tips for improvements: Eliminate stumbling blocks in online forms
Posted: Mon Apr 21, 2025 6:45 am
In the past, flashing icons, confusing layouts, and illegible color combinations discouraged users from ordering something online or filling out a contact form. Today, it's often the online forms themselves that can drive website visitors to despair.
Many web designers invest a lot of time and effort into improving user experience. This includes responsive design, keyword optimization, and content design that doesn't distract users. However, the form field is often argentina phone number data overlooked like an unloved mother-in-law. Yet every webmaster knows from their own painful user experience how frustrating nonsensical, overloaded, incomprehensible, or cumbersome form queries can be.
Just like other areas of websites, forms often offer a lot of potential for improvement and this can ultimately make the difference between a website visitor and a successful conversion.
Every offering is only as good as its weakest element, and this applies to websites as well. While the purely functional elements of a website are less fun than the page design, they are no less important. As with all other well-intentioned advice, there's no one-size-fits-all solution for improving online forms. Here are a few ideas, however, that can help you avoid the pitfalls of this unspectacular chapter.
1. Trust is good, control is better
It's logical that, like any other section of the website, forms must be thoroughly tested. This should be done continuously, using different software configurations and a variety of different inputs. Experience often reveals considerable potential for improvement.
The reason is simple: Nobody wants a customer to abandon a purchase because they have an unusual address or because the form tool doesn't work with the user's pop-up blocker. Can the form accept foreign characters? Does it handle foreign postal codes?
Does the submitted form content always arrive where it's supposed to? The functionality of website forms must be compatible with all operating systems and resolutions. Regular test runs should be a given, and before they get forgotten, it can't hurt to simply schedule them for specific periods in advance.
2. Mobile users want special treatment
No, they don't really want to. But, considering that the share of mobile devices in total internet traffic has been steadily growing for years, they should still be given extra attention. Filling out a form on a smartphone can be difficult enough, so you should make it as easy as possible for the user.
This can be achieved, for example, by making the input fields large and clear, and by making the labels particularly legible. Another possible improvement is to program the screen to automatically focus on the input field the user is currently editing. This is a great help for the user when trying to keep track of the form, which can be particularly difficult on the small screens of mobile phones.
At the same time, the tolerance range here is particularly narrow, because websites are often accessed on mobile devices while on the move. If a user isn't guided through a form quickly and easily, the risk is even greater that they'll abandon the process and perhaps not return.
3. Less is often more
Do we really need this? This question should serve as a guiding principle when creating a form. Is it really necessary to request a user's date of birth when registering for a newsletter? Who needs a fax number these days?
Too often, when implementing a form, we succumb to the urge to request as much data as possible to feed our own database. This aspect, of course, shouldn't be neglected—the more information we know about the user, the greater the opportunity for targeted, effective marketing.
However, there are compelling arguments against this. Firstly, the risk of incorrect input increases with each additional field, which can increase user frustration. Secondly, many users are naturally aware of the purpose of all this data being collected, and in times of heightened awareness of data protection issues, many people are unwilling to disclose too much information about themselves.
Many web designers invest a lot of time and effort into improving user experience. This includes responsive design, keyword optimization, and content design that doesn't distract users. However, the form field is often argentina phone number data overlooked like an unloved mother-in-law. Yet every webmaster knows from their own painful user experience how frustrating nonsensical, overloaded, incomprehensible, or cumbersome form queries can be.
Just like other areas of websites, forms often offer a lot of potential for improvement and this can ultimately make the difference between a website visitor and a successful conversion.
Every offering is only as good as its weakest element, and this applies to websites as well. While the purely functional elements of a website are less fun than the page design, they are no less important. As with all other well-intentioned advice, there's no one-size-fits-all solution for improving online forms. Here are a few ideas, however, that can help you avoid the pitfalls of this unspectacular chapter.
1. Trust is good, control is better
It's logical that, like any other section of the website, forms must be thoroughly tested. This should be done continuously, using different software configurations and a variety of different inputs. Experience often reveals considerable potential for improvement.
The reason is simple: Nobody wants a customer to abandon a purchase because they have an unusual address or because the form tool doesn't work with the user's pop-up blocker. Can the form accept foreign characters? Does it handle foreign postal codes?
Does the submitted form content always arrive where it's supposed to? The functionality of website forms must be compatible with all operating systems and resolutions. Regular test runs should be a given, and before they get forgotten, it can't hurt to simply schedule them for specific periods in advance.
2. Mobile users want special treatment
No, they don't really want to. But, considering that the share of mobile devices in total internet traffic has been steadily growing for years, they should still be given extra attention. Filling out a form on a smartphone can be difficult enough, so you should make it as easy as possible for the user.
This can be achieved, for example, by making the input fields large and clear, and by making the labels particularly legible. Another possible improvement is to program the screen to automatically focus on the input field the user is currently editing. This is a great help for the user when trying to keep track of the form, which can be particularly difficult on the small screens of mobile phones.
At the same time, the tolerance range here is particularly narrow, because websites are often accessed on mobile devices while on the move. If a user isn't guided through a form quickly and easily, the risk is even greater that they'll abandon the process and perhaps not return.
3. Less is often more
Do we really need this? This question should serve as a guiding principle when creating a form. Is it really necessary to request a user's date of birth when registering for a newsletter? Who needs a fax number these days?
Too often, when implementing a form, we succumb to the urge to request as much data as possible to feed our own database. This aspect, of course, shouldn't be neglected—the more information we know about the user, the greater the opportunity for targeted, effective marketing.
However, there are compelling arguments against this. Firstly, the risk of incorrect input increases with each additional field, which can increase user frustration. Secondly, many users are naturally aware of the purpose of all this data being collected, and in times of heightened awareness of data protection issues, many people are unwilling to disclose too much information about themselves.