How Online Form Conversion Rates Differ by Form Type

June 6, 2014

This article is included in these additional categories:

Digital | Media & Entertainment | Non-Profit | Sports

Formstack-Online-Form-Conversion-Rates-by-Type-June2014The average conversion rate for forms in the US is 7%, according to [download page] research from Formstack, with this figure slightly lower than in other countries due to a sizable 31% of US forms being contact forms, which have an average conversion rate of just 3% across the 4 countries (US, Great Britain, Australia and Canada) examined. Indeed, contact forms had the lowest conversion rates of the several types analyzed, with contest (28%) and survey (21%) forms on the high-end.

The type of form appears to have more of an effect on conversion rates than the number of fields in the form. Survey forms averaged a high of 21 fields, but maintained a relatively strong conversion rate of 21%, for example. By comparison, order/payment forms, with an average of 19 fields, had a much lower average conversion rate, of 6%. And contact forms’ low conversion rate came despite an average of just 4 fields. (The analysts note that visitors to “Contact Us” pages might be looking for addresses rather than to complete a form.)

A sizable portion of Formstack customers surveyed in conjunction with the report reported getting more conversions when they embed their form on their site (62%) and maximizing their conversion rate when creating a custom theme (42%).

Another potential influence on conversion rates? The language of the submit button. Indeed, the analysis indicates that the most popular buttons don’t necessarily have the highest conversion rates. For example, the most commonly used buttons include “Register,” “Submit,” and “Submit Order,” but the top-3 highest converting are “Submit Registration” (18.7%), “Submit Application” (16.7%), and “Register Now!” (15.7%). (Note that it’s possible that these have particularly high rates due to a smaller – and thus “noisier” – sample size.)

Finally, the study reveals that among the industries measured, form conversion rates are highest in the sports (19%) and non-profit (15%) verticals and lowest in the media (7%) and religious (4%) verticals.

About the Data: The data is based on an analysis of more than 450,000 Formstack accounts. The report analyzed conversion rates from total traffic, including both paid and organic, and included an internal survey of 250 Formstack customers.

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