Your web form looks great but it doesn’t convert as expected? If you want to collect user details, develop a subscription list, or create a fast checkout experience, you’ll need a high-converting web form. It isn’t enough to get a shape that is visually appealing. It has to work properly! Users have become accustomed to well-designed and functional forms, leaving no space for those that are clumsy, messy, or simply don’t fit.
But, how do you go about doing it? Here are five suggestions for designing a web form that will help you convert customers and expand your online presence.
Design a One-Column Form
Users have low attention spans, as you are aware. A one-column form will assist you in winning the battle against distractions. According to a report by the CXL Institute, users could complete a one-column form 15.4 seconds quicker than a multi-column form. When it comes to website interactions, that’s an eternity, therefore having a one-column form is a no-brainer.
All of this comes down to one simple type design rule: Keep it in a vertical, linear format. Also, the call-to-action button should be on its own line, big, and easily visible. (You really don’t want to miss that!)
Use Space and Copy to Help Users
Form readability may be made or broken by copywriting and spacing.
Pay a lot of attention to these four aspects when designin a form.
- Make sure every line of copy is relevant, concise, and instructs users on how to proceed.
- For the copy, there’s no need to be trendy or over-explain. To make each field a bit less complicated for users, provide placeholder text.
- To make and field transparent and simple to fill in, space type elements far enough apart.
- Make sure the boxes are large enough to press easily on handheld devices.
And to wrap things up, use a standard notation to indicate which fields are needed, such as a red asterisk.
Only Ask for Information That You Need
How much information do you need right now? The response varies depending on where you are in the marketing funnel. But sometimes, business owners ask for unnecessary information. As web designers it is our job to limit number of information asked in one form. Do you, for example, need more than an email address to create new subscribers to an email list right now? (You always can ask for more details later.)
Use Validation
Field validation can help show users an error before they move on to the next field. Validation guarantees that the correct text, such as an email address in an email field, is entered in the proper field. The more intelligent your form validation, the more input and leads your form can produce. You should, for example, check generic domain email addresses like gmail.com, yahoo.com, and others so that if they are misspelled, the recipient is notified. Setting defaults for popular user classes, such as a country or state if the majority of the users are from a certain area, is another trick.
Finally, use tooltips for validation errors so that users are aware of the problem straight away. Make sure they don’t press send only to discover a mistake or a validation error.