Your Website forms are the most direct way for your site visitors to contact and interact with you -- they are literally the doorway to new online business. Unfortunately, this door is slammed shut for most agent sites. Getting prospects to complete your Web forms (with accurate information) is not hard once you know how. In fact, here are three proven strategies that will have your visitors actually excited about filling out your forms.

(NOTE: the following assumes that you are giving your visitors something of value in exchange for completing the form.)

STRATEGY #1: Tell them they don't have to complete it!

One of the biggest mistakes that Website owners make with their forms is insisting that the visitor provide full contact information. This is the old "gate keeper" mentality that essentially says: "I'll give you the information you want if you tell me who you are." This simply does not work well with the online consumer who initially enjoys the anonymity the Net affords them and in fact can drive them away. And, this is the primary reason why so many consumers enter blatantly false information on Web forms.

Here's an entirely different approach. Put the following copy above each and every form on your site and watch what happens:

We understand that you may be in the information gathering stage and may not be ready to open up about who you are or your real estate needs at this time. If you are not comfortable providing all your contact information that is perfectly okay. Just enter your email address so we can send you the material you requested.

(NOTE: make sure that the only mandatory field on your Web form is the email address)

Human nature is a funny thing. Tell people they have to do something and they'll dig in their heels. Explicitly tell them they don't have to and chances are they will complete all of it -- with accurate information. Now put yourself in their position, how would you relate to a Web form if you saw that copy directly above it?

STRATEGY #2: Reassure them of their privacy

Privacy is extremely important to online consumers. The more you can explicitly reassure them that their information will be kept safe and not abused, the better. In addition to the copy above (in STRATEGY #1) add the following (on every form): Please be assured that your privacy will be kept sacred and your information will never be shared with any third party.

By the way, you should also have a link to your formal Privacy Policy at the bottom of every page of your Website.

STRATEGY #3: Give them visual cues to complete your form fields

It's been shown anecdotally that if your form fields have a pale yellow text area color, online consumers will often take that as a cue to complete the field, even if it is not mandatory to do so. Another aspect of this is to have your Web designer make your forms visually appealing and fun to use. Form design is one of the most overlooked areas in Web design with potentially the highest payoff. Don't settle for plain vanilla forms. A little thought invested into the design of your Web forms can give you a big return.

The Mother of All Web Forms…

A couple of years ago I created a very special kind of form called a MOVA Assessment. This was by far my biggest form and it was designed to engage homeowners who were thinking of selling their home.

You will see that this form incorporate every aspect of the three strategies mentioned above -- and quite successfully so. The feedback I've received so far is that if a homeowner completes this form, there is about a 95% chance that they will turn into a listing. Now just imagine you are a homeowner thinking of selling. Review this form and the questions it asks, and just as importantly, how it asks them.

As a potential seller what are some of the conclusions you are coming to about the agent that supplied this form? And, was it a burden or opportunity to take the few minutes to do it? The forms on your Website shouldn't be an intimidating barrier to having online consumers engage with you. Instead, make them your welcome mat, a friendly inviting threshold that will help turn casual visitors into serious clients.

Published: July 9, 2008

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Michael J. Russer (a.k.a. Mr. Internet®) is an internationally acclaimed speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry and small business. He is also the exclusive Internet columnist for REALTOR® Magazine, the architect of the revolutionary e-ProductivityTM system and leading voice for the use of Virtual Assistants in small business. You can subscribe to his free monthly leading-edge newsletter ePOWER NEWS by going to ePowerNews.com.