Generate Business Leads with Online Forms

You are in the process of making updates to your website, and that includes evaluating how you allow potential customers to communicate and send you messages through online forms. What should you ask of them? When and how should you respond? How can you be sure the forms are working correctly and efficiently? Frozen Fire, your Dallas marketing company, has all the answers.

Too Many Fields, Too Little Time

The general rule of thumb for how much and what information to ask of someone in an online form is really quite simple: keep it simple. Too many and too complex of fields will discourage the potential customer from filling out a form because it looks like it will take more than 30 seconds to complete. Though there are exceptions to this rule and sometimes more information is required for you to get what you need to follow-up and analyze, most of the time, you will only need the basics. Consider only asking for the following:

• First and last name
• Email address
• Phone number
• Message or comment

This way, you know who is contacting you, you know what is requested, and you have a couple different ways to respond. Make sure you are not limiting the amount of characters in the message field so that you are able to get the potential customer’s entire message. The rest, you can usually find out when you follow-up. Which brings us to the next important piece – always respond as soon as possible.

Fast Follow-Up

When someone is filling out a contact form on your website looking for an answer, that person is likely filling out forms on several other websites as well. Whoever gets back to the potential customer first is likely to win his or her business, so make sure you are doing everything in your power to get back to that person immediately.

Regular Testing

You should be testing your online forms regularly, whether it is monthly, weekly or even daily if you have the time. This consists of having someone fill out a test form and making sure whoever is supposed to receive the email with the information is receiving it. You also need to make sure the data from the form is storing correctly in your content management system, so you can refer to it without having to find it in your emails.

Sometimes, plugin updates will cause issues with your online forms, and it is your job to stay on top of those updates and make sure any issues are being resolved before you start to lose leads.

Analysis

A periodic analysis is necessary to determine how many of the leads that came in from your online forms became customers and look at what potential customers are saying in their messages and how they are communicating. This should be done at least monthly, if not more often.

This will not only tell you what you are doing right or wrong, but it will help you determine the regular content you are producing and putting online. For example, if you are a dermatologist, and you have several potential patients contacting you through your website to find out what cosmetic services you offer, it might be a good idea to provide a list of cosmetic services somewhere easily accessible on your website, accompanied with a description of each.

Already checked that off the list?

Consider writing a blog post on each service and linking to those blogs from the page with your list of services. This gives you more content, more opportunity for SEO optimization and a better chance of acquiring those patients.

There are several factors to consider when creating the online forms for your website. One of the most important pieces to puzzle, your online forms are vehicles for conversions and ultimately more revenue for your business. If you have more questions, or if you are ready to build a new, effective website that will boost your online presence, get your business found for the right keywords and attract more leads, contact Frozen Fire, your Dallas marketing company, today.

Frozen Fire is a Dallas internet marketing and video production company that helps companies harness the most powerful aspect of modern marketing—the internet—to engage customers in memorable and meaningful ways. Ways that ignite sales and business growth. Contact us to learn how we can help your business.

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