I was once asked by a B2B customer that didn’t get many leads from their website even though they got a lot of relevant traffic. A quick investigation led us to the answer — they didn’t have a single form on the website! While they displayed the phone number and email addresses on the contact page, visitors didn’t want to pick up the phone or look for email addresses to contact them. As soon as we set up a proper inquiry form on their website, their online conversion increased more than tenfold.

However, not all online forms are created equal. Here are some tips from our experience that will help you get better success with your online forms improves their conversion to leads.

Make your web forms easy to access
Make the link to your forms very obvious. For instance, put a “Get a Quote” button on key pages to take visitors to the page where they can submit a form for a quote on your service or product.

Only ask for necessary info
How motivated are you completing a form when it feels like filing a tax return?  The fewer pieces of information people have to provide, the more comfortable they will be with completing the form. For example, if you’re promoting an e-newsletter subscription, you probably need only an email address and the name on the form.

Limit the mandatory fields
Mandatory fields help to get fully complete registration forms, but too many mandatory fields can frustrate the user. Ask yourself what information is truly essential.

Validate the key fields and provide help
Generally, you should ensure the email addresses are in a valid format. If a user has an error, let them know which one it is. It’s frustrating to guess what the error is.

Help users with the answers
Try to pre-fill or pre-select the data for the users. Some browser toolbars like the Google toolbar can also help pre-fill the form fields when using standard fields. You should also use drop-down boxes with pre-defined answers to help users choose.

Display your privacy policy
Many people are concerned about who will have access to their information and how it will be used. Make sure you have a privacy statement available on the online form to reassure the prospect that you will not abuse their information.

Make use of the Thank You page
Consider doing more than just a “Thank you for inquiring” message. Make it feel personal by displaying their first names. Provide links to key information to get them back to your website. Maybe even provide a special offer for users who submit the form.

Online forms are key to lead generation for B2B. The fewer barriers there are between the user and the form, the more  likely they will complete the forms.