How to design lead generation forms for more conversions?

Lead generation forms are a valuable marketing tool. Most people will visit your site once, and never come back. But if you use lead generation forms, you can also capture contact details and market to them by e-mail. It's much easier to nurture customers by e-mail than to try to impress them all at once on your site.

To be successful, the forms on your site need to work properly and be optimized to generate as many conversions as possible. Read on for tips on how to create the most effective lead forms for your site.

Decide which fields to include

It's hard to decide what information to collect from your lead generation form. You want to capture important information that can help you better segment and market to individual prospects. But the more fields you include, the less likely people are to complete the form and convert it.

It's best to include as few fields as possible. This encourages people to follow the registration process. The information you really need depends on your business niche. For example, a B2B company may need to know the name of the leading company, its position in the company, etc. Most B2C companies can get away with simply asking for your name and e-mail address.

If you want to include more fields to facilitate segmentation, consider making them optional. For example, if you wish to include more fields to facilitate segmentation, consider making them optional:

• The name *
• E-mail address *
• Company name (optional)
• Position (optional)
• Budget (optional)

It won't be possible to collect all the information relevant to your segmentation. But you can follow up your leads by e-mail, asking for more detailed information. Focus on minimalism for now, to generate conversions.

Illustrate value and minimize risk.

Your copy is one of the most important parts of your lead generation forms. You've taken the time and care to create compelling landing page copy, and your form needs to fulfill it.

The most effective copy of the form will simultaneously illustrate value and minimize risk. Check it out Example of a Toptal contact form:

Value proposition: Work with the best talent in the world.

Minimize risk: Illustrating that there is no financial obligation to register.

Think about what people might think before filling in your main form. What might make them hesitate? Maybe they're afraid you'll start spamming them. Answer that in your copy of the main form!

Always use language that reflects back to people the value they'll receive by filling in the form. If your main magnet is an ebook, call it free eBook. You can even assign it a financial value (for example, "free eBook worth 45 $").

Optimize your call to action

Your call to action (CTA) is probably the most important part of your lead generation form. Over 90% of visitors. Whoever read your title also read your CTA. So make sure it's good.

Your CTA should stand out and be easily identifiable. Don't leave it as a normal text link - make it a brightly colored button. Your CTA should also create a sense of urgency by including action words (for example, "Request a quote now" or "Download the guide today").

Probably the most important thing is to avoid being lazy. You want potential customers to click on your CTA with confidence, knowing what they're signing up for. If they're creating an account, make sure the CTA illustrates this. If you're signing up for a free trial, include that in your CTA copy too.

Click here an example of a good CTA It stands out, creates a sense of urgency and reassures visitors about what they'll receive when they click:

Don't forget the context

Your lead generation forms are only one part of your landing page. All elements of the page must work together to illustrate value and generate conversions.

Consider placement, for example. You can place your lead generation form in one of the following ways:

• In the lead
• Sidebar
• Footer
• Appear
• Various places on the page

In general, it's nice to have your form above the fold, as fewer people are likely to scroll down. But it really depends on your audience. Some people need to read a lot of material and convince themselves before converting. In this case, placement below the fold makes sense.

Your landing page can also include other elements that draw attention to your main form, wherever it may be. Take a look at this Example of a no-bounce referral page:

They place the lead generation form in a separate area from the rest of the landing page to make it stand out. They also use visual cues (arrows) to attract attention. These are just a few of the many landing page design elements you can use to improve the effectiveness of your lead generation forms.

Always perform A / B tests

Even if you follow all the advice given in this post, it doesn't matter if you don't do an A/B test. It's simply impossible to know from the outset which form elements help your site visitors convert and which don't.

Important things to try include:

• Copy the form
• Button shape and color
• SMS call to action
• number of fields
• Placed pattern
• Any other shape element

If you're using a quality marketing automation platform, you need to include features that allow you to measure the performance of your forms and associated landing pages. The form overview in SharpSpring, for example, gives you an overview of overall form performance as well as individual form performance:

There's always room for improvement

There's no such thing as the perfect way to generate leads. No matter how often you optimize, you'll always learn new things about your audience for years to come. Use this information to modify, reorganize and replace your lead generation forms with something more targeted and effective.

As long as you continually monitor performance and make improvements, you'll create powerful lead generation forms that convert.