Registration form statistics are quite grim: 86 percent (!) of users leave a page the moment they are required to fill out a form. Thanks to hundreds of lead generation/sign-up tests we’ve conducted over the past four years, we have gathered plenty of tips and tricks that can help significantly reduce the abandonment rate and dramatically improve lead quality.
12 steps to creating high-converting registration forms
1. Autofill
Don’t waste the user’s time and energy. Use autofill to find the full name, address, and email addresses. The less you ask of a user, the greater the chance they will fill out the form.
2. Minimize your requests
Eliminate all unnecessary fields; the user can complete them later. Ask only for the most basic information and create a faster process for the user. Give the feeling that your form can be completed within 30 seconds and no more.
Facebook’s registration process: To simplify things, Facebook could create one field for first and last name to create a shorter look. They could also leave just one field for email and only after the user clicks “Sign Up” show a message saying: “We are sending you an email to confirm that your address is correct.”
Groupon does this wonderfully, asking one short question at a time and slowly navigating the user toward the end.
3. Help the user
Add small question marks next to fields with explanations for each field. You’d be surprised to know what questions prevent users from filling out a form—things that may seem obvious to you, but aren’t clear to others.
4. Messaging
You must be specific, using a headline that explains exactly why the user should register, for example: Sign up and get a free eBook!
5. Call to action
Don’t forget to end the form with a clear call to action indicating the end of the form and the continuation of the next steps.
6. "Show Password"
Instead of asking the user to fill in the new password twice for verification, give them a “Show Password” option so they can review it themselves. This option reduces the number of fields and gives the feel of a quick and easy form. Mailchimp gives users the option to “see” the password, thereby reducing registration fields to a minimum, while still allowing users to verify their password.
7. Social registration
To make it fast and easy for them, allow users to register or log in with a Facebook, X (Twitter), or LinkedIn account.
8. Mobile forms
One of the most important parts of filling out a form on a mobile device is the ability to see what you’re doing. Don’t forget to zoom in on every field the user is updating. Another tip – enable only the relevant keyboards for each field, meaning set the numeric keyboard as the default in the phone field.
9. Mobile
Some users like to use a mobile device horizontally, and some vertically; don’t forget to make sure your forms are accessible on mobile in both screen orientations and allow for convenient use.
10. Shipping & billing
Allow users to simply autofill the billing address from the shipping address, instead of filling in their details twice .
11. Make it clear to the user which fields are required and which are optional
If certain information is not necessary, we suggest removing it altogether. If you still want it on the form, you must make sure it is clear to the user what is required and what is optional.
12. Clear errors
Errors are a very important aspect of filling out forms. Placing error messages at the bottom or in a hidden manner makes it difficult for a user to understand why they cannot submit the form.
Summary
Filling out a form should be a simple step along the funnel. Be sure to test registration forms as much as possible and, of course, learn from insights along the way.
About the Author
This guest post was written by Talia Wolf, CEO of Conversioner. The post was originally published on the Conversioner blog. Conversioner is a leading optimization company specializing in increasing revenues for clients using psycho-emotional elements through improving the website purchase process, landing pages, mobile apps and pages, banners, and more. You are welcome to read more of her articles on her website.
