Clicks 'n Conversions Blog

This article was first published May 6, 2008 on the Tatum Marketing blog

In a perfect world, there would be no need for web conversion forms – no need to request (demand?) those bits of contact information before allowing visitors to download information, request a demo, or take your software for a trial run.

In this perfect world, your website would be so fantastic, so perfectly aligned to your prospects’ needs, they would either buy immediately or keep coming back to your website on their own.

Okay let’s wake up. In the real world, technology marketers must do what they can to get visitors’ contact information in order to follow-up. Your success in getting this contact information is a balancing act between what you offer and what you ask – and how you go about asking it.

The web conversion form plays a vital role in how successfully you capture the information you need. Its elements are continuously tested and studied by smart marketers and other experts. There are no hard and fast rules about what works and what doesn’t work, but we do know a few things about conversion forms that will substantially increase your chances at gaining your prospects cooperation.

Use this checklist to guide you as you design – or improve – your web conversion forms.

• Ask only for information you really, really, really need. Really. Of course your sales people would like to know the phone number, company, title, geographic location and budget of every visitor; but it’s not going to happen. Every single field on your web conversion form reduces the number of people who will fill it out.
• Explain yourself.  If you absolutely MUST ask for more than an email address, let them know why and make sure it’s clear what you’re requesting. For example, does “name” mean the visitor’s name (first, last, first and last?) or the company name?
• Remind them what they’re going to get. Let’s say I click on your “free trial” button and it takes me to a web form. The phone rings, I answer and 20 minutes later I find myself back at your web form. If your prospects are anything like me, they’ll need to be reminded of why they were there in the first place.
• Assure them you will not abuse the information they give you. Tell them you do not sell or share the information. Provide a link to your privacy policy.
• Give them a way to contact you. Maybe the prospect just doesn’t want to fill out the form but would happily send an email or make a phone call to get whatever it is you’re offering.
• Put a real call to action on the action button. Many forms use the word “Submit”, but that’s boring. Use something more active such as “Give me my report” or “Start my trial now”.

Other factors also play a role in how well your web conversion form works. Layout, of course, and colors, style and size of the type, and use of images all contribute. But those are subjects for a different article.

For now, review the list above to evaluate your existing conversion forms and as a guide when you create new forms. You’ll find your conversion rate may just go up.

This article was inspired by a post on web conversion forms written by Melissa Burdon at Future Now. You can read her post here: 7 Tips for Boosting Web Form Conversions.