{"id":163521,"date":"2017-04-09T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=163521"},"modified":"2017-04-06T07:49:56","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T07:49:56","slug":"contact-form-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/contact-form-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Where to Put Your Contact Form? What the Research Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

You want leads. You need conversions. So you put a contact form<\/a> on your website (or you build one from scratch<\/a>). Here\u2019s the million-dollar question though: how do you know if you\u2019ve placed it in the right spot?<\/p>\n

I recently shared research I found that focused on optimal logo placement<\/a> as well as CTA placement<\/a>. Considering how essential the contact form is to your conversion process, I think this one deserves a deep dive as well.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take some time to see what we can figure out in terms of how much contact form placement affects your site\u2019s conversion rate and then nail down what you should do about it.<\/p>\n

The Experts Weigh In: Where Should You Place Your Contact Form?<\/h2>\n

The contact form is an interesting design element. Each of your visitors knows what a contact form is and what needs to be done with it, so there really isn\u2019t much hubbub around its placement since the most important thing is that it\u2019s easy to find and use. Of course, that doesn\u2019t stop the experts from weighing in on what they believe to be the best use of contact forms on a website.<\/p>\n

Assessment #1: Above the Fold vs. Below the Fold<\/h3>\n

For the most part, marketers will tell you that a contact form should always appear above the fold. The major reason why marketers believe this is because studies by Google confirm it.<\/p>\n

In a 2014 study<\/a> they conducted around viewability, they found that ads placed below the fold were viewed 66% less than those above it. The\u00a0Nielsen Norman Group<\/a>\u00a0conducted a similar test and found the difference to be far more staggering with 102% less views of content below the fold.<\/p>\n

\n
\"An
Paravel offers an above-the-fold contact form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As the NNGroup pointed out, however, “Users don\u2019t scroll for fun. They scroll for a purpose.”<\/p>\n

So long as you provide enough information above the fold to inspire visitors to take action, logic stands that it would be beneficial to place the form up top. Then again, there are instances where a contact form works just as well below the fold, given the right circumstances.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Melonfree Web Consulting goes for a below-the-fold contact form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

In an example given by Crazy Egg<\/a>, FloridaTix demonstrated that a below-the-fold contact form resulted in 20% more submissions. It was because the page included much-needed details about the offer which, in turn, gave visitors a better reason to fill out the form; without which, they may not have otherwise considered making the leap.<\/p>\n

Assessment #2: Above the Fold vs. At the Fold<\/h3>\n

According to Luke Wroblewski, a product director for Google and UI design expert, there is no fold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Post
Urban Influence features an at the fold contact form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

His argument is that many people\u2019s instinct when they get to a new page of a website is to start scrolling, either because the top of the page takes a second to load or they assume there\u2019s more to look at below. Because of this, he argues, that the most engagement with your visitors will take place right at the fold instead of above or below it.<\/p>\n

The issue isn\u2019t whether the call to action is visible. The issue is whether your call to action is visible at the point where someone has become convinced to take action.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

Summary of the Results<\/h3>\n

In addition to what the experts believe about contact form placement, it\u2019s important to consider the impact mobile devices has made on this question about the fold. Think about it like this: where the fold lies on someone\u2019s desktop computer may not be the same for someone else\u2019s mobile device or even laptop. So, trying to place a contact form right above, at, or below the fold might not even matter.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve spent any time researching this question of contact placement before, you\u2019ve no doubt run less into analytical studies about placement and more into suggestions related to which pages or sections of pages a contact form belongs on.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no real right or wrong suggestion here, it seems. Ultimately, what it boils down to is knowing your audience. If you can create a customer journey that provides them with the information they need to make a decision, all you should have to do then is place your contact form where and when they\u2019re ready to take action.<\/p>\n

Want to see examples of the contact form\u2019s greatest hits around the web? Since eight of every 15 form submissions<\/a> comes from the contact page, let\u2019s start there.<\/p>\n

Contact Page<\/h3>\n

The Ultra Noir<\/a> website features a 1950s style graphic along with a prominent contact for visitors to fill out.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
The contact page for digital agency UltraNoir.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Feature Box<\/h3>\n

American Express<\/a> has included a contact form as a feature box at the bottom of its homepage.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
The American Express website’s contact form.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Built Into the Design<\/h3>\n

Designer Mario\u00a0Petrone<\/a> has incorporated the design of his contact form into his website.<\/p>\n

\n
\"The
The website of designer Mario Petrone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Landing Page<\/h3>\n

Marketing calendar service CoSchedule<\/a> has a landing page specifically for its contact form.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Post
CoSchedule’s contact form as a landing page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Support Page<\/h3>\n

NinjaForms’ contact page doubles as a support request page, allowing users to choose their reason for getting in touch.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Post
The\u00a0Ninja Forms\u00a0contact and support page.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Based on the results, I\u2019d suggest that you take some time to consider more important conversion-affecting factors<\/a> first. For contact forms this usually means font type and size, wording, number of fields, number of pages, color of the CTA, and so on.<\/p>\n

Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n

Just because the experts haven\u2019t come up with a clear rule for a winning placement of the contact form, that doesn\u2019t mean you should leave this up to chance. Devise a plan for your visitors\u2019 on-site experience. That will give you a good indication of what will work best for your contact form placement. Then run some A\/B tests<\/a> to confirm your theory and help you nail down the final placement of your forms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You want leads. You need conversions. So you put a contact form on your website (or you build one from scratch). Here\u2019s the million-dollar question though: how do you know if you\u2019ve placed it in the right spot? I recently shared research I found that focused on optimal logo placement as well as CTA placement. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344989,"featured_media":163693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10469],"tags":[10507],"tutorials_categories":[],"class_list":["post-163521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-marketing","tag-forms"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/344989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163521"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163873,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163521\/revisions\/163873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163521"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=163521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}