I recently ran a poll on LinkedIn to find out what people REALLY thought about filling in website contact forms.
The results were… interesting.
You see, I’ve come across a bit of a mental disconnect when it comes to contact forms. Pretty much every service business has one on their website, but there’s a large percentage of internet users who strongly dislike filling them in, for reasons we’ll get to later.
So the question here is: If you’re offering a contact form as the main way for people to get in touch with you through your website, could you be putting off potential clients who are thinking about contacting you?
Here are the results of the poll:
Only 56% of people said they were fine with filling in contact forms, with the remaining 44% saying they’re annoying to fill out, they don’t trust contact forms, and they’d rather send an email.
Many people took to the comments to explain what they didn’t like about filling in contact forms.
Here are the main objections:
"I just don’t trust that my message will be received or replied to when I use a contact form. I worry that my message will disappear into the ether.”
"Without a confirmation or receipt, I have no way to know if my form submission went through. I can’t check my ‘sent’ box, like I can with emails.”
"Forms that ask for too much information or have too many fields are frustrating to fill out. Especially when I just want to ask a simple question.”
"If a business doesn’t provide an email address as an alternative, it feels untrustworthy.”
"Forms feel impersonal, like I’m talking to a void instead of a real person.”
(Here's a link to the original poll on LinkedIn.)
So should you use a contact form on your website?
If created with a bit of thought, contact forms can be a great way to:
✅ filter out poor fit potential clients
✅ structure enquiries
✅ kick off automations
✅ add leads to a database
✅ track the leads you’re getting through your website
Creating an irresistible contact form
Here are a few ways you can create a contact form that people actually WANT to fill in:
- Don’t ask for unnecessary details
By all means, include a couple of relevant questions, rather than just ‘Name’, ‘Email’, and ‘Message’. Including one or two extra questions in your contact form is a great way to get the information you actually need from a lead, and it helps the website visitor to structure their enquiry, rather than wondering what to write in their message.
A few thoughtful questions also shows that, as a service provider and industry expert, you’re taking the lead from the beginning of the customer’s journey with you.
But DON’T include fields you don’t absolutely need. Don’t ask for a phone number unless the form is to request a call back. And do you really need to know the potential client’s company name at this stage?
Don’t make it harder than necessary to fill out your form. This is just the initial contact - you can get all the details later.
- Let the visitor know when they can expect to get a reply
Do you respond to all enquiries within 48 hours? One week? The same day? Let your website visitors know (and make sure you stick to your promise). This will reassure people that they will get a response from you, as well as giving them a timeframe so they’re not waiting around indefinitely.
- Set up an email receipt
If your settings allow, you could configure your contact form to send a copy of the message back to the sender, as well as to you, the recipient. If that’s not possible, you may be able to set up an automated email to anyone who fills in your contact form, thanking them for their enquiry and letting them know when they’ll hear back from you. At least then they’ll have a record of their enquiry in their email inbox.
You can let website visitors know that they’ll receive an email receipt if the submission is successful. This should stop them feeling like they’re sending a message off into the void, and wondering if it actually went anywhere.
- Make it personal
Why not let visitors know exactly who their message will reach? If there’s one person in your team responsible for monitoring and responding to website enquiries, let your website visitors know who this is.
A little bit of light hearted, friendly wording on your contact page will go a long way toward building trust and encouraging people to get in touch with you.
Struggling with your website wording? If you're considering hiring a website copywriter, make sure you read this first.
- Include an email address
Many of the negative comments around contact forms suggested that if that's the ONLY way to get in touch with a business, it makes them appear less trustworthy.
Consider adding your business email address to your contact page as well as the contact form, to give visitors a choice and to appear more credible. And while we're on the topic of trust, don't forget to check your site for these credibility killers as well!
I know that many business owners are worried about spam if they have their email address published on their website. I hate to break it to you, but spam might just be something you need to deal with if you want to be contactable and appear trustworthy.
If your email application has a decent spam filter, this should at least make sure that spam doesn’t end up in your inbox.
- Think about whether you need a contact form at all
If your main call to action is ‘Book a Call’, and you have a link to an online scheduler, maybe you don’t need a contact form as well. You can have your booking link as the main CTA button, and an email address for any quick enquiries.
Remember that, depending where the website visitor is in their buyer journey, they may not be ready to book a call straight away. This is where it's important to give them an alternative if they want to check something with you first, before committing to a 30 minute discovery call.
Here's a bit more info about designing your website around the stages of the buyer journey.
Personally, I like a contact form. I have the same reservations as everyone else about filling in other people’s contact forms, but a simple form with a couple of thoughtful questions, and some reassuring wording, can actually make initial contact a breeze.
One last, important point: remember to frequently test your contact form to make sure messages are actually getting through to you!