Bench 06: Forms and lead capture
Every field is a small tax on the visitor. Shorter forms, better questions, honest error messages and enquiry forms that respect the person filling them in.
The bench guide
Working guides on this bench
Forms and lead capture After the Form: Confirmation, Speed of Reply and Follow-Up The submit button is the midpoint, not the end. A confirmation that names what happens next, a first reply while intent is warm, and a follow-up sequence that knows when to stop - this guide covers the half of form conversion most businesses neglect. Forms and lead capture Contact Forms That Get Answered - and Answered Well A contact form has two conversions: the visitor sending a message worth answering, and the business answering it well and fast. This guide covers both sides - the few fields that help, the expectations to set, and the reply discipline. Forms and lead capture Error Messages That Help People Finish An error message is read at the exact moment a visitor is closest to leaving. Written as help - at the field, in plain words, saying what to do - it rescues completions. Written as a verdict, it ends them. Forms and lead capture Form Layout: One Column, Visible Labels, No Puzzles Form layout has one job: never make the visitor solve the form. One column, labels that stay visible, fields in a sensible order, and inputs sized to their answers. The unglamorous layout rules that decide completions. Forms and lead capture How Many Fields Should a Form Have? The Justification Test There is no magic field count. There is a test: every field must justify itself against the promise the form makes. This guide applies the test, names the fields that usually pass and fail, and shows where cut fields should go. Forms and lead capture Lead Magnets That Earn the Email Address A lead magnet works when the thing offered is worth more to the visitor than the address costs them, and arrives exactly as promised. This guide covers choosing the offer, pricing it honestly, and delivering it without a bait and switch. Forms and lead capture Measuring Form Completion: Starts, Errors and Finishes A form cannot be fixed by feel. Measure starts, finishes, the fields where errors cluster, and the step or point where people leave - then the fix list writes itself. This guide sets up the minimum useful measurement for a small business form. Forms and lead capture Microcopy at the Form: Privacy, Promises and What Happens Next The small lines around a form - under the email field, beside the button, at the privacy question - decide whether a hesitant visitor completes. This guide writes those lines honestly: what happens, what never happens, and when. Forms and lead capture Mobile Forms: Keyboards, Autofill and Thumb Reach On a phone, a form is a physical task: the right keyboard, working autofill, targets a thumb can hit, and nothing that fights the small screen. This guide covers the mobile specifics that decide whether phone visitors finish. Forms and lead capture Multi-Step Forms: When Slicing Helps and When It Hurts Splitting a form into steps helps when the request is genuinely complex and each step feels small. It hurts when it slices a short form into theatre. This guide gives the decision rules and the craft of honest progress. Forms and lead capture Quote Request Forms: Enough Detail to Price, Not Enough to Flee A quote form walks a line: too little detail and the reply is another questionnaire; too much and the visitor leaves for a competitor who asked less. This guide finds the line - price-driving questions first, the rest in the conversation.