Getting a visitor to your website is only half the battle. Once they land on your site, getting them to convert is a different story. When best practices for online forms are followed, businesses can capitalize on higher conversions and a bigger bottom line. Having built more than our fair share of websites for businesses of all shapes and sizes, our information architects have several tips for turning a browser into a buyer. Whatever action you are trying to achieve, here are some suggestions to get you started:
- Decide what your end-goal is. For e-commerce sites, a sale is the ultimate pay-off. For other service oriented sites, a conversion form may be the first step in the sales process, whether customers can either submit their inquiries or download additional information.
- Place the call to action in a prominent position. Once you know exactly what action you want visitors to take, make sure it’s easy for them to do so. Place buttons and forms in locations that are viewable when users first land on your site – without having to scroll down the page.
- Keep it simple. Don’t feel like you need to add lengthy instructions for site visitors – instead, keep it short and concise. This goes for design as well – use a simple font that is easy to use, and of course, web friendly.
- Make sure your form looks good. An experienced web designer can help to ensure your form design is streamlined with appropriate spacing and formatting. For example, use dropdowns where appropriate to make sure the form doesn’t run too long, and if possible, keep the form in one column, as it’s more user-friendly.
- Let users know what’s required. A simple asterisk can help to denote information that is mandatory vs. optional. For all other information, ask only what’s relevant and helpful. Keep in mind that users are more likely to complete shorter forms.
- If using a multi-step form, use progress indicators. Just as breadcrumb navigation helps to show a visitor where they are on your website, colored progress indicators help to guide users through longer forms. This is especially useful on e-commerce sites during check-out, or on sites that pre-qualify potential customers.
For more information on how to maximize form conversion on your site, contact the UI experts at Website Jungle as 888-309-3292.
