Simply put, your website is most likely going to be the first point of interaction between you and potential customers and as such must leave a good first impression. It needs to be well designed, easy to get around and only have the information your customers are going to need. The thing that ensures this is the case is your website’s user experience (UX) and while it may not seem so important, one of the most important parts of UX is a good contact form. To understand why this is so, today we are going to take a look at the importance of a good contact form for website UX.

What is a website contact form?

A website contact form represents the part of a website which usually contains questions asking users for information such as their first and last name as well as their email and a blank box where they can leave a message or ask a question. The exact purpose can depend on the information you want to receive but in general, a website contact form represents a great way to generate leads. However, for it to do what it's supposed to and improve your UX, your contact form must follow a few basic rules.

The importance of design and positioning

While they may not seem too important at first, not just the design but the positioning of your contact form within your website are two extremely important details. If people aren’t able to locate your contact form or if it’s badly designed, it can frustrate them and make them not want to do business with you. Because of this, it can be a good idea to seek professional help from a professional digital marketing agency from Australia which will be able to help you create a contact form that is tailored towards the local audience.

It must reflect your target audience

In order for your contact form to be effective, it has to take your audience's needs into consideration. For example, if you own an e-commerce business, your contact form should contain areas for questions about the products you offer, delivery and refunds. By tailoring your contact form towards your target audience, you will come across as more appealing and considerable towards your customers, thus increasing your number of successfully generated leads. 

Minimise the amount of effort that is needed to fill it out

Another thing to keep in mind is that overburdening your contact form with too many redundant questions can also make users not want to fill it out as they would spend too much time on it. Asking for things such as gender, birth date and even country of origin are all things that can be asked for after establishing contact with a customer. Additionally, try to avoid having too many fields that require a lot of typing which can be time-consuming and instead try to opt for fields with pre-arranged options which will make the whole process a lot quicker and engaging. 

How does all of this impact UX

If you are able to make a good contact form for your website by following these simple steps, you will be able to achieve two things: make your users more invested into your company as they will establish contact which could lead to them becoming customers and giving them all of the information they need that may not be on your website. Both of these are extremely important for the success of your business but the second one is crucial when it comes to user experience. People want to know that you are interested in them as individuals and that you will be there when they require your assistance. This will lead to you developing a more personal relationship with them which is imperative in today's world and will improve the quality of the experience they have exponentially. 

Finally, you should also keep in mind that the objective here is to do everything within your power to get your users to fill out your contact form which should begin the process of developing a relationship with them. The things that will work for you will ultimately depend on your business, so don’t be afraid to be innovative and experiment.