The form is where your marketing goes to die
You can spend thousands getting the right person to your site, have them read the page and decide they want to talk to you, and then lose them at the form. It happens far more than most businesses realise, because a form that never gets submitted leaves no trace. Nobody complains. They just leave.
Quick answer
Ask for less, say what happens next, put the form where people are ready for it, and test it yourself on a phone. Most forms fail at least two of those.
It asks for too much
Every extra field lowers the completion rate. Phone number, company size, budget, how did you hear about us, a captcha at the end. Each one is a moment where a busy person decides it is not worth it. Ask for the minimum you need to reply: a name, a way to contact them, one line about what they need.
- Name
- Email or phone (let them choose)
- One free-text box for the job
- Nothing else, unless it is genuinely required to reply
It does not say what happens next
People hesitate over a form because they do not know what pressing the button commits them to. Will someone ring immediately? Will they be added to a mailing list? A single line above or below the button fixes it: 'We will reply by email within one working day. No sales calls, no mailing list.'
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| Submit | Send my enquiry | |
| No text near the button | 'We reply within one working day' | |
| Generic thank-you page | Thank-you page saying who will reply and when | |
It is in the wrong place
A form only on the contact page means every visitor has to go looking for it. Put a short form at the bottom of every service page, right where someone has just finished reading about what you do. Keep a phone number and email visible next to it for people who prefer those.
Nobody has tested it in months
Forms break silently. A plugin updates, an email address changes, a spam filter starts eating submissions. Fill your own form in from a phone once a month and check the enquiry arrives where it should. If you need more from a lead than a short form allows, use a multi-step form that asks one question at a time; those complete far more often than a long single page.
If you are stuck or want a second pair of eyes on this, give us a shout. We are always up for a chat.
