Form Design Best Practices

Form Design

A Lead Form on a Landing Page is, by necessity, meant to do one thing – and do it very well, collect information for your business or marketing campaign. To do it right, follow these best practices:

Follow this quick guide to make sure you’re on the right track:

  • Number of Fields
  • Privacy Policy
  • Anti-Spam Messaging
  • Call-To-Action
  • Visual Appeal
  • Make the Form Stand Out

Number of Fields

The number of inputs or fields you ask for in a lead form can make the difference between a poorly performing lead form and one that converts at a high rate. Usually, fewer the fields - the higher the conversions. However, this may not hold true for all verticals.

Let’s think of a use case for form fills:

You have a great e-book and you want to get it out to your readers. However, you also want to build your email lists. So, with this in mind, you engage with your readers by offering them a piece of downloadable content and you also acquire the means of directly writing to them in the future.

Now you use Lander – create a landing page for the e-book download, create a lead form and set yourself the task of acquiring as little information as is viable.

The minimum you need is their email address – however to personalize that email, you might ask for their First Name, then you might be tempted to ask for their Last Name... Every time you add a field to this form, you run the risk of scaring off the potential conversion.

Best case scenario – create a lead form which asks for their email address. Test with a second version that asks for first name and email address. See which performs better for you.

Privacy Policy

When using a lead generation form, it is a good practice to make your privacy policy readily available for your users. Adding a link below or near the Call-To-Action button is the best place. Always, always be sure that the privacy policy link opens in a new tab.

Questions that you must ask yourself include:

  • Is my site secure?
  • Is my site encrypted?
  • Are there verification services?
  • Is the transfer of information secure?
  • Does my site look credible?

Items to test about your Privacy Policy:

  • Test the language of the privacy policy
  • Try adding one line summaries of your entire privacy policy near the Call-to-Action
  • Test using “We value your privacy” near any form where you collect information
  • See if making a hyperlink of the text helps your conversion rate
  • Test adding icons of a lock to let visitors know they are in a secure area
  • Let your visitor know that you comply with the CAN-SPAM act of 2003

Call-To-Action

Use messaging that has a clear call to action. On the lead form, tell them what they are signing up, include the call-to-action in the button. Use action verbs – “Download Now”, “Start Trial Now”, “Download E-Book” vs “Click Here” or “Enter”.

Visual Appeal

You’ve probably spent a good few hours hemming and hawing on how to make your landing page nice to look at. Don’t make the mistake of not aligning your lead form with the rest of the design on page.

Lead forms from Lander allow you to insert changes to facia of the form – you can include anything from patterns to photographs to plain colors. Make the form a part of the page yet let it standout.

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