ways for getting some quick wins are:-
- Setting Clear Expectations
- Reducing the number of Form Fields
- Using in-line validation
- Don’t make the coupon code field less prominent
- Make typing easy
- Address Fears
Setting Clear Expectations
A significant way to maximize conversions and user satisfaction is to manage expectations. Suppose you’re transparent up-front about what’s going to happen. In that case, there’s less chance the form-filler will be (negatively) surprised when this happens. For example: first some personal details, then payment info.
If you have a multi-step form where in the last step you ask for a payment, and this hasn’t been mentioned anywhere, you’re going to see huge drop-offs.
Expectations can also be managed for expected commitment and benefits:
- “Takes only 20 seconds” –> expectations for how long it takes to fill out a form.
Reducing the number of Form Fields
Get over the greedy marketer complex: Wanting too much information about your customers for your CRM or any other campaign. Each additional form field increases friction. By doing away with them, you’re undoubtedly reducing friction.
This is the easiest way to reduce friction, and it also has a significant impact on form completion rates.
A comparison study of two Contact Us forms illustrates this point perfectly. An 11-field document was replaced with a 4-field version resulting in a 160% increase in forms submitted along with a 120% increase in conversion. Equally surprising, the quality of submissions stayed the same when the essential requirements remained in the form.
Secret Tip: Avoid optional fields — if you don’t need the information, don’t ask for it.
There’s a difference between removing requirements (decreasing the amount of time/effort required to complete a form) and clarifying needs (helping people understand how to complete a form). The information you’re asking for, and what you’ll do with it should be crystal clear.
As always, there are exceptions. Reducing form fields doesn’t always increase conversions. Plus, the more information you collect on a user, the more effective marketing and targeting you can use (usually).
In general, though, it’s safe to follow this heuristic: Remove useless or superfluous form fields.
Using Inline Validation
For form validation, the best solution is instant feedback through in-line validation.
In-line validation gives people several types of real-time feedback. It can confirm an appropriate answer, suggest reasonable solutions, and provide regular updates to help people stay within necessary limits. These bits of feedback can be presented before, during, and/or after users provide answers.
As soon as the user has filled out a field, you validate it. This can be done by either confirming that it was a success (example- show a green checkmark) or tell them how to correct their entry in the most specific way possible.
When the guys over at Etre, a London-based usability firm, studies in-line form validation, they found that it caused
- a 22% increase in success rates,
- a 22% decrease in errors made,
- a 31% increase in satisfaction rating,
- a 42% decrease in completion times, and
- a 47% decrease in the number of eye fixations.
It’s all about clear expectations and communication. A user shouldn’t have to guess what will work and what won’t.
Pre-select whatever you can
When people see an “Enter coupon code here” field, they feel less special. They think, “Why don’t I have one?” They get FOMO.
Many go to Google to search for a coupon. Some obtain coupons on third-party sites, which cuts into your profit. Many never return if they don’t find a coupon code.
Leaving the site to search for coupons is a common reason for shopping cart abandonment.
So this is not a good idea:
Customers who already have a coupon code will look for a way to enter it, so unless you hide it (too) well, they’ll still be able to apply their coupon.
Make Typing Easy
With the help of Google auto-save, we can restrict the amount of typing a user has to do while filling out the form.
Auto-save is one of the most underused features. The customer can fill in the name, email address, postal address, zip code, etc.
More importantly, it only takes a few lines of syntax to set the data in the way you require it. So, just do it, don’t let your carelessness increase work done by your users.
Nowadays, a lot of companies are also able to extract information from a document uploaded. This feature can be beneficial for companies who deal with colossal form fields, such as colleges, job providing portals, etc.
Address Fears
If you ask for sensitive information, it’s only natural that people will experience above-average resistance to answering these questions. You can uncover what those fears and doubts are by doing user testing and qualitative surveys.
Pay attention to trust marks, and what they communicate here:
- Anti-virus/identity seal (Norton) = No viruses, this is a legit site
- BBB = We’ve been in business for a while and have a clean record!
- Free = no hidden fees
- Safe, Secure, Privacy Protected = Nothing terrible will happen to your sensitive information
There are no specific logos or wordings that work across all forms, so you will have to figure out and test what works best for your particular site. Note that you don’t want to put too much emphasis on security and privacy — over-emphasis leads to friction also. You have to find the right balance.
To conclude, I would repeat that, just because someone said it’s the best practice you should disagree blindly with them. Test it out yourself. At times, even the famous best practices would fail.
Every website is unique on its own. What may work for some might not work for you.
These are some of the practices that have worked for a few companies, they are nowhere compulsory for everyone to follow. But, if you’re starting from scratch, these are some of the points you should keep in mind and be your go-to.
Let’s connect if you want to know more about some more Best Practices or Growth Marketing. You can reach out to me at LinkedIn at Shreyansh Goel or email me at shreyanshgoel16@gmail.com.
