If your goal is to collect certain information from your visitors using your website, then without a doubt, the best and most effective way to do so would be to install a web form. California Web Design says that if your web form is effectively designed, it will be an invaluable tool to provide you with information that you need. However, bad web form design will only scare your customers away. There is a technique on how to make effective, functional web forms and California Web Designer, today, will demonstrate, with these practical tips:
1. Design your web form with a purpose- California Web Design states that no one like spending so much time filling out a form. This is why California Web Designer advises that web forms must be built conservatively. As a business owner, you must determine the purpose of each question that you want to ask. Always remember to keep the form short, simple and to eliminate unnecessary elements that fail to give you a tangible benefit.
Keep in mind that in the Western world, the normal way to read something is from left to right and from up to down. Make sure your web form is designed this way, so you do not, even for a second leave your website visitors puzzled. If your visitors will want a puzzle, they will go to a puzzle website, they don’t need your web form to confuse them!
2. Tailor your form to fit the situation- If you just want a web form for mailing list purposes, then there is no need to request for a customer’s yearly income, or what industry they are working in. California Web Design says that in this particular situation, you will find no use for those things, so in effect, you are only wasting your customer’s time by even asking for yearly income and work information. If for example, you are creating your web form for surveying purposes on your average customer, then by all means, nicely inquire ask about those things.
3. When needed, include short and clean descriptions in your web form- California Web Design says that it is impossible to avoid situations when you need to ask for certain information, such as your customer’s phone number that they may not want to give. For questions like these, keep your customer’s worries at bay by providing an explanation of why you need this piece of information. We encourage you to include a line of reassurance, something along the lines of “Your phone number is kept 100% confidential”. Providing the clarification and explanation will allow your customer to understand what the information will be used for, and cease his worry.
The tips above are simple and easy to implement. When making your web form, just use your common sense! You will then find it easier to come up with a short and concise form that your customers will not mind answering.
California Web Design