Methods of Increasing Website Form Conversions
14 ways of boosting form conversions and generating more marketing leads via your website.
You’ll see several forms on this website. We use forms to allow our readers to subscribe to more content or we offer access to other in-depth content which usually sits off the website. We see this as a win-win.
In return for some basic contact details (usually a name and an email address), we provide free content which we research, write and publish via our team. And it’s the most common content model on the internet, and for the marketer, the process is often measured via the number of or percentage of form submissions. As a content marketer, KPIs can be set against these form conversions.
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Whether you conduct content marketing campaigns or paid media campaigns pointing towards landing pages - and look to generate leads/contacts via forms on websites - there are a variety of ways of optimising those forms and pages to increase conversions.
So, if generating website leads is your goal, read on and implement some of the methods of increasing form conversions below. (We also have a follow-up post at the end of the post if you’re interested in optimising your entire website, rather than just the forms, to generate more form conversions.)
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14 METHODS OF INCREASING FORM CONVERSIONS
Being a marketer is difficult. You’re judged on your contributions towards the organisation’s performance. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Because if we can demonstrate that we are generating leads (on top of everything else we do) then we are heading in the right direction, showing that our activities contribute towards the bottom line.
This is why we need to be increasing the number of form conversions. Here are 14 methods of doing so.
1. INCLUDE MULTIPLE FORMS/METHODS OF CONVERSION ON A PAGE
The easiest way to increase form conversions (or at least the number of leads) is to include as many forms and methods of conversion on the page as possible. We’re not looking to distract the reader by trying to get them to hand over their details, we’re talking about subtly offering multiple methods of converting. Review your pages and assess where you can include forms, CTAs and links to pages with other forms.
Remember that as a marketer, you’d prefer the website visitor to convert on the current page (increasing the number of leads generated) rather than click-through to another page (increasing the number of pages per visit). Consider the offers on the page and structure your CTAs accordingly - complex forms are better at the bottom of the page, with simple forms better suited for the top. Consider the three-stage buyer’s journey and create forms for each stage and aim to capture that website visitor at the right time for them. The chart below provides a guideline for the placements of the CTAs and suggest that simple content offering (awareness stage) CTAs should sit towards the top of the page and complex content offering (decision stage) CTAs should site towards the bottom of the page.
Source: ContentVerve via Neil Patel
2. INCLUDE AS FEW FIELDS AS POSSIBLE
Many web pages are decreasing their chances of conversions because of forms being too long and asking for too many, often unnecessary, details. Long web forms might make sense because you are collecting specific details, but do you need those details? If a conversion is the goal, I’d be reluctant to include non-essential form fields, especially those that do not help get the job done in the first place. Look at your form fields and (1) decide if the fields you currently have are essential to your data and processes, (2) remove any confusing fields, and (3) review the additional fields you have as required.
HubSpot conducted research on 40,000+ landing pages to determine the effect form fields has on conversions. They found that the sweet spot for the number of fields on a form is 3-5, anything more and the conversion rate drops. Let’s not make it harder to generate leads by making it harder for our users to submit the relevant details and access content/get in touch with you.
Source: HubSpot
3. INFORM ON WHAT TO EXPECT BEFORE SUBMISSION
Make the value proposition clear on the form so the user knows that there is no doubt in their minds that submitting their details is the right thing to do. Don’t forget, asking someone to fill out a form is a tall order. Communicate value upfront and make it clear that what you offering is highly valuable. List the benefits or the features of the offer and provide imagery and additional social proof - such as testimonials - where you can. The form itself might be short and sweet, but the content which surrounds the form, essentially promoting the form, can be detailed and in abundance.
4. INCLUDE A USER/SUBSCRIBER FOLLOW COUNT
A popular tweak on landing pages, buttons and forms is to include the number of previous submissions on the forms, or the number of downloads or subscribers. This sort of social proofing - which can be done subtly - shows the user that people have already used the form and submitted their details to the organisation, meaning that others are most likely to follow suit. Social proof suggests that people will conform to the actions of others under the assumption that those actions are reflective of the correct behaviour. Can you show how many people have signed up for your webinar or how many people are signed up to receive your newsletter? It will help improve your conversions.
The example below, via Buffer’s website, captures this principle perfectly and the CTA/form also includes many of the other tweaks included in this post.
5. FORGET ABOUT HYPE-BASED COPY
Whilst it is essential to include positive action-based verbs in the copy of a form, never forget that your audiences are fully aware of the tactics and snake oil copywriting that you might see on some of the less-trustworthy forms. Add this to the industry we operate within, which includes an intelligent bunch of people, the idea of including hype-based titles and sentences is ludicrous. Avoid at all costs as it will harm your conversions.
Use the present tense to convey the CTA as happening in the moment (right now) and present the benefits in an active voice (subject + verb + object) and take away any dishonest, fluffy hype-related jargon. Do not try to over-sell the form as you will be doing more harm than good.
6. GIVE USERS A CHOICE
Simplicity is important in web design but as consumers we all like choice. Too much choice, however, discourages action. If your organisation produces a range of content and topics, allow your users to choose specifically what content they would like to receive. By doing this, you may limit the number of future sent emails, but the number of people signing up will increase because the subscriber can pick a topic that is relevant for their particular needs and avoid unnecessary ones. If you can, also give them an option on email frequency. Choice is good, and offer it where possible - be sure to limit that choice.
7. ADD FURTHER INCENTIVES
One of the oldest tricks in the marketing book is to add further incentives to offers to increase the chances of a purchase. This is the same online. Along with signing up for a newsletter, can you offer a free e-book? Or along with signing up for an e-book, can you offer a free consultation? Or along with signing up for a free consultation, can you register the user into a competition? Ecwid demonstrates that offering an incentive, such as a chance of winning something, increases the chances of getting a conversion by 15 times. The options are endless, and it could tip the balance for conversions.
At the point of conversion, your user will be asking themselves: "What’s in it for me?” The more things we can offer them, the more reasons they will find to convert and submit their details on the form. Even the incentive of missing out on something only available for a limited time could be enough for some users.
Source: Ecwid
8. ADDRESS THE OBJECTIONS
Before we take any sort of action - paying for something or handing over personal data - there is friction. Look to your own behaviours at this point to fully understand what happens. Look to create a list of all the objections associated with the form submission and include those within the copy of your form, or in the body of the text on the page.
Common ways to address objections is to explain the problems the submission will solve or show the experience of your brand to appear trustworthy or even include why you are better than your competitor on the page. Seek external input, do user testing and ask your customers to figure out what all they might be concerned about. If your users worry about being emailed too often, inform them of email frequency, or if they are unsure about your data policy, remind them that their information is safe with you.
9. MAKE THE CTA BUTTON STAND OUT
The CTA button is just as important as the copy on the form or the placement of the sign-up form. CTA buttons should be unmissable as it is the conversion trigger - without it the conversation cannot happen. Create urgency with your CTA copy and use a colour that stands out, keeping in-line with your brand guidelines. Explore the psychology of colours - red is usually a good choice as it stands out and is also exciting and warm that evokes strong emotions. But test this for your website and audience, making sure that the colour is in-line with your website look and feel. (The last thing we want is to harm conversions by having a visually unappealing form/ button.)
According to Midas Media, use a white font and a coloured button (orange, red, blue, or green) with white or grey surrounding the button, keeping your CTA button copy between 2-4 words. A study by Amasty into buttons also identify the same top four colours, albeit in a slightly different order.
Source: Midas Media.
Source: Amasty
10. INCLUDE A PRIVACY POLICY/DISCLAIMER
During the moment when a user is about to submit their data on one of your forms, trust is in the balance. As a marketer, your job is to build trust with that user from the first moment and demonstrate your trustworthiness. Including a short statement about your privacy policy/disclaimer, or a sentence about how users can unsubscribe anytime/that details are fully protected is a great way of gaining this trust and therefore converting. Just a one-liner beneath the form/CTA button is enough to tick a box in the user’s mind that the data they submit is safe with you and that you can be trusted.
11. PRE-POPULATE FORM FIELDS IF POSSIBLE
Pre-populating your website forms, should you already have the user’s details and cookie consent in your CRM, is a great way to increase form conversions. It significantly reduces the steps a user needs to take down to just clicking on the CTA button to submit. I’m not aware of any evidence to suggest that this is bad practice providing you have already acquired the consent of the individual which you have in the CRM as otherwise your forms will not know of the user to pre-populate. Also, in the process, you are creating a better browsing experience for that user.
According to WordStream, SaaS brand IronMountain tested this approach and found it increased the number of B2B leads by 140%. Even if pre-populating form fields increased conversions by half of the figure in this test, any marketer would implement this tweak. We do it on most of our forms and would recommend to others that you do the same.
12. KEEP EVERYTHING SIMPLE
Hick’s law, often cited in web design circles, describes the time it takes for a person to make a decision. The law states that by increasing the number of choices, the decision time will also increase logarithmically. So, the more choices the users are presented with, the longer it takes to process that information, thus delaying the conversions on the forms on your pages and harming conversions. Too much information and options on website forms decrease the submissions on the form.
Combat this by stripping down the number of decisions that need to be made on the forms, limiting the choices in the process, and increasing the conversions on your forms. Make your pages and forms easy to use; simple is better. Distractions such as CAPTCHAS are bad and anything unnecessary is best taken off the form.
Source: Usabilla
13. AVOID THE AMP TRAP
AMP (accelerated mobile pages), although highly desirable in Google’s eyes due to their tendency to speed up pages, tend to leave out what Google considers non-essential content. This, of course, includes forms. So whilst improving the load time of the page can generally increase conversions, having AMP-enabled pages can take away the forms altogether for mobile users. Be aware of this and ensure that, if you want to ensure that your organic traffic can convert on the page, AMP is turned off for that page. Your B2B audience will likely access your website via a desktop and this won’t be a problem. But if you have a large percentage of mobile visitors, do not fall into this trap as it is a common one.
14. SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THAT FORM HEADLINE!
Finally, and quite simply…
Your headline is the most important element of your form and I’d suggest you start and finish with this simple task. List 10 possibilities before choosing the strongest one for the specific form in question. If you can’t decide, A/B test the form with different headlines. Each form will sit on different pages and will likely act as a gate for something different - tweak the headline accordingly.
CONSIDER YOUR FORMS AS CONVERSION POINTS
This post is an add-on to a previous post featuring ways to increase subscriber sign-ups which I’d also encourage you to read. Whilst this post focuses more on the actual forms themselves, the latter looks at other on-page and campaign-wide factors that affect conversions, such as the body of the content that sits on the pages themselves. However, together they provide a comprehensive overview of the tactics and tweaks to generate more marketing leads via website forms. You’re aiming for upwards of 3% conversion rate for your website as a whole, where specific landing pages should be upwards of 8%.
Every web page you have should have at least one form (of some variety) on them to encourage a conversion there and then. If you can’t include a form - homepages open do not have forms, for example - be sure to include a CTA to a page with a form. Limit the number of barriers (and pages) for a conversion and always thank the users for submitting their details on the form after a conversion via an iframe message or thank you page.
