Every business needs the right data to make better business decisions. You can easily collect customer and lead data by creating and distributing an online form that provides you with information to help you make data-driven decisions.
Writing, designing, and implementing online forms is easy with the right tool and some effort. There are numerous tools available to create online forms that can feed the data into your existing business systems.
Here’s what you need to know about creating, using, and analyzing online forms to improve your business.
Index of contents
What are online forms for?
►Read: 5 Easy Ways To Create A Form In Excel◄
- Here are the basics of online form creation and some tools you can use to get started.
- Online forms allow you to easily collect information from current and potential customers.
- Some forms require that the answer boxes be checked, while others allow written answers.
- Using these forms can provide you with the information you need to make data-driven marketing decisions.
- This article is for small business owners and marketers who want to learn more about online forms and the benefits they offer.
Most likely, you have filled out some online surveys. Maybe it was a registration form, an order form, or a custom form on a specific topic. They are usually simple questionnaires perfectly integrated into a company’s website.
If you have ever bought something online and entered your credit card details, you have used an online form.
An online form is an interactive web page or an HTML form that allows the user to enter information. Once the submit button is pressed, the form responses are sent to servers for processing, where they can be analyzed and evaluated.
There are different types of online forms that can appear in various places on your websites. The most common is a text box, which can ask a simple question and then the user types their answer.
These fillable forms can be placed on any page of a website and ask as few or as many questions as desired. If you’re not looking for open-ended answers, your online form may use multiple-choice question check boxes, drop-down menus, and submit buttons.
Where you put and promote your online form is up to you. However, you should post it in a conspicuous place that gets the most responses.
Most important: Online forms are simple questionnaires that are placed on the website to collect customer feedback.
How Businesses Benefit From Online Forms
Online forms are an efficient and organized way for companies to collect data about their customers. Since you create and post the forms yourself online, the questions are factual and original to you and the information you are trying to obtain.
The data collected comes directly from the source, so it is accurate, and since most forms are responsible on mobile devices and tablets, they are easily accessible.
These forms can not only capture the data that is submitted directly with them, but they can capture details about how customers are interacting with the page on which the form is embedded.
Once you’ve accumulated these metrics, you can bring this information back to your team and make analytics-based marketing decisions.
Key takeaway: Online forms allow you to ask your website visitors objective questions that can help you make informed decisions about how to target them effectively.
What kind of information should be included in an online form?
Your online form should consist of one or more questions, in which users can type an answer or select an option from a menu.
As mentioned, the most common types of online forms are text boxes, drop-down lists, check boxes, radio buttons, and reply messages.
The questions you ask should be simple, concise, and easy to understand. Don’t use too many words when just a few will suffice. Also, don’t use complicated language when simple words convey the same meaning.
Although your first instinct may be to ask several questions to get as much information about your customers as possible, consider exactly what you are looking for. When you have an excess of data, it is difficult to focus on what is needed.
People aren’t going to want to spend a lot of time filling out your form, so get it done as quickly as possible. To make the process painless for users, ask questions that can be answered normally through your web browser’s autocomplete , such as your name, email address, location, and phone number.
The less time the user has to spend filling in the form, the more likely they are to answer it.
” Capture only what you need in the order you need it, ” said Spencer Fry, founder of Podia. “For example, if a customer is buying [a product online], the first thing we need is their payment information.
A credit card number, expiration date and security code is all we ask for on our payment form. “The company will only ask for more information, such as an email address or password, after it has received the customer’s credit card details.
“Asking for too much information in advance can be overwhelming,” says Fry. “To streamline the process, break it down into steps that build on each other.”
Key takeaway: Online forms should have clear questions. Just ask questions that are considered valuable. Asking too many questions can discourage users from answering any of them.
How to create an online form
There are many free and paid online form builders that you can use to create them for your website and integrate them into your marketing automation workflow. Although the designs, features, and workflow vary to varying degrees, the steps to create an online form are generally the same with each program:
- Create a new form. Regardless of which form builder you use, you start by creating a new form. In most cases, you can create one from scratch or modify a pre-built template.
- Edit and format your new form. Next, you will edit your form by adding fields. These can be preset or custom fields. Once you have decided what type of form you want to use, write your questions and answers. It is useful to do this in a word processing document in case you ever need to go back to the original form.
- Test your form. Double check that your form works on multiple browsers and devices. Fill out and submit the form via non-default phone and web browsers so that you can ensure that user responses are processed regardless of how they are submitted.
- Submit or publish your form. Once you’ve reviewed your form and everything looks clean, it’s time to send it out to the masses. You can publish it as a web page on your site or include it in an email for customers.
Most importantly: You can create an online form from scratch or use a template. Make sure to edit and test it before submitting or publishing it.
Tools for creating online forms
A good online form builder should be simple, intuitive, and easy to customize. Here are some of the best free and paid online form builders that you can use to create your own forms.
- Google Forms: Google Formsis free and easy to use; it only requires a Google account to use it. Save all information in Google Sheets spreadsheets for analysis. They also have pre-made templates in case you’re not sure how you want to format your online form.
- HubSpot Free Online Form Builder: HubSpot offers a versatile free form builder that allows you to create up to 1,000 form fields with 12 different field types to help optimize your responses.
- WuFoo: Startingat $ 14.08 per month, WuFoo is a great form builder if you’re looking to collect a lot of data and use it for complex reporting. Its secure interface allows you to receive payments online.
- Typeform:If you are prioritizing design for your online forms, Typeform may be the way to go. Typeform starts at $ 35 per month, and you can make your forms more attractive by adding images, videos, and GIFs. It also allows you to customize the welcome screen and menus.
- JotForm:The free JotForm builder is more customizable than Google Forms and is one of the only free builders that accept payments. They have an extensive template library, with over 10,000 form templates, and it can be easily integrated with your marketing tools.
- Formstack:Used by Netflix and Twitter, Formstack allows you to create online forms without the need to know how to code. Its workflow allows you to connect to all your business applications and keeps you on top of your forms through email notifications. Prices are starting at $ 19 per month.
Most important: There are a number of sites online that can help you create your forms, including Google Forms, HubSpot, WuFoo, and Formstack.
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conclusion
It is necessary to emphasize that the creation of forms can facilitate the collection of information quickly in certain aspects. By following these tips you will be able to easily create forms online, if you have any questions leave us your comment.
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