Although it may not be as flashy as increasing your Google AdWords budget or writing a great eBook, testing and optimizing your lead conversion forms may be the key to increasing your company's revenues. Here are some of the top ways to make sure visitors are clicking “submit.”
It is natural to get as much information as possible from customers in order to meet their needs. Asking for too much information too soon can hurt your chances of enticing a visitor (and possible customer) to complete a form. The key is to get the information that is absolutely necessary. Then, you can begin providing that person with relevant information and communication. A recent study showed 61 percent of forms have 5-10 form fields, which is conducive to more form submissions but introduces the quality over quantity debate.
Requiring a visitor to complete all the information on a form will also reduce lead volume. Some visitors may not have the information you are asking for readily at hand and, thus, will stop the conversion process before it starts. Make the essential information you need to start the lead nurturing process required. Anything extra you don't need can be made optional.
Let the experimentation begin! Once you have established some baseline analytics and understand how your current on-page forms are converting, it’s time to start optimizing. Many website and landing page platforms allow for A/B testing. A/B testing is an easy way of adjusting one thing on your form to see if one component (i.e. - headline, photo, CTA, etc.) performs better than what is currently being used.
So now comes the big question: Where do I start? What are the most important questions to ask first? Start with:
Adding one or two additional fields can be beneficial as well, but stick to basic fields like “How Did You Find Us?” and “Industry.” Remember, your goal is to convert, so keep it simple.
These changes may seem small, but companies have saved millions of dollars and produced millions more by reducing or refining their on-page conversion forms. A great way to determine if there are any hangups or if your company's forms are too long is to put yourself in the shoes of a customers by having your team fill them out. If there are any difficulties or any team members raise concerns, it may be time to make some changes.
How do you optimize your forms to increase leads? Share your insight in the comments below.
Photo Credit: camelgraph.com
