Web forms are one of the most important interactions users will have on your website. They are used for all kinds of decisive situations: registrations, newsletter subscriptions, contact forms to get additional information, purchases.
These web forms will always be part of the main objectives of any company and will make up one of the final steps of the user when it comes to achieving the conversions we yearn for. For this reason, it is vitally important to take special care when designing and developing these sections on our website.
Let's get to the point!
7 Golden Rules for Form Web Design
Request only essential data
Reducing the requested fields in forms and web design services can be difficult, but very profitable. By eliminating unnecessary fields, we will save users valuable time and increase the success rate of completing the task or the conversion.
A form that asks for a lot of information can scare off the laziest users. A tip: in the case of contact forms, unify the "Subject" and the "Message" in a single field.
Save user writing time
By requesting only the essential data, we will make our contact forms less loaded, but minimizing the number of input fields is sometimes not enough. We must pay special attention to the effort made by the user when entering the data in our forms.
Writing data is time consuming (even more so on mobile) and is more prone to human error, not to mention that many users will lose interest in filling out a form if they suddenly find that they have to write an entire paragraph. Minimizing typing, reducing the number of options, using predefined responses or drop-down buttons can be good options for the user to fill out a form quickly and without problems.
Bet on calls to action (Call to Action)
Encourage the user to fill in the fields, give him additional information, explain the requirements of each field (such as passwords), help him complete it and above all, have a pleasant conversation with him in which a series of concise questions are answered.
By helping the user as much as possible, we will get them to complete the form more quickly and easily, and at the same time we will reduce the possible errors that may arise in the process.
Differentiate the required fields from those that are not
It is important that the user knows which fields are optional, so in this way he can skip them if he wishes. As we have already commented, if they are not necessary, perhaps you will not need to request them in the form (You can always request them later)
Bypass the restore fields button
The restore fields button was widely used in the past, but it is practically useless. The risk of deleting all fields entered by accident greatly outweighs the unlikely need to fill in the fields again. Our recommendation: Don't use them!
Free yourself from impossible captchas
How many times have you tried to fill out a form on a website and have failed in the typical captchas of almost invisible letters and numbers? And how many times have you sworn to enter these impossible fields correctly but have failed you anyway? Many, sure. This can be quite frustrating, we know.
For this reason, in the case of requiring a captcha for your web design form (something very useful to avoid massive spam in contact forms) it is a priority to install a latest version reCaptcha to avoid possible irritation of users.
Provide a clear error message
It is very important to visually and clearly show if the user has made one or more mistakes when filling in the form.
It is even more important to tell you how to resolve this error and why it has occurred. In this way, the user can easily fix the mistake made and get a successful form in the next attempt.
These are our 7 golden rules for good web form design. In our web design agency, we have a great team of professionals who pay special attention when creating all the elements that will make up your website. Trust us to create your custom website!