TimberTom

Hey guys. I'm trying to add a contact form for people to fill out to find out more information. What is the best way to do this? What do you think I should put in for the data fields (it's just to request info..I don't want to overdo it here)? Should I put in a spam filter?

Thanks in advance

Darwin

I would put as little as possible so when someone fills out your form, it doesn't take more than 1 minute.

name and email address from them. I wouldn't ask for their phone number just yet. Once you have this, set up further contact and correspondence. If they are truly interested, you will get responses.

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TimberTom

Thanks! I was waffling over putting a phone number. I didn't want the form as coming off as too intrusive. Figured the less personal information I asked for, the more form fills I'd get.

Darwin

Remember. In your personal life. Would you want to fill out a long form on some guy's website? Like you, my answer is no. I just want to put in my name and email so i can either continue researching your site, or, I am headed to another site to do the same thing! You don't want to lose their attention. A long contact form will do this.

Good luck.

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J. Sullivan

Darwin hit the nail on the head. The longer the form, the lower the conversion of people who will use it.

Short and sweet baby.

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cbscreative

Ditto, agreed, Amen, etc.

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Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.

carlsore

I am going to go against the grain here... Having developed my own lead capture system for home business people, I can tell you that your contact form should collect more information then just a name and an email.

The most important form field you can have aside from name, email and phone is to have a text area titled "Tell Us About Your Project Idea" or something similar.

It's an optional field, but when people fill it out, they are willingly sharing information with you that can be used in your followup and sales process.

It makes your job easier...

I prefer the following form fields

Name, Email, Phone, Best Time To Call, Describe Your Project.

It's simple, gathers the basic info you need and allows your prospect to share what they want, if they want.

CoffeeCup makes some simple form software that would be sufficient for most contractors. If you're going to develop a mailing list, then most autoresponder systems will provide you with a customizable contact form as well.

Newsletters, Reports etc... Fine with name and email.
Job Quote/Consult/Estimate... Don't be afraid to ask for the info you need to make your job easier and more efficient.

Carl Sorensen

cbscreative

Carl raises a point that illustrates how this issue varies for each individual business, or the goal of the form. While the principle of keeping the form simple is generally true, the exact definition of simple will be slightly different for everyone. Another benefit to a contractor to requiring a couple+ more fields is that it helps filter your responses. Less people may fill out the form, but your quality of responses could be higher (like a pre-qualifying leads sort of thing).

That's still simple, yet effective.

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Steve Chittenden
Web/SEO Geek • Graphic Artist • Writer • Marketing Guy
One reason I know so much about the web and marketing is that I don't have to know as much about construction.