Presentation Transcript

1. Why the long form? @tomnew_
2. A little about Formisimo Advanced form analytics tool (out of beta!) Tracks every interaction with online forms 26 metrics measured Over 43 million form interactions tracked so far
3. Online, forms are everywhere.
4. Your form And they carry a huge burden
5. A sales funnel (of sorts) Offline Advertising Social Media Online advertising PR Sales Affiliates Branding Word of Mouth Website design Digital Marketing Forms Customer
6. But, surely people know they are important, and get them right?
7. Nope, they are (mostly) terrible. How do we know this? 70% of people who start a form do not complete it. (From 1.6 million form visits)
8. WorldPay Study: Why do people abandon online checkouts? 26% - Decided against buying 21% - Process was taking too long Polite way to say rage quit
9. Some examples
10. Counties are no longer used for delivery (and haven’t been since 1996)
11. How much difference does it make? 1 field removed from form $12 million extra revenue
12. A one-off, surely! Erm... Register Continue “You do not need to create an account to make purchases on our site. Simply click Continue to proceed to checkout. To make your future purchases even faster, you can create an account during checkout.” $300,000,000
13. Back to basics: Forms vs. Content Jessica Enders (Formulate):
14. Lets look at these in a bit more detail...
15. How does this impact visitor behaviour? Task completion Forms are a barrier or hurdle to some greater good, not an end in themselves. They are a necessity, but not one visitors enjoy.
16. How does this impact visitor behaviour? Field focussed Careful examination of every word, instruction and label. Much more scrutiny than browsing. Confusion and consternation more likely.
17. How does this impact visitor behaviour? One entry and exit point No browsing, clear path for users, few distractions.
18. How does this impact visitor behaviour? Success and failure strictly defined Either a visitor becomes a customer, or they don’t. Visits, time on page, etc do not matter as much as a measure for success (for forms). Completions matter.
19. How does this impact visitor behaviour? Often only used once You often only get one shot! If you fail to get it right, potential customer may get good or service from a competitor.
20. Some common pain points
21. Captchas Why do they exist?
22. Captchas To prevent spam To annoy humans
23. Captchas What is their effect on completion rates? How many of these are potential customers?
24. Captchas Are there better options?
25. Captchas Is a simple Maths quiz any better?
26. Other options Email confirmation (registration) Honeypot Traps – hidden fields that users cannot see. If filled in, likely to be spam. Plugins – Akismet for Wordpress No CAPTCHA
27. How much spam do you get? Test!
28. Double entry of information
29. Double entry of information Why do sites ask for this? Primarily for the prevention of user errors
30. Double entry of information Can copy and paste email address, so benefit is negated. Plus... Which of these fields contains the error?
31. The consequences for users... Errors + Drop offs
32. Double entry of information Increases effort for every user Can be bypassed Only ensures fields match, not that they are error free Can cause more corrections and drop offs
33. Double entry of information Alternatives: Unmask Password Email activation Get rid (if easy to reset password)
34. Buttons
35. Call to action buttons exist across websites; also on forms. Buttons guide a user through a form, and help task completion. Apply Now Retrieve My Quote Proceed to Checkout Sign up for your FREE trial
36. Where are the buttons? These are obviously buttons... These are harder to see (but more important)
37. So difficult to see quickly (remember task completion)!
38. Compare with....
39. Forms are not like Angry Birds
40. Some tips - from Caroline Jarret Make buttons look like buttons. Put buttons where users can find them. Make the most important button look like it’s the most important one. Put buttons in a sensible order. Label buttons with what they do. If users don’t want to do something, don’t have a button for it.
41. Coupons & Discount Codes
42. What would your next step be?
43. Vouchercodes.co.uk and Forrester report: The frequency of use of online voucher codes is increasing Online voucher codes reduced shopping cart abandonment Vouchers often finalised the deal for undecided shoppers The use of vouchers drove more customer conversions Spending by those who use online voucher codes is increasing
44. But... Vouchers and discounts give a user a reason to leave the checkout process. Paypal study 45% of shoppers have abandoned multiple shopping carts in last three weeks, and 27% of those are in search of a coupon.
45. And... It’s addictive!
46. 12,000 searches a month:
47. 8,000 searches a month:
48. The sofa effect
49. How to avoid this? Advertise your own discount codes
50. How to avoid this? Make less prominent Those with a code will look for this. Others will not
51. How to avoid this? Linguistic trickery “Gift code” vs. “Discount code” “Discount code (if any)” Instantaneously input the combination of alpha and numeric characters to realize your transitive and ultimately futile concession.
52. How to avoid this? Only display box if visitor arrives via an affiliate link OR Don’t use them (as much!)
53. Labels and field names
54. Remember: Field focussed Task completion Users need to achieve a goal, but will not give over anything and everything to achieve it. Some fields require explanation, or provide users with reassurance as to why you are asking for it (DOB, mobile numbers, sex)
55. Why do I need to give this information to buy a scarf? (plus DOB, gender?)
56. They have to provide additional (and useful) information
57. Better...
58. Flat design and forms
59. Flat Design and Forms Jessica Enders – One key issue: Affordance: how much design suggests use.
60. Flat Design and Forms Buttons must still look like buttons: Continue Continue vs. Or Cancel Continue Shopping Continue to checkout
61. Flat Design and Forms Facebook search: Bottom version performed 2x as well
62. Flat Design and Forms Fields must be hollow: Name Email Password vs. Name Email Password
63. Flat Design and Forms “Make things as simple as possible, but not simpler”
64. Your users and potential customers deserve better. Better forms = happier customers Happier customers = more customers
65. Embrace new technology
66. Measure your changes!
67. Build Learn Measure Without this, you cannot improve
68. 96% of people find cart abandonment analysis highly valuable or quite valuable
69. “Of all the methods used to help increase conversion, cart abandonment analysis shows the highest correlation to an increase in sales.”
70. You could do worse than start using As featured on:
71. Thanks for listening! @tomnew_ tom@formisimo.com