The purpose of a lead generation form is to collect information from people who have the potential to become customers. Seems simple enough, right?
Well, if you’ve spent any time trying to make this work, you’ve discovered it’s not so simple. People have become quite familiar with filling out online forms. And, they’ve become more wary about giving away their information.
Those two realities need to guide your thoughts and decisions about how to create and use lead generation forms on your website. People today are more suspicious about online activity than they were 15 years ago, and they are more demanding of what a “good” lead generation form will do and how it will work.
The good news is, companies and website owners also have access to at least two decades of A/B testing data on thousands of websites, plus lots of real‑world experience. So we’ve learned a few things, and there’s a robust body of knowledge about how to create high‑converting lead generation forms. When implemented correctly, these tactics minimize the number of people who turn away for avoidable reasons.
With that in mind, let’s look at 25 lead generation form best practices.
1. Keep it short and simple
Short is good.
And short applies to all aspects of the lead generation form. Fewer fields to fill out makes for a shorter form. Less text in the headline makes the form look shorter, and makes it easier to digest in a single glance. Shorter call-to-action buttons tend to work better than longer ones.
Of course, there’s more to all of these aspects than just the length. Testing matters. The point here is, only include in your form what you need to include. Cut the excess. Trim the fat. Discard the non-essentials.
In other words, keep it simple. Short is good. Simple is better. Sometimes simple might mean a slightly longer lead generation form. But whatever results in the easiest possible user experience is probably the better way to go.
2. Use a benefit‑oriented headline
The worst kinds of headlines on lead generation forms say some variation of this:
“Join our newsletter!” The exclamation point isn’t going to make the difference here.
In all seriousness, if the rest of your website is doing its job, some people will join your email list and fill out your forms even with a generic headline like this. But more people will respond if you write a headline on your form that provides a benefit for filling it out.
Some companies hear this, and they change their headline to “Join our newsletter to stay updated,” or “Get the latest news — join our email list.”
You can do better.
What are the real benefits to filling out your form? Since most forms connect people to your email list, we’re using that as the example for most of these tips. But some forms have other purposes, like registering for a webinar, getting notified when a new product’s released, or becoming a member.
Whatever the purpose of your lead generation form, spell out a key benefit in the headline. Promise something your target audience will want. For example:
- Stay ahead of the stock gurus when you join our newsletter
- Become a master gardener with weekly emails
- Get exclusive email-only deals
You can also include the benefit in the name of your newsletter. Give your email subscriber list a cool name that will resonate with your target audience. It’s no longer just your “email list” or “newsletter” anymore. Now, it’s The Market Leader’s Daily Tips, The Weekly Green Thumb, or the VIP Insider Track.
Those are just quick examples, of course. You can probably do even better. But your target audience will respond more favorably and in greater numbers to a cleverly-named email list. It feels more unique, tailored to them, original, desirable, established, and credible.
3. Include a clear value proposition
The value proposition is similar to a benefit, except now it’s one of your foundational attractions to your target customers and leads.
You’re promising to solve a problem they care about, answer questions that matter to them, or deliver an outcome they desire, and you’re doing this by spelling out exactly what they get for filling out your form.
One great way to do this is to offer something tangible in exchange for joining your email list. This could be a PDF like an eBook or a special report that delivers an instant reward of great value. It could be a special coupon or offer for new customers. Find something your target audience desires, and give it to them as a reward.
You can also make a promise, without taking it too far. For example, Get Daily Writing Tips to Become a Best-Selling Author.
In that example, the value proposition is right in the headline — it’s the thing that your target audience wants most.
If it’s a webinar, specify that signing up reserves their spot, and include a core value proposition that the webinar will deliver. If it’s a free course, say when they have access to the course. If it’s a coupon, say when the coupon becomes active — “Sign up and save 20% instantly”.
4. Feature action‑oriented language
If you look back over the examples from the previous sections, you’ll notice lots of active verbs:
- Sign up
- Get
- Access
- Stay ahead
- Become
You want your leads to do something, take action, seize the moment, grab the benefit, take a chance, be the first. Action-oriented language is more compelling, especially in your call-to-action buttons, but also in your headlines and subheadings if you use one.
5. Use contrasting colors
So far, we’ve been talking mostly about the text and content, as well as the offer you’re making to your prospects when they fill out your lead generation form.
But design matters, too. Contrasting colors get more attention than colors that blend in with the rest of your website. Online forms have become commonplace, and it’s very, very easy to gloss over them and not even notice. They blend in with the background noise we’re all used to seeing.
Your lead generation forms need to stand out from the surrounding colors. You may have rarely used, but still approved, accent brand colors in your guidelines. This is the time to use them.
6. Avoid CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA is a form‑conversion destroyer. One study found that an astonishing 30% of visitors abandon lead generation forms because of CAPTCHA.
That’s serious short-term revenue if your lead generation tool incentivizes an immediate purchase. And it’s serious long-term revenue if your leads turn into repeat customers with high lifetime value.
The problem is, you don’t want hordes of bots and scammers filling out your forms and gumming up your database with non-leads. That just annoys your sales team, when they first glance at the database and see 200 new leads, only to discover that 160 of them are spammers.
A better way?
Use Akismet, a frictionless solution that blocks spam form submissions using an ever‑growing AI‑guided database of IP addresses, email addresses, words, and names. To date, this powerful alternative to CAPTCHA technology has blocked over 500 billion spam submissions.
Plans are competitively priced (especially when you understand their instant positive impact on your bottom line) and Akismet also has an enterprise version for larger companies.
7. Include social proof
Remember, you want to keep your lead generation forms short and simple. But you also want people to fill them out. Social proof is a powerful tool because it motivates and reassures at the same time.
For lead generation forms, the best testimonials will be short sentences, even just a few words or excerpts from longer ones. And as for placement, they work best near the call to action (CTA) button. Anyone hovering in that area has filled out the form and is now deciding whether to actually click the button.
Effective social proof can help push them to take action.
8. Add trust signals
With so much spam and cybercrime, establishing trust online has become harder. There are some trust signals you can employ that reassure potential leads that you are a legitimate business or organization.
The most common trust signals include security certifications and noticeable privacy policies.
A security certification is typically just the logo of whatever online security or malware protection service you might be using. Most such services include a logo as part of their service for exactly this reason, and because it serves as marketing for them.
And privacy policies serve as a confirmation that your company cares about the data of customers and leads. Few people will read your policy, so for most leads, the mere display of one accomplishes the goal of increasing trust in the reliability of your lead generation form.
9. Ensure mobile‑friendliness
By this point in the digital age, this should go without saying. But make sure your lead generation forms look right and function well on mobile devices. In addition, make sure the web pages on which they appear function, too.
You need the lead gen form to show up on the mobile device in the appropriate place and at the appropriate time. It is a featured asset, not just background. It should not be possible to miss it.
So make sure your forms show up and can be easily filled out and navigated on mobile devices. Test this. Once your form is up, get on a variety of mobile devices and see if it’s working.
10. Minimize distractions
The form itself is a “content sanctuary.” Only vital and relevant text or imagery should be allowed in.
But the areas near your form should also be guarded closely. Busy websites with tons of features can be okay, but the form should not be buried in the midst of other content and widgets.
For example, you may have sections on your website with testimonials, screenshots, videos, photos, and text boxes. You might be using tables to compare the features of your various plans and products.
These are not the place for your lead generation forms.
The form needs to break the flow of whatever else is on the web page.
If you have a sidebar, don’t make the form just one of many things on the sidebar. Make it the only thing, at least in that section of the sidebar.
If you want to put forms in the middle of blog articles and web pages, don’t wrap the text around the form. Make the form the featured and centered item wherever it appears.
The idea is — make it impossible to miss. Yes, some visitors and potential leads will ignore your forms, but at least make sure they’ll see them.
11. Use descriptive labels
Make sure the labels for your form fields are clear and accurate. ‘First name’ is probably better than ‘First’, for example. Yes, most people know what the single word means, but you have to remember that the internet is for everyone. You have people from all sorts of educational backgrounds, all languages, and countries all over the world.
Your target audience plays a role in this, of course, but when in doubt, it’s best to be clear and not invite any confusion or uncertainty into the process of filling out lead generation forms.
And make sure it’s clear which label applies to which field. It’s better to put the label next to the form field, rather than above or below it.
12. Utilize a single‑column layout
It’s been generally accepted for a while that single‑column forms work better than two‑column forms. Studies like this one have found that single‑column forms get completed much faster. Quicker form completion implies higher conversions.
So, when in doubt, use single column forms.
However, just about any lead generation form best practice needs to be taken with this caveat: Test everything to be sure.
For example, this HubSpot study details their own experience with switching to a two-column form. When they tested it, the two-column version got higher conversions. But the likely reason for this is that their form is quite long.
The single column version looks much longer and thus probably intimidated more people from filling it out. The two‑column one can be more easily seen in its entirety. With shorter forms, single‑column should outperform two‑column almost every time.
However, on mobile devices, two‑column forms are more difficult to make work because of spacing, so your form needs to be well‑designed and tested for all screen formats. Interestingly, Hubspot later altered their form to include elements of both one and two‑column formats.
13. Minimize mandatory fields
Every lead generation form has a purpose. If you’re just collecting email addresses and trying to build your list, you don’t need very many forms because you can collect more information about your subscribers through additional marketing offers. You can qualify leads over time.
Other companies prefer to get more information up front to save themselves the trouble of having huge lists with mostly unprofitable leads.
In either situation, you want to try to minimize the number of mandatory fields. What do you really need to know, and what would it be nice to know? For the nice to know stuff, you might keep the field in your form, but consider making it non-mandatory. That way, leads who want to quickly move through your form can do so.
For example, do you need a last name? In some cases you do, but in many, you don’t. It might be nice to have, but it’s definitely asking more of a lead to divulge that information than just their first name. Do you really need a country or a city? Do you really need both a home and work phone number?
Reduce your form fields, and your form will get filled out by more leads because it will be less intimidating.
14. Avoid dropdowns
Dropdown menus have a host of problems, which have been exposed through a series of studies on the topic.
With long dropdown menus, such as country selections, you can’t see all the options, and it can be difficult to scroll through the list since every device works differently. The experience often frustrates users, and they end up skipping it altogether.
With short dropdown menus, the question becomes, why not just offer radio buttons instead?
You can see all the choices and just pick the one you want. On a mobile device in particular, dropdowns are much more difficult to navigate than simple radio choices.
And for countries, the study recommends just using an autocomplete field. As the user begins typing their country, possible matches will quickly narrow down to the obvious choice.
Dropdown menus are distracting, hard to navigate, and reduce the quality of the user experience. None of that can be good for your conversion rate.
Opt for radio buttons, checkboxes, autocomplete fields, or just leaving that field off your form.
15. Use inline validation
This is a surefire winner.
Inline validation isn’t a very appealing term, but it definitely does wonders for your conversion rates. Why? Because it shortens completion time, increases information accuracy, and makes your leads happier.
One study of inline validation found a 22% decrease in form field errors, a 31% increase in satisfaction, and a 42% drop in completion times, among other benefits.
What is inline validation?
It’s a tool that detects if information a user has entered is probably incorrect. For example, putting two @ symbols in your email address, or a phone number with an extra digit can be detected by inline validation software. A note shows up in the form, telling the user they may have made a mistake.
You can see why this would reduce errors, but why does it decrease completion time?
Because the alternative form of validation is to wait until the form is all filled out, and then hit them with a bunch of red marks pointing out the fields that aren’t correct. Now, they have to revisit them all, which takes much more time, and is a frustrating experience that brings back memories of red ink in your schoolwork.
Plus, if you’re using multistep forms, having to go back several steps to correct errors is cumbersome and frustrating.
Inline validation eliminates most of these problems, making the whole experience of completing a web form easier and better for everyone.
16. Activate autofill
This was mentioned earlier, but it qualifies as its own lead generation form best practice. The reason is again because of the time it saves the user. Autofill lets you input common information that shows up frequently or is associated with other information.
If the user is new to the website, you can still autofill things like the email mailbox such as ‘yahoo.com.’ Once they type in the @ and the ‘ya’, you know what the rest will likely be. Autofill accelerates the process for fields with characteristics like this. And it can even work for fields with information unique to your website.
For instance, a form could ask its leads what kind of car they drive. There are only so many makes and models, and autofill can accelerate the process.
Autofill can also work for visitors who have been to your site before (or have stored, and allow access to, certain information saved in their browser). It can fill in their information, such as cities, zip codes, and phone numbers, saving them lots of time tediously filling these out again and again.
Autofill will speed up form completion, and it will also increase form conversion rates.
17. Use progress indicators
Especially for multistep forms, the progress indicator bar across the top of the form builds momentum for the user as they see it get closer and closer to the other side. Humans like closure. We like finishing things. It feels faster when you can see the visual effect of your progress reacting in real-time to what you’re doing.
Users think, “I’m already this far along, no reason to quit now”.
18. Switch to multistep forms for longer processes
We’ve brought up multistep forms a few times already. For longer forms, especially combined with progress bars, this approach tends to work much better because it simplifies the experience of filling out a form by breaking it down into manageable steps.
Instead of a form with 20 fields, the user can fill out five smaller forms with just four fields each. It’s much less intimidating because each step requires just a few items. And with the progress bar, the whole experience feels faster than if you had to do it all in one form.
Plus, with mobile devices, you can’t even see the entire form on your screen if it’s too long. That makes it even harder to tell how much more you have to do. And the scrolling invites usability frustrations. But with a multistep form on mobile, you can see the entire form for each step, the whole way through.
One site discussed here increased its conversion rate from 11% to 46% when they switched from a single form to a multistep form. If you have a long lead generation form, that ought to get your attention and motivate you to make this change immediately.
19. Highlight the benefit in the CTA
Returning to your lead generation form copy, the text you use for the CTA button should be carefully chosen. Don’t settle for bland and overused calls to action like “submit”, “join now”, or “subscribe today!” Again, the exclamation point doesn’t help such a cliché CTA.
Your lead generation form is making a promise and asking people to do something — reveal personal information and enter your circle of influence. They’re opting in to receive marketing from you, and they know it. That’s not a small thing.
With action-oriented, benefit-focused CTA button copy, you can make them feel great about the decision to click that button and engage with your website.
The earlier tip about action‑oriented language applies here too, except with buttons — try to keep the text brief. You can also personalize the button text with first person language, so the reader puts themselves in the situation. Here are some examples of great CTA button copy:
- Get my free report
- I’m in! Send my VIP access code
- Grab your coupons
- Gain access to exclusive deals
- Stake my claim
- Start your subscription today
20. Incentivize immediate action
Within your forms, either in the CTA button, the headline, the subhead if any, or perhaps a phrase right below the button, do what you can to add urgency to your form. So many website visitors never return again, so this is your only chance to capture most of the people who will see your lead generation forms.
There’s no reason to be timid about it. Offer a limited time special, free bonus, or valuable promise. Use language like now, today, immediately, and right away. There’s no reason to wait because waiting will mean, most likely, never.
21. Ensure form accessibility
Accessibility is all about ensuring that all potential leads, regardless of any impairments or cognitive differences, can interact with your form.
For example, there are far more people with some sort of visual impairment than you may realize. About a quarter of U.S. adults over the age of 71 have some sort of impairment. In many of these cases, text on screen becomes harder to read or colors may blend together.
So ensure your forms work with screen readers. Consult color contrast guides and make sure your page complies. Enlarge the text on your page, label form fields appropriately, and use helpful alt text.
Overall, look to the WCAG for accessibility guidelines that aim for everyone to use your site to its full potential and become a quality lead.
22. Boost page load times
Improving page speed always helps website engagement, including with your lead generation forms. The longer it takes for your pages to load, the more people will abandon the site. And mobile tends to be slower than desktop for many sites.
Use a tool like Page Speed Insights to find out what you can do to speed up your website, for both desktop and mobile.
WordPress sites can turn to Jetpack Boost for near instant performance analysis and automatic improvements.
23. Offer real‑time assistance via live chat
For website visitors who get stuck on some part of your form but are motivated to fill it out, having a live chat service can bridge the gap and be the difference between a potential lead filling out your form or walking away.
If you have high website traffic, a service like this could make a big impact on your form conversion rates.
24. Optimize the confirmation page
So far, everything you’ve seen here has involved the lead generation form itself. But lead generation doesn’t stop once someone fills out your form. That’s just the beginning. If you burn them out or turn them off the next day, no one benefits.
You want to continue to deliver an excellent user experience from the moment the person has filled out your form.
It begins on the confirmation page. After a new lead has filled out your form, sustain the momentum by putting a lot of thought into the confirmation page. Too many lead generation forms just leave the default text in place, which is usually….awful.
Switch that out for something better. A few suggestions:
- Thank them! This should be impossible to miss, right at the top of the confirmation page
- Reinforce the decision they just made to join your list by restating the benefit or promise they will receive
- Give any instructions they need to claim their benefit, get started, or take the next step
- Consider including an upsell right here and turn your new lead into a customer
- Include a link that takes them somewhere else on your site to keep them engaged
If you offered a lead magnet of some sort, that should be featured prominently on your confirmation page. This is often the thing they want most, and it’s the main reason they joined or filled out your form. So don’t hide it. Don’t make them click through a bunch of hoops to get it.
If you want to offer upsells or other options for things to do next, that’s fine, but make sure they get what they want without any hassle.
25. Follow up promptly
After the new lead has completed your form and gotten past your confirmation page, keep them engaged and continue to build on your new momentum.
You should be sending out an automated welcome email that thanks them again and gives more information about whatever they just signed up for. You could also send a welcome series, which can introduce them more to your brand, point them to other products and services, give them a sense of your brand voice and personality, and make them feel part of a community if that’s relevant to your form.
You can also use SMS in a similar way, as long as you get explicit permission to use this channel.
And if you got their mailing address, you could also ship them something, even as simple as a thank you card. Again, the more they feel wanted, respected, and valuable, and the more you deliver on what you promised, the happier they’ll be to continue receiving your marketing.
For higher‑priced lead generation processes, you might consider a follow‑up phone call to new leads. Email and SMS are great, but if you’re selling high‑ticket items, the more personal you can get, the better.
Examples of great lead generation forms in action
A few forms that employ the lead generation form best practices you’ve just read about are on display below.
Use these lead generation form examples to inspire you to spruce up your forms and increase your conversion rates.
Empire Flippers
This multistep form from Empire Flippers uses a progress bar and inline validation to increase completion rates and reduce errors. It also features some credibility statistics at the bottom of the form, serving as trust signals that this is a reputable company that delivers results.
Sam Vanderwielen
This form is short and simple, and uses all the copywriting best practices discussed earlier. It has a benefit-oriented value proposition and headline, offers a lead magnet in the form of an online course, and uses a personalized CTA button. The button copy could be better though — something like ‘Join the Course’ or ‘Show Me How’ would work better. It also uses descriptive labels and makes the phone number optional.
It also avoids CAPTCHA, eliminating that potential conversion destroyer.
Urban Taproots
This form collects leads for a gardening coach, and offers a free 24-page kitchen garden planning guide. The form even lists four desirable elements of the guide, and includes a nice cover image. The headline uses action-oriented language. The CTA button isn’t benefit-oriented, but it is specific to what will happen when you click it. And the form is just about as short as you can get, asking only for a first name and email.
Frequently asked questions
What are common mistakes when creating a lead generation form?
Many websites include too many fields, and make too many of them required when they could be optional. Other mistakes include making the form too long when a multistep form could simplify it, using CAPTCHA, using ineffective dry language, burying the form, so most website visitors overlook it, and having ineffective or non-existent follow-up.
Should I use CAPTCHA to protect my form from spam?
No. CAPTCHA has been shown to negatively impact form conversion rates. CAPTCHA adds frustration to the form completion process and lowers conversions by 3.2%.
What is Akismet, and how can it improve my lead generation form conversion rate?
Akismet offers a frictionless approach to protecting your forms from being filled out by spammers and bots. It blocks IP addresses, email addresses, and names known to be associated with spammers using a continually‑growing database and AI analysis.
What types of companies generally use Akismet?
Akismet is used by companies of all sizes, from small businesses to large multinational corporations.
What is the ideal number of fields for a lead generation form?
There is no ideal number of fields. It depends on the purpose of your form, the type and quality of leads you are attracting, your target audience, the price point of your products and services, and more. The general rule is to use as few fields as you need, and keep the non-essential ones optional.
How does the placement of a lead generation form affect its performance?
Your form needs to be visible and impossible to overlook. It should not be placed too close to other items that will clutter up the experience and make it easy to miss. You can place it on the page in multiple locations such as at the top, on a sidebar, in the middle, or at the bottom. You can also feature multiple CTA buttons that all link to the same form.
Can the design of a lead generation form impact user engagement?
Yes, forms that have poor color contrast, unclearly labeled form fields, poorly sized buttons, and too much clutter can make them harder to engage with. Plus, features like dropdown menus and two‑column forms can make it harder to complete a form, especially on mobile devices.
What types of questions should be avoided in a lead generation form?
Avoid questions asking anything you don’t really need to know at this point in the lead generation process. Unless you need it to qualify leads at the very beginning of the process, leave those questions for later.
How can A/B testing improve the effectiveness of lead generation forms?
As long as your website gets enough traffic to conduct a statistically valid A/B test, this is the best way to determine which form features and details are most effective on your website, with your target market. Simply create two forms that are different in just one key detail, make it, so each one shows up during the testing phase, and see which one gets higher conversion rates. Then, take the winner, change another aspect of it, and run another test to continue improving the form.
What strategies can be employed to reduce form abandonment?
You can reduce form abandonment by using multistep forms, inline validation, autofill, single‑column layout, progress bars, benefit‑oriented language and headlines, an inspiring offer, and fewer fields.
How does the copy (text) on and around the form affect conversions?
Good copy motivates leads to want whatever your lead generation form promises. All copy should point to the same place — fill out this form and get what you want.
Akismet: The #1 anti‑spam solution for businesses and marketers
Akismet helps your lead generation forms perform as they should, without spammers and bots ruining the party. Our frictionless software prevents spammers from filling out your forms and making you wade through hundreds or thousands of fake signups.
And it does this without requiring the use of any silly CAPTCHA puzzles that just annoy everyone and make your leads feel like you don’t want them to fill out your forms.
Akismet 