Contact forms that get used: 8 simple rules

A contact form is the shortest path from a visitor to a conversation with you. A good form brings in enquiries every day. A bad one quietly loses them, and you never see the customers who gave up. The good news is that a few simple rules fix most problems.

Where forms help

• Request a quote or price: the most valuable form for most businesses.
• Book a call, a visit or a service.
• Leave contact details and get a callback.
• Register for an event or a webinar.
• Feedback, reviews and suggestions.

8 rules for a good form

1. Ask for as little as possible. Name and one way to contact the person is often enough. Every extra field lowers the number of people who finish. You can ask the rest in the first conversation.
2. Use clear labels above the fields, not only grey hints inside them, which disappear when people start to type.
3. Make it easy on a phone. Large fields, the right keyboard (email, numbers) and a button that is easy to tap with a thumb. More than half of visitors are on mobile.
4. Write a button text that says what happens. "Get my quote" works better than "Submit".
5. Show friendly error messages next to the field that needs fixing, say exactly what is wrong, and keep what the person has already typed.
6. Say what happens next: "We reply within one working day." This removes doubt and reduces duplicate messages.
7. Be clear about privacy: a short note and a link to your privacy policy, plus a consent checkbox where the law requires it.
8. Protect against spam without annoying people. A hidden field that only robots fill in and a time check work well. Hard puzzles drive real customers away.

Example: from five fields to two

A small renovation company had a form with eight fields: name, surname, phone, email, address, type of work, budget and message. Few people finished it. After cutting it to name and phone with an optional message, the number of requests doubled. The missing details were simply asked during the call.

How to add a form to your website

• Form builders: quick to start, but design is limited and some charge a monthly fee.
• Plugins for your website system: flexible and cheap if you use WordPress or similar.
• A custom form: the best control over speed, design and where the data goes. Our own site works this way.

Set it up properly

• Send each request to your email and to your CRM, so nothing is lost if one of them fails.
• Get an instant notification (email or messenger) for every new request. Answering within minutes can double the chance of a sale.
• Track a submitted form as a conversion in your analytics, so you know which pages and campaigns bring requests.
• Show a clear "thank you" message after sending, and give an alternative (phone or WhatsApp) for those who prefer to call.
• Test the form every month and after every website update. A broken form is a silent loss of customers.

Quick check of your own form

• Can you finish it on your phone in under a minute?
• Do you receive a test message immediately?
• Does the person understand what happens next?
• Do you have a phone number next to the form, for people who do not like forms?