Have you ever visited a company's website to make an enquiry, but their contact form had fields and questions that were inundating and illogical with input fields all over the shop?

It would have seemed as though they were asking about your life history or even trying to perform a market survey without you knowing. These kinds of contact forms are common on the web, and place these businesses at a disadvantage to their competitors.

A contact form is the first thing I like to use when making initial contact with businesses about their products or services from their websites. Filling out large and disorganised contact forms with irrelevant questions is the last thing I want to do when I'm making a quick enquiry.

I've come across one too many of those contact forms, but it was the one I saw yesterday that compelled me to write about this topic and provide some useful tips. I was looking for accommodation for my next stay in Melbourne and I just wanted to know what food their restaurants serve. Just one look at that form and I was running to their nearest competitor hoping that they would give me the answer to my query. I didn't feel I needed to tell them when I'd like to check in or what kind of room I'd be staying in. In the end, the competitor will be the one getting my service while the other business doesn't even know they'll be missing out on my business, or why it even happened.

Contact forms provide businesses and customers a chance to get to know each other, but this is where it gets a bit messy. Some contact forms don't know when to stop probing for information. It's not just about asking the right questions, it's also about laying the form out logically. This helps the customer in understanding why they should trust you with any of their information.

So, here are five simple tips to help you get it right the first time:

1. Only include relevant fields in the form - Anything too excessive will make the customer wonder why you would need such information. For example, having a field that asks for their favourite sport when they're enquiring about your professional services is hardly relevant.

2. All required information should be represented as input fields - The information required from the customer should be well defined. There is no point in putting a "Contact Detail" input field if you require people to enter their postal address, mobile phone number and email address. They should all have their own input fields. It should also be made clear to the customer which fields are mandatory or optional. This can be done using an asterisk next to the field name or a highlighted field name for mandatory fields.

3. Input fields should be ordered in a logical manner - For example, first name should be placed before last name and street address should be placed before city. It is also recommended that the form allows international addresses and phone numbers. You shouldn't limit yourself to customers in your country. There are boundless international opportunities.

4. Use validation to ensure required and correct information is received - This will ensure that you receive information in the correct format. Validation will include checking that a phone number field only contains numbers and not letters. Validation can also be used to check if mandatory information has been entered.

5. The form should work and should not produce any error messages that the user cannot correct - The customer should be able to submit the contact form and you should receive it without any errors. Any errors would mean that you would never receive any online enquiries until it gets fixed. It would also reflect negatively on the quality of your business.

Did your contact form get five out of five of the above? If it did, you deserve a pat on the back for your efforts. If it didn't, you could be missing out on quite a few unknown opportunities. You should be entitled to the business from every visitor to site. This is possible when you've got the perfect contact form. That will mean more business for you, rather than your competitors.

If you would like any assistance maintaining or developing your website Freestylemedia will make it easier and faster for you while providing the highest quality service. Send an email to me at fred@freestylemedia.com.au for your website construction, maintenance and updates.