Comments on: Your Online Form Not Converting? Here’s Why

By: Richard Garand

Richard Garand — Mon, 30 May 2011 19:15:45 +0000

Funnily enough I’ve had this post in my reader for a bit but I just got to it now, the day after I got some feedback that changed the direction I’m going with a new service to replace this exact form. Using something myself is usually my first line of defense against creating a rage-inducing interface, but this time I didn’t catch some of the real issues until I saw a non-technical person using it.

It only takes minutes to test something like this yourself and then have someone who doesn’t know it try; there aren’t many good reasons not to do it!

By: Matt Fogel

Matt Fogel — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:20:09 +0000

(Full disclosure: my company offers some conversion tools like the ones I mentioned, so I’m biased, but the results and stats I’ve seen certainly speak for themselves)

By: Matt Fogel

Matt Fogel — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:16:34 +0000

Great points, Lisa. Couldn’t agree more. Something I’ve seen that works really well is to add some immediate contact options to a form. For all the reasons you list above, and others, some people just don’t want to go to the trouble of filling a form.

I’ve seen that adding the option to chat or click-to-call (where the visitor types in her phone number and is called immediately by the business) can have a great impact on conversion and retention rates.

By: David Johnston

David Johnston — Sun, 22 May 2011 18:57:56 +0000

I think that’s called “eating your own dog food.” Most forms fail because the people making them do not take the time to use them enoough to catch obvious issues. Funny how people are too busy to make more money.

By: Molly

Molly — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:32:31 +0000

Thanks for this article! I read all the blog posts from Outspoken and each one has helped me build my photography business. I went to one of the best, elite photo colleges and yet learned nothing about actually running a business. I am going to check put my contact page and see if my form stands up to this.

By: Antown

Antown — Sat, 21 May 2011 05:27:34 +0000

It is necessary to create such forms that you would like to see for yourself. Create a form and try to fill it out themselves. You immediately realize where you made a mistake while writing the questions and answers. This is the easiest way to get back on track to achieve a good result.

By: Gabriele Maidecchi

Gabriele Maidecchi — Fri, 20 May 2011 09:06:40 +0000

The last point is the most important. It’s kinda like on Twitter, you have to learn how to ask what you need in the most minimal way possible. For example, I don’t really like forms asking for password AND email repetition. The first one can be swapped out for a simple checkbox to unmask your password and make the verification easier, the second simply doesn’t make sense. Every small little detail DOES matter in stuff like this.

By: Jeanette McCulloch

Jeanette McCulloch — Fri, 20 May 2011 01:29:12 +0000

Working on our online forms right now, so this was really helpful! Hope I don’t end up as an example of what not to do :). I’m looking for a online service to manage class registrations, with forms, calendars, etc – would welcome any suggestions! Thanks.

By: M_Roberts82

M_Roberts82 — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:50:57 +0000

Wow… Maybe they just don’t like their receptionist and figured a horrible online form would get him/her to crack under pressure by driving enough people to call in to complain about the confusing nature of the form and about needing to schedule a haircut/color/massage/waxing/line dancing lessons/spa day/lobotomy immediately.

By: Robert Brady

Robert Brady — Thu, 19 May 2011 20:31:18 +0000

Amazing how one little organic salon can do so wrong in such a small space. It’s almost like they deserve an award.