How many times have you made an enquiry or begun the process of a purchase online and embarked on a form which asks so many questions that you’ve given up and clicked away? You’re not alone. According to research by the business guide The Manifest, 81% of people have abandoned a form mid-way through.
Businesses, of course, rely on online forms to achieve key website conversions but if potential customers abandon those forms, then that relationship is lost.
There are a number of reasons why somebody might be filling-out a form online, typically it’s to sign-up to a newsletter, make contact with a business for information or complete a purchase.
Somebody might also be filling out a form because they need an element of product or service support. In this case, it’s always sensible to have a ticketing system in place to track this type of form and to make sure the issue gets actioned efficiently and correctly.
While a small business can easily track this sort of enquiry with forms typically being forwarded to a support@ email, a larger business might decide to integrate these type of support forms into a CRM system, to make sure they prompt a response process.
If a company has a website on a digital experience platform (DXP) then any forms which a website visitor completes are likely to be tracked and captured as part of that individual’s own unique journey. Any information which a form records is then tied in with that individual. It will give valuable information and be used to personalise that journey moving forward, so that they see what interests them on your website.
The key factor about a form though is that it should be seen as a potential sale. If somebody has taken the time to fill something out, then their interest should be taken seriously and followed-up on. This is very much a warm contact and that form should be used to trigger goals or conversions.
However, we humans generally dislike filling out forms and the more intrusive the questions, the more unlikely we are to continue. The Manifest says that 37% of people will abandon a form asking for their phone number, unless the field is optional, which nearly doubles completions.
Also, if we don’t have that information to hand – such as a member number or password – we might just give up earlier. If you ask somebody to create a user account, then 23% of people will not fill out your checkout form. Today, many retailers now offer a ‘check out as a guest’ option to keep potential customers online.
People have additional worries about forms those. According to The Manifest, 29% of people cite security reasons as one of the main concerns when it comes to completing online forms, followed by form length at 27%. More than 67% of site visitors will abandon your form forever if they encounter any complications. Apparently, forms with dropdown form fields have the highest form abandonment rates.
While data is gold to most businesses, it isn’t possible, sensible or, indeed, legal, to ask for a ream of personal information from a customer. GDPR rules mean that you need to be absolutely clear on the validity of the information you are asking potential clients to provide.
While businesses are keen to make sure that their forms are filled-in, they also want to avoid spam and make sure that they are being completed by a human being and not a target of bots. Up until now, this has been typically achieved by including a CAPTCHA system. However, these can simply provide another reason for potential customers to click away from your forms. How many times have you been frustrated trying to identify how many boxes have traffic lights or buses in them…
Again, according to research by The Manifest, you’re more likely to have a higher form abandonment rate when your form’s CAPTCHA is turned on.
There are though new ways to establish if the people filling in your forms are human or not and these are improving all the time. Google, for instance, has launched reCAPTCHA – an invisible CAPTCHA system which is based on AI.
reCAPTCHA uses an advanced risk analysis engine and adaptive CAPTCHAs to keep automated software from engaging in abusive activities on your site. Every time a CAPTCHA is solved, that human effort helps digitise text, annotate images, and build machine learning datasets.
If you want to know more about creating forms that potential clients will be happy to complete, then get in touch on tel: 020 3397 3222.