Forms designed for frustration

Originally sent to Conversion Sciences by Email.

We take our landing page forms for granted, which means that we take our visitors for granted.

"Surely," we think, "Everyone knows how to fill out form fields. It's easy."

But you don't have to watch too many session recordings nor look too long at your form analytics to realize your forms are making your qualified visitors struggle.

If we could see their faces, we would see bewilderment, frustration, and resignation. This is why they abandon your landing pages.

I've looked at many session recordings and form completion reports. What culprits have I seen most frequently waving your expensive visitors away?

Dropdown Fields

I question every dropdown field I find on a landing page form. Should they be radio buttons? Are they too long? Are they communicating something you didn't mean to communicate?

CAPTCHA

Why would you ask your qualified visitors to manage your spam problem for you?

Asking Too Much

A visitor's contact information is like a payment on an ecommerce site. The more you ask, the more expensive your landing page offer is. Are you willing to provide?16 pieces of information?for a webinar? I'm not.

Frustrated Mobile Visitors

Filling out forms on a mobile device with a screen-based keyboard is just... yuck. It's especially hard when you don't present the right keyboard for the field.

Why Are You Asking for That?

You can use forms to help qualify prospects by adding qualifying fields, but these can begin to feel?intrusive. They elicit questions like, "Why do you need to know my company size, my title, or the country I'm in?" To avoid this, explain how you will use the information. If it bothers you to admit the reason, remove those fields.

What fields do you want to remove from your landing page forms? That's what the comments are for.

Brian Massey, Sr. Conversion Scientist

Conversion Sciences LLC