Form Abandonment: How to Track and Recover Lost Leads

We might say that having visitors completely fill out an online form is half the battle in closing a sale. All the efforts and resources into developing and promoting your business, designing a nice website, then adding a responsive form are paid off when a visitor hits the submit button.

**An abandoned form is a missed opportunity for business growth.

The cost of driving traffic to your website to convince someone in front of a web form to give out their information can be very high. However, a complete submission can be converted into a sales lead, but an abandoned form is a missed opportunity for business growth. The one that got away.

If lead-generation efforts can be a very expensive process, then recovering half-started leads from form abandonment is a smart move and very cost-effective.

And because more businesses now depend on online more than ever, recovering leads from abandoned forms is extremely important for businesses to survive.

In this blog, we have shown you design growth hacks on how FormBuilder allows you to create powerful forms to help you increase your conversion rate.

Now we’ll show you in this article how you can find out where people drop off, fix the causes, and recover the leads you would otherwise lose. Let’s say bye-bye to form abandonment!

5 Top Reasons for Form Abandonment and How to Fix Them

First of all, you should consider the reasons why visitors might abandon a form when setting up your website. You would be surprised to learn that some rookie mistakes can be totally avoided.

Don’t ever assume that visitors simply ran out of time or lost interest as the culprit for form abandonment.

There are rational reasons why, but because we are emotional creatures, some psychological factors also play a part when it comes to dissuading us to follow through on a form.

Let us go over the five main pitfalls for form abandonment and how you can fix it with FormBuilder:

1. The form is too long

Even at the comfort and convenience of our own house, we might get annoyed and discouraged by a form that is too long. So even if you need a lot of information upfront from your visitors, you can ease those questions in more smoothly.

When creating your form with FormBuilder, you can determine which fields are required, leaving the rest as optional. That way, users will feel free to fill out the information as they like without the pressure of disclosing it all.

Another powerful FormBuilder feature is conditional logic. When you add conditional logic to your form, you can show or hide the next questions based on the user’s previous answer.

That way, users only see relevant information, avoiding a long list of fields that might not apply to them, leading to form abandonment.

2. The form is not mobile-friendly

Most people are on the go and not finding fields on a form while browsing from a phone can be very frustrating. You do not want them to postpone filling out your form to when they’ll be able to do it from a computer since they might change their minds by then.

Perhaps even worse, creating a form without a mobile version, leaving it to chance to how it will look and perform on a phone. All forms created with FormBuilder are automatically mobile-friendly, meaning it will adapt seamlessly to any device. You can even preview it and test it to see how the form will work on a desktop, tablet, or mobile before publishing it.

3. Fields are not clear

People interpret and understand prompt questions differently. Keep that in mind when labeling your form fields. Be as specific as you can, like labeling a field “Full Name” instead of just “Name”.

When creating a form with FormBuilder, there are many field type options for you to pick from so you can improve its clarity. Try using Dropdown or Multiple Choice field types to limit answers to specific options. You can also leave an example as a placeholder on a field to show users what kind of answers are expected.

If you feel like being even more instructive, you can include icons as a visual cue to your field label. Besides, you can reposition and resize any field in the FormBuilder editor in order to make fields more visible or convey the importance and order of filling out.

4. Security issues

A very important and understandable reason for form abandonment is a security issue. Especially for order forms where users are requested to fill out credit card information or if they fear spam by giving contact information.

You must reassure your visitors that your website is secure and any information provided will be safely stored and handled.

FormBuilder makes sure that the exchange of data is protected with SSL encryption. You are also in control of the data you collect, keeping it safely stored in your FormBuilder account until you decide to export or delete it.

5. Unclear proposition

This reason might sound obvious but it is surprisingly common to see websites not stating clearly why a form must be filled out, resulting in form abandonment.

Your form must be conceptually connected to the rest of your website and not something totally detached from the rest.

Your call-to-action button has to state what it is for, like “Sign Up Here”, “Register to Vote”, “Order Now”, “Submit to Win Free Prize”, for example.

FormBuilder offers a variety of free form templates, so you can create an appropriate form according to the purpose needed. Avoid mixed messages by choosing a template for a specific occasion. Select from the category you need, like order forms, sales contact, application form and survey form, etc., and then customize it to make it look like your own.

How to Recover Abandoned Form Data – Step-by-Step Guide

Now that we’ve double-checked for basic form abandonment mistakes, let’s continue to tackle this problem like a pro.

FormBuilder is a powerful and intuitive form builder designed to optimize your workflow, strengthen your brand, and help increase your conversions. With built-in form analytics, FormBuilder helps you keep track of how users interact with your form: how many people view it, how many start it, and how many finish.

Considering that a large share of users abandon a form after beginning to fill it out, knowing where the drop-off happens is the first step to fixing it.

Here is how to set your form up so you can measure abandonment and recover as many leads as possible:

Step 1. FormBuilder Login

1.1. Go ahead and log in to your FormBuilder account, or create one. The free plan includes 5 active forms and 100 responses per month, no credit card required.

Step 2. Create a New Form

2.1. Click on Create form from your dashboard.

2.2. FormBuilder gives you the freedom to choose how you would like to start your form: from scratch, from a template, by describing it to the AI form generator, or by importing an existing PDF or URL. Our easy drag-and-drop editor helps you build and customize your form as you need.

For more in-depth tips on how to build a powerful responsive form with further integrations, read our article on Web Form Designing To Optimize Lead Generation.

Step 3. Split the form into pages

3.1. Long forms lose people. Turn your form into a multi-page form and put the contact fields (name and email) on the first page. That way, a visitor who quits on page three has still given you enough to follow up with.

3.2. Use conditional logic to hide questions that do not apply to a given visitor, so each person only sees the fields that matter to them.

Step 4. Preview, Save & Publish

4.1. You can preview and test all functionalities of your form from different devices by clicking on Preview.

4.2. Once you’re satisfied and done with your form design and settings, give the form a clear name so you can easily identify it later in your list, then publish it. You can share the link or embed the form on your site.

Step 5. Track Your Submissions

5.1. Once your form is live and you start getting submissions, you can track its performance from the FormBuilder dashboard. Form analytics show views, starts and completions, so you can see what share of visitors abandon the form. Turn on email notifications so you hear about every new response as it comes in.

5.2. You can also export your results as a CSV file, or send them to Google Sheets automatically, so you can sort and follow up on new leads from one place.

How to leverage abandoned form data

Lead generation starts with the optimization of your form, and knowing your abandonment rate empowers your lead recovery efforts. No form will go unnoticed ever again.

From your form’s dashboard, you keep track of every response as it arrives. With just one click, all this data can be exported as a CSV file. You can then connect your form to Google Sheets, a webhook or Zapier, for example, so you can actually analyze and leverage form data into business knowledge.

No time should be wasted when it comes to reengaging leads since it’s cheaper than attracting a new potential customer. With your form analytics in hand, you should then deploy a follow-up plan to leverage that information. Here is some insight on what to do with your form abandonment data:

If you identify that a significant number of visitors abandon a form, revisit your form design to smooth out any glitches.

If visitors stop at a required field, reconsider leaving it as optional or rephrase the question.

If the form is complete but not submitted, make sure that your call-to-action button is clear and appealing.

If personal information is left unanswered, emphasize trust by reinforcing your security policy.

For visitors who gave you their email on page one but never finished, follow up with a callback or email to offer a discount or a free prize. A Zapier connection to your email tool can automate that follow-up.

The most successful businesses rely on Customer Relationship Management and following up on unfinished leads is the most cost-effective approach to retain customers.

FormBuilder provides easy design, seamless integrations, and reliable response tracking for lead-generation forms. Reduce your form abandonment rate and increase conversions to grow your business now!