2015-Formstack-Form-Conversion-Report

THE FORM CONVERSION REPORT
2015
An in-depth look at how various online forms are converting
across ten industries and more than 650,000 form users. See
what inspires your web visitors to click from form fields all the
way through to “submit” buttons.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
About this Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conversion Rates by Form Type and Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Embracing the Contest Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Be Careful What You Ask For . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Average Number of Fields by Form Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Single Page Versus Multi-Page Form Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conversion Rates by Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Industry Conversion Insights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conversion Rates on Your Submit Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peak Submission Times: Form Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Peak Submission Times: Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Team Behind this Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
User Demographics and External Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The 2015 Form Conversion Report

ABOUT THIS REPORT
The more your marketing efforts convince people to fill out your form, the more leads
your sales team will have to nurture. Form conversion rates are a reliable way to see
what’s working: you simply compare the number of people who visited a form against
the total submission count.
OUR BENCHMARK RESEARCH
Our team reviewed data from more than 650,000 anonymized form users to establish
up-to-date benchmarks across industries and uses. For our second annual Form
Conversion Report, we’ve expanded our research to incorporate more categories:
New industries: The 2015 report includes form conversion rate benchmarks for
healthcare and retail/e-commerce, in addition to many of last year’s industries.
Additional uses: We’ve also studied conversion rates for lead generation forms—
the ones typically used to accept webinar registrations, for example, or gated content
downloads.
The findings on the following pages are designed to provide reliable, data-backed
insights companies can use to discover new marketing goals and jumpstart conversion
rate optimization.
THE VARIABLES
Our research includes mobile-responsive forms only. The benchmarks included
in this report apply to web forms that are designed to be filled out easily on
smartphones and tablets.
For three industries—government, religious, and technology—outliers with
disproportionately high traffic volumes were removed to reveal more realistic
benchmarks.
1 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

CONVERSION RATES BY FORM TYPE & LENGTH
Average Form Conversion Rate
FORM TYPE
2015
2014
Event Registration
Order/Payment
Contact
Survey
Donation
Contest
Lead Gen
0% 50%
11%
9%
1%
14%
7%
35%
11%
−
○
○
○
○
○
11%
6%
3%
21%
4%
28%
n/a
new for 2015 highest conversion rate for 2015
When it comes to conversion rates, the type of form you use matters. A lot. This year,
we discovered that contest forms are converting at an average of 35%— a 7 point
increase over last year’s rate. Contact form submissions, by contrast, dropped to a
mere 1% conversion rate across all industries analyzed.
Survey conversion rates, while still high relative to other form types, experienced a
7 point drop. This might be due, in part, to the fact that they got longer: The average
survey now contains 22 fields, compared with 21 fields in 2014. Often, it’s not just the
type of form used, but the number of fields included, that makes all the difference.
2 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

EMBRACING THE CONTEST FORM
People love having a chance to win. Which means contest forms are a great way
to capture new leads and engage with your audience at the same time. Formstack
customers can even make their contest forms social media-friendly, adding major
advantages to their conversion rates.
USERS WHO PROMOTE THEIR FORMS
ON FACEBOOK AVERAGE UP TO 122%
MORE CONVERSIONS THAN THOSE
WHO DO NOT.
Capture even more entries with these three quick tips:
When possible, embed contest forms on your Facebook page and other key social
media channels. Conversion rates more than double (from 9% to 20%) when users
integrate their forms with their Facebook pages.
Make it easy on your entrants by offering to pull information from their social media
profiles. Our data shows a 189% conversion rate increase when form users take
advantage of our Social Autofill feature.
Automate custom tweets to help spread the word and create a custom hashtag
that’s unique to your contest or campaign. Tweets with hashtags tend to get twice as
much engagement as tweets without them. 1
3 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR
Giving away something really valuable?
You might be able to justify asking
for names, addresses, emails, and
permissions to send special offers. You’d
have yourself a compelling contest,
contact form, and email signup all rolled
into one.
Avoid Form Dropoff
NAME
But proceed with caution. Adding too
many fields can stop entrants in their
tracks. Some of the most-used form
fields (text, name, and email) are also the
leading causes of bottlenecks—places
where users choose to abandon a form
rather than submit required information.
Don’t require first and last names if an
email address will do. And go easy on text
fields. More than 50% of Internet access
occurs on mobile devices, where tiny
touchpad keyboards can increase how
long it takes to type long answers. 2
E-MAIL
TEXT
Minimizing use of radio buttons may also
help. Our research reveals this quiz-style
form field, which lets users choose just
one option, is a leading cause of high
abandonment rates.
SUBMIT
4 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

AVERAGE NUMBER OF FIELDS BY FORM TYPE
Will a contact form asking for name, location, phone, email, job title, and favorite ice
cream flavor get many submissions? Not likely. But an event registration form might.
The type of form you use directly impacts the number of fields it’s safe to include.
Average Fields Per Form
Form Conversion Rate
25
50%
22 22
15
10
34%
11
0
11%
9%
4
1%
14%
9
7%
17%
0%
Event Registration Order/Payment Contact Survey Donation Contest Lead Gen
Average Fields Per Form: The average number of fields (name, email, etc.) included within each type of form.
Form Conversion Rate: The percentage of all visitors who successfully submit each type of form.
LONG FORMS A MUST? 4 WAYS TO “SHORTEN” THEM
Often, names and email addresses just aren’t enough. Use these tricks and tips to help
users complete your forms faster, so you can get the data you need:
1. Build a “smart”
form that
automatically
shows or hides
questions based
on how users
respond.
2. Give your
users a breather
with an option
to “save and
resume.”
3. Use a
horizontal layout
for checkboxes
and buttons
to create the
illusion of a
shorter form.
4. Use the
matrix field
to ask several
similar questions
at once.
5 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

SINGLE PAGE VERSUS MULTI-PAGE
FORM CONVERSIONS
Tell us your thoughts
Page Two:
Tell us your thoughts
Tell us your thoughts
Single Page: 4.53% Multi-Page: 13.85%
Surprise! Shorter isn’t always better. In fact, when it comes to online forms,
conversion rates more than triple when fields are spread over multiple pages. Here’s
why:
Longer forms often use page breaks to separate fields into different sections. This
makes them easier to digest compared with forms that squeeze all fields onto one
page.
Multi-page forms tend to include progress bars to let users know exactly how far
along they are, making them more convenient and easier to complete.
Bigger fonts, longer fields, larger header images, and extra spacing all make forms
less intimidating and easier to digest—and often cause them to extend beyond a single
screen.
6 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

CONVERSION RATES BY INDUSTRY
Wondering how your company’s form conversion rates stack up to competitors’? You’ll
want to look at not only the type of form you’re using, but overall averages in your
sector as well. As you can see, benchmarks vary widely from industry to industry.
Industry/Sector
2015 CR 2014 CR
Sports
18% 19%
♥
Nonprofit
14% 15%
Technology
Government
Higher Education
Marketing/Consulting
17% 14%
18% 8%
10% 8%
13% 7%
Media
Religious
Healthcare
Retail/E-commerce
17%
7%
20% 4%
9% NEW
11% NEW
7 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

Submit Registration
INDUSTRY CONVERSION INSIGHTS
While the sports, nonprofit, and higher education sectors remained steady, several
industries experienced significant conversion rate fluctuations in the year since our
inaugural Form Conversion Report. These swings may have been influenced by a
number of industry-specific factors. For example:
Nearly 90% of marketers are placing increased emphasis on conversion rate
optimization (CRO), according to a recent Econsultancy study. As a direct result, 73% of
companies report more form completions and sales gains. 3
The number one type of form used by government agencies and media publishers is
surveys, the second-highest converting form type studied.
39% of religious organizations are now using advanced form-building plans that
provide access to special features like social media integrations, form A/B testing tools,
and a Google Analytics plugin.
Quick Tip!
Enter to win!
Register Below:
Looking for an easy way to meet
or exceed form conversion rate
benchmarks in your industry? Try
changing up the types of online
forms you use. Contests and events
are among the highest-converting
forms. Yet just three of the nine
sectors studied use them regularly.
8 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

Submit Survey Submit Survey 44.08%
CONVERSION RATES ON YOUR
SUBMIT BUTTON
Next Next 43.58%
Continue Continue 24.6%
Ah, the submit button. It’s your last opportunity to capture a click. Which means the
words contained within that one small space are arguably the most important for every
Submit online Survey form.
Submit Submit Registration Survey 44.08% Submit Registration 15.59%
Having a hard time deciding what words to use in your button copy? Keep it short (the
top-ten converting Next buttons all contained Register Next Now two words 43.58% or less) and Register use words Nowthat inspire 13.31%
action. Even a simple “next” or “continue” can help guide users through to completion
of multi-page forms. Specific is better, too: Adding just one word after “submit” can
boost conversion Continuerates by as much Continue as 320%. Submit24.6%
Submit 10.49%
Submit Survey 44.08%
Submit Registration Submit Registration 15.59%
Checkout Checkout 9.99%
Register Next Now 43.58% Register Place Order Now 13.31% Place Order 9.25%
Continue Submit24.6%
Submit Submit Request 10.49% Submit Request 9.19%
Checkout Checkout 9.99%
Submit Registration 15.59%
Do cultural linguistics
matter? Register Place Perhaps. Order Now The 13.31% same Place Order 9.25%
Send Send 5.85%
variation (“send”) fared very
differently across English,
Enviar
Submit Spanish, Submit Request French, and 10.49%
German web forms.
Enviar
Submit Request
7.55%
9.19%
Envoyer Envoyer 19.91%
Absenden Absenden 21.06%
Checkout 9.99%
9 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

PEAK SUBMISSION TIMES: FORM TYPE
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
11 am
Order / Payment Forms
Event Registrations
Surveys
12 pm
Contact Forms
1 pm
2 pm
Donation Forms
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
Lead Gen Forms
While few forms are filled out between 5 p.m. and 7:59 p.m., contest entries—the highest-converting kind of form—start to roll in at 8 p.m.
7 pm
8 pm
Contest Forms
*Based on Eastern Standard Time (EST)
You’ve built a “smart” form, fine-tuned the button copy, and enabled Social Autofill to
optimize for conversions. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could now pick precisely the right
moment to promote it? With form conversion data, you can. Our research indicates
there are, in fact, peak days and times when people are most likely to fill out forms,
and they vary widely by both industry and form type.
Whether you want to broadcast your contest through a sponsored social post or send
an email invitation to take your survey, selecting the right day and time can have a big
impact on conversions. Basing the decision on past form submission data may help.
10 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

PEAK SUBMISSION TIMES: INDUSTRY
Peak Time Frame
Peak Hour
*based on Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
9 am
10 am
11 am
♥
♥
12 pm
1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
♥
5 pm
♥
Sports
Nonprofit
Technology
Government
Higher Education
Marketing/Consulting
Media
Religious
Healthcare
Retail/E-commerce
11 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

CONCLUSION
The 2015 Form Conversion Report
was created as a free resource to help
companies of all sizes set their own
conversion rate goals. It can be used
as a frame of reference when setting
benchmarks, analyzing competition, and
identifying areas for improvement.
To further optimize web forms for
conversions, we encourage you to dig
into your own form analytics to reveal the
roots of field bottlenecks, identify peak
promotion times, and uncover all kinds
of other juicy data you can use to turn
website visits into new leads.
12 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

THE TEAM BEHIND THIS REPORT
The 2015 Form Conversion Report was prepared by Formstack, a robust form-building
tool for converting more website traffic. With an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, you
can create professional, mobile-ready web forms without writing code. Convert more
leads on any platform with social media plugins, advanced analytics, and form A/B
testing. For more efficient lead nurturing, pass your lead data to one of Formstack’s
many partner applications.
Form Builder:
Easily capture leads by customizing fields, colors, fonts,
headers, and more. No coding required!
Marketing Analytics:
A/B test your online forms, identify friction points, and
integrate with Google Analytics for more insights.
Social Media:
Automate tweets, embed Facebook surveys, and let
users autofill forms to optimize conversions.
Seamless Integrations:
Incorporate into email marketing, CMS, payment
processing, and CRM software for comprehensive
marketing strategies.
READY TO USE FORMSTACK IN YOUR CRO STRATEGY?
I want to increase conversions!
13 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

USER DEMOGRAPHICS
TOTAL USER ACCOUNT CONTRIBUTIONS :
665,000
TOTAL INDUSTRY ACCOUNTS
ANALYZED: 18,703
TOTAL FORM TYPES
ANALYZED: 117,577
INDUSTRY
ACCOUNTS
FORM TYPE
AMOUNT
Sports
939
Event Registration
6,198
Nonprofit
2,919
Order / Payment
16,182
Technology
2,960
Contact
76,426
Government
595
Survey
6,943
Higher Education
1,192
Donation
6,634
Marketing / Consulting
5,379
Contest
2,318
Media
1,781
Lead Gen
2,876
Religious
530
Healthcare
939
Retail / E-commerce
1,469
14 The 2015 Form Conversion Report

EXTERNAL RESOURCES
1. Quicksprout, How to Use Hashtags to Increase Your Online Presence
http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/04/04/how-to-use-hashtags-to-increase-your-onlinepresence/
2. CNN Money (on Nielsen Study), Mobile Apps Overtake PC Internet Usage in U.S.
http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/28/technology/mobile/mobile-apps-internet/
3. Econsultancy, Conversion Rate Optimization Report 2014
https://econsultancy.com/reports/conversion-rate-optimization-report/
15 The 2015 Form Conversion Report