What your contact form should ask

Your contact form is where a visitor turns into a lead. It's also where a lot of them quietly give up. Every extra field is one more reason to close the tab, so the goal is to ask for what you need to reply and nothing else.

The fields most businesses need

• Name
• Email or phone, whichever you'd use to reply
• A message box

That's often enough. If you're a contractor, cleaner or anyone who travels, add the town or zip code so you can tell right away if it's in your area. If you only do a few services, a short dropdown can help you sort requests. Keep it short.

Fields to cut

Company name, unless you mostly work with businesses. Address, which you can ask for later. "How did you hear about us", which people often skip or guess at. Budget, which a lot of people don't know yet and feel awkward answering.

Make as little as possible required. If someone only leaves a phone number and a sentence, you can still call them.

Make it easy on a phone

Most people will fill it out with their thumbs. Use large boxes and labels that stay visible. Set the phone field so a number pad comes up and the email field so the keyboard shows the @ sign. Skip captchas that make people pick out crosswalks. There are quieter ways to block spam.

Say what happens next

Under the button, tell people when to expect a reply. "I reply within a day" is enough. After they send it, show a clear message that it went through. If they get a blank page or the same form again, many will send it twice or assume it broke.

Don't make the form the only way in

Some people would rather call or email. Put your phone number and email next to the form so they can choose. In the DMV a lot of people are booking between meetings or on a commute, and a tap to call link is sometimes faster than typing.

Test it yourself

Fill out your own form on your phone once a month. Make sure the message actually reaches you and doesn't land in spam. It's easy to set up a form, forget it, and miss leads for weeks without knowing.