Q&A: How many fields on a form?

by ian on January 5, 2011

Amie asks: Do you have any rules about online forms? I find that many of my customers want to purchase directly online, but I also want to make sure I know the scope of the project. Is it okay to ask a bunch (5-6) of questions as long as they aren’t required?

I’m torn because up until now the only option they have is to go the extra step of contacting our sales team. Or, filling out our basic contact form.


Hi Amie,

As a rule, I assume that every field you add to a form will reduce the number of people completing that form by 25-50%. That’s whether the form fields are required or not. People are quickly intimidated by forms with lots of fields.

But I hear what you’re saying. Try this as a compromise:

If folks want to purchase directly from you online, create a few super-well-defined types of projects and offer them for purchase online. We have our 10Things product, which works well for that.

Then, if people want something more detailed, ask them to fill out bigger form.

That way you convert the ‘quick and easy’ clients without losing the bigger projects.

Hope this helps, Ian

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