Every extra field costs you enquiries. Here's how to design a contact form that's short, clear and reliable, and how to check it really works.
Your contact form is where interest turns into an enquiry. A clunky one quietly loses you business, and you never know because nobody tells you they gave up.
Name, email and a message are enough for most firms. Phone number can be optional. Everything else, budget, company size, how they heard of you, can wait for the reply or a follow-up call.
Most visitors will be on mobile. Use big tap targets, the right keyboard for each field (email, phone), and labels that stay visible rather than disappearing placeholder text.
Say what's wrong next to the field, in plain words, and keep what they've typed. After sending, confirm what happens next and when they can expect a reply.
Hidden honeypot fields and rate limiting stop most bots without making humans pick traffic lights. Use a CAPTCHA only if you need to.
The worst failure is a form that looks fine but sends nothing. Submit a test monthly and check it arrives, including in spam. It's one of the checks in our piece on website maintenance.
We can test and rebuild your forms so every message arrives.
Start a conversation →There's no fixed number, but each additional required field tends to reduce completions. Start minimal and add only what you'll use.
It's wise to keep a copy somewhere safe in addition to email, but only for as long as you need it, in line with your privacy policy.
