With the rise of modern technology, the internet has changed drastically, and business websites are trying their best to adapt and conquer the ever-changing standards of consumers. Websites are no longer just informational gateways for businesses in need of a way to share information with their customers. For a business website design to be successful, you have to consider much more than just the basic functionality — that is, you have to carefully consider your visitors and the user experience of your website.
There are a lot of ways to improve the web experience for your customers. But today, we are going to discuss one of the most important aspects of a winning website — the custom-designed online forms.
What Is a Custom-Designed Online Form?
Custom website design online forms are electronic forms that allow users to submit data to a website. They can be used to gather useful information about website visitors, such as their preferences, likes, internet usage, and personal information. They are similar to paper forms but are more efficient, faster, convenient, and better at allowing for automation.
Why Are They Important?
Have you ever tried ordering or making a purchase online? Per Statista, there were around 1.66 billion digital buyers last 2021, then you might have said yes to our question.
When placing your online purchase, custom-designed online forms are always utilized to make the shopping experience of customers more convenient. Online forms are not only necessary for you to input information on the goods and services you’re buying, but they’re also important for businesses that create them and embed them on their sites.
Marketers would struggle to collect information on potential consumers and track data on sales, customer feedback, new leads, and survey replies without the use of custom-designed online forms. In today’s digital environment, it’s difficult to imagine a successful company without at least one online form on its website.
The Benefits of Online Forms for Businesses
No matter what business or industry you belong, custom web design online forms are crucial aspects when creating your own website. Moreover, the details that your customers can provide on your online form are important as well. While your customers will certainly be able to reach you if you just simply provide an address, contact number, or email, there are several distinct benefits to providing custom website online forms, such as defending yourself against spam.
With best value custom web design online forms, you can make web experience more convenient for your customers. Collecting information and some business processes will also be much easier for you, too! Any modern business website that does not have a page where users may fill out information almost always fails to generate leads and convert visitors. It will make obtaining information on the target market audience difficult. As a result, marketing efforts are rendered ineffective.
Now, let’s discuss some of the additional benefits that professional web design online forms have for businesses.
- Customers Like Options
- Gather Accurate Data
- You Can Have Full Control
- Better Data Storage
- Online Forms Are Trackable
- They Offer Convenience
- Receive the Data You Need
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Customers Like Options
Giving customers a number of ways to reach out to you, such as listing your company phone number, office address, email address, or using online forms allows your customers to choose the mode of contact that they prefer and avoids frustration when their preferred contact option is not available.
However, when it comes to online forms, you should remember to always meet your clients where they are. Any forms you build must provide mobile users the same convenience that desktop and tablet users experience.
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Gather Accurate Data
To get a response, most online forms need users to provide their email addresses. The website owner’s email address will not be available until the user submits a completed form. Spam bots are easily kept at bay since web users will be asked to fill out details.
Fewer spam makes your company inbox more manageable. You can also use web design online forms to create an email list since users who fill out a form are likely to be genuine customers looking for an engagement with your business. Furthermore, by getting spam emails out of the way, you’ll be able to respond more quickly to specific and important emails, resulting in more conversions.
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You Can Have Full Control
The number of form fields, color schemes, and location of your forms all help to align everything with your branding while also increasing conversion rates. Professional web design online forms tend to perform better than those that appear out of place or ask for more information than is required.
A well-designed form will build trust, making customers more likely to believe that their information will be kept safe and used exclusively for the purposes intended. Fonts and colors can be customized as well to meet a company’s branding, and custom styling can be added to increase conversion rates.
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Better Data Storage
Online forms allow you to collect data securely and consistently. After the requested data is collected, it is securely kept and made available or accessible by your team members as and when required. As opposed to paper forms that could be misplaced or lost, this gives you further peace of mind that your data is carefully stored. It also reduces paperwork, saves a lot of time, and increases work efficiency.
Making use of custom web design services online forms increases data security far better than other types of data storage. For instance, in the event of damage to property or offices, digital storage reduces risks of losing collected data.
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Online Forms Are Trackable
To accurately measure the effectiveness of your website, you will need a reliable metrics. Custom-design online forms can help you with that. Online forms allow you to keep track of how many people visited your website, when they came, whether they filled out the online form or not, and how long they stayed.
These data are critical for developing marketing strategies for increasing web visitors to your business website. Once users have filled out the online form, you’ll know exactly what they’re seeking for, and you’ll be able to give an answer to that specific need.
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They Offer Convenience
Web forms are particularly convenient since they allow your clients to contact you without leaving your web page. This also enhances the likelihood that your clients will return to your website after contacting you.
Online forms are not only convenient for customers. They also allow website owners to tailor the details in the form, ensuring that it is in line with their marketing strategies. What’s more, web owners can design the forms to direct users to what they’re likely to be looking for in an automated way.
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Receive the Data You Need
Custom-designed online forms help gather significant information in that they allow you to choose which kind of data you collect from your customers. By including specified fields and designating which of these fields is required to be filled out, you will be able to make web visitors give the information you require.
Just a quick reminder, though. Be careful not to overburden your customers with too many questions. It’s easy to lose interest in submitting inquiries when the online form is asking a lot from them.
Things You Shouldn’t Do When Designing Online Forms
While designing a custom online form might be a simple task, there are also some important points you need to keep in mind. Website owners must keep track of the things they shouldn’t do in their custom-designed online forms. Here are some DON’Ts that you need to remember to successfully design an effective form.
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Information overload
Your customer’s time is valuable. Don’t waste it by having them answer irrelevant and unnecessary questions. Do not overburden them with information. Also, make sure that the way of asking for information isn’t misleading either. Your potential customers shouldn’t feel like they are only interrogated for marketing purposes.
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Don’t make your users wait for your form to load
Among the reasons we incorporate forms on websites is to provide convenience. Your customers want forms that are easy to fill out and submit. So, make sure that it doesn’t have a slow loading speed. For an excellent web speed, contact your developer and improve page speed to ensure all online forms on your site are loading fast enough for customers not to lose interest.
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Not testing the form first
Of course, never forget to test your online form first before launching it on your website. If your web form does not work, it might leave a bad impression on your customers. Don’t let people think of you as an unprofessional online business owner. Always check and then double-check to ensure all is working fine.
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Only using placeholders instead of labels
Placeholders are displayed in the input field and provide a short hint about the expected value of the field. A lot of form designers are now only using placeholders to describe a field. While this does offer a cleaner design, not having labels can compromise the user experience.
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Poor spacing and layout
Having ample spacing and layout helps customers have a smooth flow when answering a form. Make sure to group similar fields under the same heading to give better context to the requested fields. Use dotted or solid lines when separating headers for good organization.
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Hard to enter captchas
Spams can be frustrating and can cause problems in generating leads. Businesses that receive a lot of form spam use captchas to determine if the form is being answered by a computer or a human. However, some hard-to-enter captchas can be confusing and challenging to some people. To make it manageable, provide users with the ability to refresh or play an audio file of the words for better accessibility.
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Not giving users confirmation or success messages
Always provide instant feedback once users complete or submit a form to let them know that their information is successfully recorded. We also recommend sending email confirmations and setting expectations on how long it will take for a representative from your team to respond to them.
Key Takeaways to Remember
The value of custom-designed online forms cannot be overstated; they allow you to collect direct and unfiltered information from your customers and web users, which enables your business to make more informed decisions when boosting sales and customer satisfaction.
Its integration when developing a website for your business is critical to the overall business growth, particularly in terms of attracting and retaining online customers. A business website that does not have any online forms would most likely find itself limited in terms of what it can offer to potential customers. The value that these forms offer is key to making marketing more targeted and the communication between brands and clients smoother.
So, if you need a simple but highly effective way to build your customer databases, generate leads, and increase sales — a custom-designed online form is the answer!
Want to Create a Custom-Designed Online Form for Your Site?
Proweaver is always here to help. We are a custom website design company that has helped thousands of clients from different industries make breakthroughs in digital marketing. Our digital marketing services range from custom web designs, social media marketing, search engine optimization, web hosting, graphic design, and many more! We would love to help business owners like you unlock the full potential of your brand in the digital landscape.
If you need help creating custom-designed online forms for your business website, just give us a call at +1-877-300-6564.
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