Does your contact form call out to visitors, convincing them to enter text and click the friendly button beneath the fields? Or does it create a barren wasteland on your website, an empty page visited only by spambots? In a previous post, we discussed 4 Reasons to Use a Contact Form On Your Website. This post will follow up by exploring some of the best practices for encouraging user responses. Despite the mass introduction of livechat software as well as chatbots to many websites, contact forms remain a staple of the modern online experience, being expected and used by many website visitors. But just having a form is not enough. If your form isn’t optimized for quality submissions, it may hinder rather than help.

1. Keep Your Forms Short

Multiple studies have indicated that having fewer form fields relates directly to higher conversion rates. One option is to just strip your form down to the basics: name, email address, and message. Although this may seem overly simple and non specialized (and it is), that simplicity and familiarity can make the form more appealing to some people. The fewer fields you have, and the more specific the requirements for those fields are, the more likely you are to receive valuable visitor input.

2. Use an Appealing Layout

If your form requires a larger number of fields, group them in a logical sequence and make sure they all relate to the reason for submission. According to Smashing Magazine, it’s also ideal to keep form elements in a single column - and to further benefit desktop users, each field should be easily cycled to from the previous one using the TAB button. That's why using one of the 6 Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins or a comparable resource is important.

3. Ask Questions That Value Visitor Contribution

Depending on your website and your goals , forms can take many shapes and sizes, but they will always have common characteristics. Questions that value the visitor’s experience will make them more likely to come back and continue engaging with your website, even if you never respond to their submission (though you should!). For example, one way to spruce up the classic “name, email, message” form would be to add a fourth field with a relevant survey question. This would serve the dual purpose of engaging the user and providing you with valuable information. These questions could include asking how they found the site, what they like most or think needs the most improvement, or even their overall satisfaction rating. As an extra tip, remember to keep your intentions and requirements clear. If someone is confused about the information you’re asking for, they either won’t submit the form, or may end up submitting the wrong information. If you need more inspiration, take a look at these Examples of Good Feedback Form Questions, provided by AidaForm.

4. Use Multiple Steps to Break Up Longer Forms

In addition to grouping fields into logical sequences, you can break up longer forms by using a multi-step process. This is a tactic used by some e-commerce stores that require a lot of information - for example, a new customer filling out their shipping information. Rather than slap the customer with a 20-field form to fill out all at once, they’ll ask for name and email, then move them to a new page for the payment gateway and other personal information. Not only do multiple step forms increase the likelihood of engagement, but they also give you a chance to collect the visitor’s email address right away. This can then be used to send a follow up, such as an abandoned cart notice if a customer fails to complete a purchase. If you’re not sure where to draw the line, aim to keep the number of fields per form-step under 6, but make sure you keep them all logically grouped.

5. Implement Streamlined Spam Protection

Although spambots have evolved at a mind-boggling rate, methods of preventing form spam have just about kept up with them. There are a number of different types of software which can be used to prevent spambots from completing your form. This type of program is referred to as a “CAPTCHA,” and it typically provides some type of challenge or trap for bots. These range from simple mathematical captchas, to difficult-to-read graphics that then require that you type out barely distinguishable characters. However, many of them are time-consuming, visually unappealing, and annoying enough to discourage most people from filling them out. Fortunately, there are several modern options that can be used in combination. Google’s Recaptcha is an excellent choice, which involves simply placing a checkbox at the bottom of the form. Checking the box confirms that the visitor “is not a robot”, and they’re free to send their data off to your database or email. To learn more about Recaptcha, check out How to Add CAPTCHA to WordPress Contact Forms. Google has also introduced an Invisible Recaptcha, which detects bots based on their behavior and interaction with the website, blocking them before they have a chance to send you any information. Another invisible means of controlling form spam is “the honeypot.” A honeypot in this case refers to an invisible field or fields which humans cannot see, but which bots will instinctively interact with. If the honeypot field is filled out, the form will not submit. Because they don’t interrupt the user experience at all, honeypots can be ideal, but unfortunately more sophisticated bots can be programmed to work around them.

6. Don’t Use a “Submit” Button

According to a Hubspot Study, actually using the word “submit” on your submit button can hurt your form’s conversion rate. The same study found that simpler calls to action, such as “click here” and “go,” were the most effective for encouraging completed submissions. My personal preference for CTAs on contact forms is to make them relevant to the action the user is taking. On my website’s form , the button says “Send Message” because that’s the only purpose behind the form. If I were accepting job applications through the form, I might use a button text that said “upload application,” or something similar. If you’re using a form to unlock a content upgrade (whether paid or as a lead capture), using “learn more” as a call to action has proven to be a powerful option throughplatforms such as Facebook advertising and email marketing.

7. Remember to Be On-Brand and Creative

At the end of the day, one of the strongest deciding factors for form submission is going to be the text you attach to it. If it rings true with the brand voice your visitor has become familiar with, and it evokes a sense of curiosity or humor, filling out your form will feel like a breeze even if it contains multiple steps and many fields. On the other hand, if your contact form is flat and boring, or difficult to navigate, most people will decide they have better things to do with their time. Now that you know how to make your contact form engaging, you should also know how to make it secure. Check out part 3 of our 4-part contact form series: How to Add CAPTCHA to WordPress Contact Forms.

If you’ve ever visited a website with a contact page, you may have noticed that some use forms to initiate first contact whereas others simply display their email address for you to reach out. While simply displaying your company’s email can make sense for some businesses, contact forms unlock a world of possibilities! They’re fairly simple to set up and fill out, and can dramatically increase visitor engagement when used effectively. In part 1 of this 4-part series delving into the topic of Contact Forms for your website, we’ll present 4 reasons why you should definitely use a contact form on your website. Contact forms can take on many shapes and sizes, but they’re essentially a set of fields and a button which allows visitors to submit information directly to you, from your website. These fields can be customized in numerous ways, to accept certain types of text (such as phone numbers or email) or even to allow visitors to upload files. Contact forms serve as an ideal first line of communication with your site’s visitors, but there are a number of other great reasons to use them.

1. Increase Visitor Engagement

Keeping visitors on your website and converting them into leads is all about engagement. The problem is, even with recent advancements in code and site builders, many websites remain static and relatively uninteresting. If there isn’t anything for the visitor to do other than read and look at pictures, they’ll be less likely to stay engaged. A contact form can significantly increase someone’s time on the site, since it doesn’t require the visitor to open their email to contact you. Even if someone doesn’t end up filling it out, just seeing that you have a form might make them think about contacting you and check out other pages on your website as a result. This is also much more convenient for people visiting your site using public WiFi, who may not want to open their email on an insecure connection. A form can also be used in creative ways - to develop a survey, for example - or to generate feedback about the website itself. It gives your visitors an easy way of contacting you without logging in to their email, creating additional touch points with visitors who interact with your website or brand.

2. Protect Yourself and Your Visitors

If you don’t use a contact form, you’re likely listing your email publicly on your website. While this may not seem like such a bad thing at first, it can easily lead to a massive amount of spam. How? Today, the Internet is filled with bots which spend their days crawling the internet, searching for exposed email addresses to collect and add to their mass mailing lists. Using a contact form leaves nothing for these robots to find. Exposing your email address can also be a potential security risk. If you use that email as a login for your website or anything else, you’ve given malicious individuals half of what they need in order to crack your account. Contact forms can also protect your visitor’s submission as it’s being transmitted to you, through the use of SSL security. Email, on the other hand, is not encrypted and all information transmitted should be considered insecure. Of course, it's possible for forms to be spammed as well, which is why it's important to understand How to Add CAPTCHA to Website Contact Forms.

3. Collect the Right Information

When you use a form to initiate contact with your visitors, you get to determine what information you ask for and whether or not the fields are mandatory. That means you can guide people in sending you the type of information that will help you decide whether you want to work with them or not. You can, for example, include an optional field where you ask about their aspirations for the next five years, or include a mandatory field asking about their interests, or even the amount they’re used to spending on products or services such as yours. Asking the right questions, in the right way, on your contact form can potentially save you lots of time qualifying leads and saying no to tire-kickers. It allows you to dictate how the conversation starts; that way, the wrong type of people won’t even engage, while the right type will more likely buy what you’re selling.

4. Automate Your Marketing

Many contact form plugins have advanced functionality which allows them to integrate with automation software such as email marketing platforms. So long as you clarify the process for visitors, you can record their submission, email them a “thank you”, email yourself a reminder, and add them to a marketing list - all without lifting a finger. This can all take some time to set up, but assuming your website gets a decent amount of visitors, it can save time in the long run. It can also lead to finding better clients, because of the built-in lead qualification and the ability to immediately follow up through your preferred marketing platform. If you were so inclined, you could even establish a form which sends an email linking the visitor to a related sales funnel. This is also something you may want to communicate to the visitor up front, while ensuring that your privacy policy accurately reflects your intentions. To learn more about the functions of different contact forms, check out our list of The 6 Best WordPress Contact Form Plugins.

Ready to Create Your First Contact Form?

Clearly, there are numerous benefits to using a contact form on your website. The extra privacy and security it affords is paramount, but it can also help create visitor engagement and new leads. When we factor in the marketing automation that a contact form can unlock, it seems like a good idea to have one on your website. Do you use a standard contact form on your website, or use them in other creative ways in order to drive more visitor engagement? Feel free to reach out to me with your ideas or share them with others in the comments below! In our next article in this series, we’ll be taking a closer look at 7 Tips For Increasing Contact Form Engagement. Stay tuned!