Online forms are so present in our daily lives that any user is used to filling out different forms on a daily basis. There are many types of forms, so it is very likely that a user fills out at least one online form every day.
Although the forms share common characteristics, each type of form has a different purpose, so we must apply different practices to each of them. Today we will review the forms that cannot be missing from your website and we will give some tips on how to optimize them.
1. Registration or login form
The very first step when a user lands on a website or app is to identify themselves. Registration or login forms they are what you need to get basic personal data to identify all those anonymous users. Unfortunately, most websites do not give enough importance to this first contact between the user and the platform, and display registration forms that are too basic.
Today, there are multiple : dynamic forms, one-click access, login with … Knowing all the types of forms that exist will help you choose the one that best suits your business.
Good practices in registration and login forms
- Access with a single click (or one-click signup). When we talk about registration forms or sign-up, the shorter they are, the better. Allowing users to access your platform with a single click can increase conversion rates by up to 40%, according to our own studies. Signing in with social networks or magic links are some examples of registration in a single click.
- Authenticate users. Integrating the forms with an authentication provider is one way to round off the process, as users will be automatically logged in after registering.
- take care of redirects. Setting up redirects well is crucial to maintaining a good user experience, especially on e-commerce. Respecting the itinerary followed by the user and not interrupting their navigation is crucial.
- Authentication in 2 steps. If what you are looking for is to add an extra security factor, using forms with several authentication factors is your ideal solution. You can complement the use of passwords with magic links or codes (among others) to verify or authenticate users.
2. Password reset form
Most online forms require passwords. Although this is not the only security system for a form, most sites tend to use it and therefore users tend to forget about it. Given the sheer number of online accounts we need, it’s not surprising that users end up forgetting their credentials and need complete another form to recover your password.
If your website uses an email and password system to log in, you’ll need an effective password reset form. , “30% of people find resetting passwords very stressful,” and 67% of respondents compare this stress to being fired.
Best practices in password reset forms
- Authenticate users. Your users should be authenticated and redirected right after they have entered their new password. Filling out this form is stressful enough on its own, so there’s no need to make them fill out both the password reset form and the login form. This will only multiply the effort and frustration and cause your conversion rates to sink.
- Online validation. Each website has its own rules for setting passwords. Showing information about these rules and showing errors when entering an invalid password can be useful for your users.
3. Forms to complete the profile
Progressive profiling is a technique that supplement user databut without disturbing them in the registration process. A form to complete the user profile It helps keep the registration form short, and you can always fill out the profile with more information later.
Some companies allow you to complete the profile in the user’s account section, others show it after a few logins.
Good practices for a profile form
- Make it attractive. This form is usually optional, so it should be attractive and concise so that the user is encouraged to fill it out. Although you can ask more questions than in the registration form, it is always a good idea to keep the number of steps and fields to a minimum.
- Add conditional logic. Creating a dynamic form based on your own conditional logic will help you get more and better information about your users. You can choose to skip steps or show different forms to different users based on their profile.
4. Help or feedback form
A help or feedback form is the tool that users have to contact your team if they have problems or if they want to share their feedback. These forms can be more efficient if you integrate them with other tools, for example with Slack or other communication tools to send the message to the right person.
Good practices for a contact, help or feedback form
- Contextualize. There are many reasons why your users might want to contact you. To smooth the process, it’s best to display some options to refine the reason why they’re contacting you. Doing this will allow you to send the message to the right agent and give them some context about the user’s problem. Also, users will have to type much less information and shipping rates will be higher.
- Encourage users to contact you. If you display a feedback form, let them know that their opinion matters. Their ideas and experience will help you improve your platform or your business.
5. Demo form
Requesting a demo is a common practice on SaaS product websites (software as a service, for its acronym in English). When selling a software product, we must provide a small demonstration of how the product works so that users can test its features and benefits.
Demo request forms are a bit longer than the examples we have seen before, but shorter than a payment form. The fields that we will normally have to show are personal data, contact data and information about the company.
Good practices for a demo form
- Ask the right questions, and keep them few. As with other types of forms, displaying the minimum number of fields is crucial. Thanks to data enrichment tools, you can get useful information through the user’s email. By integrating your form with Clearbit, you can learn things like company name or company size without having to ask users. Take advantage of these tools to keep questions to a minimum.
- multi-step forms. Some SaaS need to ask multiple questions to better target your potential customers. If this is the case for you and you can no longer reduce the fields, opt for a multi-step form to lighten the task.
6. Payment or subscription form
This is probably the most delicate type of form: The last step just before finalizing a sale is a crucial point that can improve your conversion rates or sink them.
Payment forms are usually the longest form type. To execute a one-time payment or subscription, companies need a lot of personal information from users: personal details, shipping details, payment details, and more.
Being so long, it is especially important that you think about optimal organization and applying
Best practices for payment forms
- multi-step forms. The payment forms are long and include questions of different kinds. Group the different fields and show the progress so that users do not abandon it. In general, the steps in a payment form are the following: personal data, shipping details, payment and review.
- Pre-shipment validation. If there are errors, it’s usually best to let the user know before they click the “Submit” button. Since this is a long form, it’s best not to have the user go through all the steps again.
- Choose an adequate number of fields and steps. Being the longest form, you should focus your efforts on making it as efficient as possible.
- Help users to fill in the fields. Lending them a hand can make the process easier. Depending on the fields there are, you can apply different techniques to speed up the process. An autocomplete function, informative texts, online validation or explanatory icons are just some of the ideas that you can apply to this type of form.
7. Newsletter subscription form
This is one of the simplest forms, since you only need an email field and a CTA. Still, you can optimize it and turn it into a smart form that actually does more than just subscribe the user to your . If you integrate your form with other tools, you can update your CRM or user database with their preferences.
Best practices for a newsletter form
- Shows the privacy policies and the GRDP. Although they take up a lot of space, it is important that your website is secure and that your users feel that they can trust it. Make sure that your users know the privacy and data processing policies so that they can make a decision for themselves.
Do you want to implement any of these forms? and create smart forms, with integrations and with your own logic and optimize your results to the maximum.
Stay informed of the most relevant news on our news channel
Facebook Comments
Disqus