Forms are a staple in online information gathering. Sign up forms, feedback forms – all of these can be created easily to be used on your website and shared effectively.
Here's how you can use form building technology to easily create your next form.
1) Decide how you want to present your form
When it comes to forms, there are many different formats you can choose from. Do you want to present it as a poll, quiz, or traditional form? The style you pick will be dependent on the questions you are going to ask. Plan your question and style in advance and the form creation process will be much simpler.
2) Choose and customize your template
Most form builders allow you to choose from premade templates instead of starting from scratch. This allows you to save time and create a form without knowing any HTML code.
Once you have your template selected, customize the question fields to match the questions you have planned. The templates may come with questions already in place, but the drag-and-drop editor allows you to add your own and delete existing aspects.
3) Add your settings
Before you complete your survey, be sure to change your settings to match how you want data to be handled. You can choose to have the submissions emailed to you, you can allow multiple submissions, you can limit the number of users that can complete the form, or set an expiration date on the form. Depending on what you plan on using the form for, these settings become very important.
4) Opt in your users
After someone has completed your form, you can opt to use a default "thank you" page. This page gives you the chance to confirm that the form is complete as well as thank the user. Of course, you can also add your own custom page if you have it available.
If your form requires users to confirm their email address for communications, you can set up an automated opt-in email to double opt-in your users. This ensures your users are definitely opted-in. Also, once they opt-in form the email, with form building software, you can direct them to a confirmation page where they are thanked for confirming their email address. A default one is provided, but you can also use a custom page if you have it available. Finally, users will be sent an automatic "thank you" email for completing the form and confirming their email address.
5) Present your form
Once you have your opt-in settings complete, you need to decide how users will view the form on your website. You can choose to have it show when the page is loaded or you can add a button users will have to click to access the form. There is also a URL you can take and share as a direct link to the form if you want to share it through other channels.
If you'd like more information about SimplyCast's form building software, visit this page.
