The Form Cheat-Sheet – Optimizing Online Forms for Higher Conversion Rates Online forms are found on almost every website; unfortunately these are very poorly optimised and can be intimidating, confusing and down-right ugly. In order for a visitor to buy, sign-up for something or submit their details these messy forms need to be transgressed and if yours is sub-optimal you’ll be losing out on a large proportion of your potential clients. This blog entry covers a few of the basics, but these little differences can bring in tons more cash!

1. Title: Give the form an easy to understand title. Not “Application Form”, rather “Insurance Application Form”.


2. Design layout: Keep it clean and neat, follow this simple recipe:
   1. Ensure the text is easily legible
   2. Keep the instructions on the left and the text blocks on the right
   3. Use a single column
   4. Align the components neatly


3. Keep it simple: Give some good thought to the details you NEED to capture, if there is anything that is nice-to-know or not 100% vital at that point in your client interaction – drop kick it the hell off the page! If you have a field that is not always necessary, but sometimes required make it expandable. There is nothing that kills form conversion rates like a long form.


4. Use easy to understand language: Design the instructions to be short, but idiot proof. Stay away or expand on any abbreviations.


5. Split long forms: if the form is particularly long, split it into a multi-step form and side-step it the intimidation factor. Use a graphic representation to show the client where they are, how much longer they need to go and what to expect further into the form. Keep your questions well grouped by theme.