Did you know? Approximately 34% of individuals who start a form fail to finish it successfully! [1]
This surprising statistic underscores the importance of understanding and optimizing online form usage.
In an era where the internet plays a crucial role in every aspect of our lives, from buying groceries to applying for jobs, online forms have become an essential element of our digital landscape. Yet, their potential is often underutilized due to factors such as poor design, lack of user-friendliness, or simply the sheer length of the form.
This article delves into online form statistics, shedding light on user behaviors, common pitfalls, and strategies for enhancing completion rates, especially with innovative tools like Feathery.
Whether you're a web developer, digital marketer, or just an internet user, these insights will help you navigate the world of online forms with greater understanding and efficiency.
Online form usage statistics
From simple sign-up sheets to complex multi-page surveys, these statistics reveal how frequently users interact with online forms, the efficiency of these tools in achieving intended results, and the trends shaping their evolution.
- Around 9.09% of individuals who encounter a contact form choose to submit it. [1]
- Nearly 95% of individuals who begin insurance forms successfully complete them. [1]
- For application forms, approximately three-quarters, or 74.51%, are completed once they've been initiated. [1]
- When it comes to registration forms, 63.37% are filled out entirely after the process has begun. [1]
- Purchase forms see a completion rate of 58.19% after they are started. [1]
- The completion percentage after being started for inquiry forms is 66.78%. [1]
- Onboarding forms have a completion rate of 68.37% after the start of the process. [1]
- However, less than half of contact forms, precisely 37.85%, are completed after initiation. [1]
- Property sector forms typically require an average completion time of 7 ½ minutes. [10]
Mobile devices have become a prevalent platform for accessing online forms across various industries.
Industries such as Insurance and Healthcare experience high mobile form usage rates, indicating the critical role of mobile-friendly forms in these sectors. With more users accessing forms on their smartphones and tablets, providing seamless and responsive form experiences becomes crucial for driving engagement, conversions, and overall customer satisfaction.
- Half of the marketers, or 50%, consider inbound marketing strategies, including online forms, as their primary source for generating leads. [2]
- According to a survey, around 50% of employers believe that the length of their job application forms effectively filters out applicants who are not genuinely interested, as these applicants are less likely to complete the form. [2]
- Mobile pop-up forms can help you optimize the mobile experience for your customers. [1]
- If your form presents any usability issues, it risks being entirely abandoned by 67% of customers. [10]
- Desktop users demonstrate a higher likelihood of form completion compared to mobile visitors. [10]
- On average, it takes approximately 8 ½ minutes to complete local government forms, and even those who abandon the forms typically spend around 3 minutes before discontinuing the process. [10]
This implies that individuals who give up on filling out the forms usually invest a few minutes in the initial stages of completion before deciding to abandon the task. It suggests that people may encounter difficulties or obstacles early on in the process that lead them to give up.
- The average interaction time for users who abandon a recruitment form is one minute and forty seconds. [10]
- Surprisingly, the average interaction time for users who complete a recruitment form is one minute and twenty-five seconds. [10]
- Among all the fields, the name field exhibited the shortest average completion time of 3.5 seconds and a field return figure of 0.3. [10]
Online form designers can use these statistics to identify pain points and areas of improvement. Streamlining and simplifying the form completion process can reduce the overall completion time and minimize user frustration, leading to higher completion rates.
Online form abandonment rate statistics
People frequently abandon online forms for various reasons. These include security concerns, which account for 29% of abandonment; form length at 27%; advertisements or upselling causing 11%; and 10% of users abandoning due to unnecessary questions.
- People tend to abandon comparison forms relatively quickly, with an average duration of 50 seconds, compared to an average overall form abandonment time of 1 minute and 43 seconds. [1]
- Abandonment rates for travel bookings tend to be higher due to the increased length and complexity of the forms. [7]
- Approximately 60% of job seekers are likely to abandon the form before completion. [8]
- Research indicates that a significant majority, precisely 76.9% of shoppers, tend to abandon checkout forms before completing their purchase. [7]
- Research suggests that approximately 12% of people are more likely to abandon an online checkout form if it lacks trust badges. [2]
- Forms that include dropdown form fields experience the highest form abandonment rates. [2]
- When a form asks for a phone number, approximately 37% of people are likely to abandon the form unless the phone number field is made optional. [2]
Making the phone number field optional can significantly improve completion rates, almost doubling the number of form submissions. [2]
- Enabling CAPTCHA on your form will likely result in a higher form abandonment rate. [2]
- Requiring users to create a user account during checkout can lead to approximately 23% of people deciding not to fill out the form. [2]
- If a part of your form is hard to navigate, it's likely to be discarded entirely by 67% of users. [10]
- Using a two-column layout for forms can cause confusion and result in form abandonment. [2]
- The abandonment rate of the password field is significantly higher than the rest, with a mean of 10.5%. [10]
- Email and phone number questions also contribute to form visitor dropouts, as indicated by their respective abandonment rates of 6.4% (email) and 6.3% (phone number). [10]
Form abandonment indicates that users may face difficulties or frustrations during the completion. These challenges could include confusing instructions, complex form layouts, excessive or irrelevant questions, technical glitches, or a lack of clarity about the purpose or benefits of the form.
Organizations can increase completion rates and achieve their desired outcomes by addressing common pain points, minimizing user frustrations, and continuously improving the form completion experience.
Online form completion rate statistics
By examining completion rates, organizations can assess the efficiency of their forms, identify any obstacles that hinder user completion, and optimize their online forms to enhance user satisfaction and achieve desired outcomes.
Let’s explore the significance of online form completion rate statistics and discuss their implications for form design and user engagement.
- The average rate at which users return to a previously filled field is 4.55%. [1]
- A study found that 23% of users triggered autofill functionality when completing forms. [9]
- Among these users, the overall completion rate of the forms was 71%. [9]
- In comparison, for users who did not utilize autofill, the completion rate was 59%. [9]
This indicates that users who take advantage of autofill features are more likely to complete the forms successfully.
A 'Field Return' occurs when a user leaves a field after inputting some data, only to revisit it later during the same session.
- In the legal services sector, the percent of individuals who started interacting with a form after viewing it was recorded at 97.63%. [1]
- For services provided by Local Governments, an impressive 88.09% of form viewers started interacting with the form, indicating a high level of engagement. [1]
- In the field of Recruitment, a decisive engagement level was also seen, with 86.6% of viewers starting to interact with the form. [1]
- The Education sector saw a solid 'View to Starter %' of 79.24%, suggesting high interest among form viewers. [1]
- Utility service providers noted a 'View to Starter %' of 78.56%, reflecting an effective rate of viewer engagement. [1]
- Financial Services also enjoyed robust engagement, with a 'View to Starter %' of 75.51%. [1]
- In the Telecoms industry, 73.83% of form viewers progressed to interacting with the form, indicating a healthy level of engagement. [1]
- The Insurance industry saw a 'View to Starter %' of 73.13%, suggesting a substantial interaction rate. [1]
In sectors like Local Government and Recruitment, the percentage is significantly high (88.09% and 86.6%, respectively), suggesting that forms in these sectors effectively engage viewers, possibly due to their relevance, user-friendly design, or the importance of their services. This indicates that the audience for these sectors is particularly motivated to begin the process, perhaps because of the high relevance of the services or jobs offered.
- In the Forex Trading sector, 69.37% of viewers started interacting with the form, reflecting an active interest. [1]
- Travel industry forms saw a 'View to Starter %' of 67.30%, showing strong interest from viewers. [1]
- Automotive sector forms engaged 65.61% of viewers enough to start interacting. [1]
- In the Healthcare sector, the 'View to Starter %' stood at 64.18%, indicating a notable level of viewer interaction. [1]
- The Software industry saw a 'View to Starter %' of 63.39%, reflecting a significant degree of engagement. [1]
- Property sector forms engaged 60.12% of viewers to start interacting, indicating a reasonable interaction rate. [1]
- Charities saw a 'View to Starter %' of 59.07%, suggesting a reasonable level of viewer interaction. [1]
- In the Gambling industry, 58.22% of form viewers started to interact, indicating moderate engagement. [1]
- Lastly, Ecommerce forms saw a 'View to Starter %' of 55.94%, showing an appropriate level of interest among viewers. [1]
The Education, Utilities, and Financial Services sectors also show strong engagement, with 'View to Starter %' over 75%. This could be attributed to these services' direct impact on people's lives, prompting them to engage more readily.
On the other hand, sectors such as Property, Charity, Gambling, and Ecommerce have a lower 'View to Starter %.' This could indicate less urgency or immediate relevance to viewers, or it might point to form design elements that could be improved to increase engagement. It could also suggest that these industries have a wider audience who may view the form but not necessarily start the interaction immediately.
Online forms user experience statistics
Online forms' quality, design, and ease of use can drastically affect user engagement, conversion rates, and overall customer satisfaction.
These statistics will shed light on the essential elements of online forms, the common pain points for users, and how an improved form design can significantly enhance the user experience.
- Completing onboarding forms on mobile devices is more challenging than on desktops, with a completion rate of 35.33% on mobile and 50.8% on desktop. [1]
- 67% of users will discard your form if a part of it is hard to navigate. [10]
- Organizing similar input types can improve the user experience flow, preventing boredom or fatigue. [10]
- Multi-column formats take 15.4 seconds longer to complete compared to single-column layouts. [10]
- When participants in a study used forms with inline validation, they were quicker, more efficient, made fewer mistakes, and exhibited higher satisfaction levels. [11]
Inline validation is a user interface design pattern that provides real-time feedback to users as they fill out forms. Instead of waiting until the user submits the form to check for errors or missing information, inline validation checks each field as soon as the user enters the information.
- There was a 22% increase in the number of users who completed the form using inline validation. [11]
- Users also reported a 31% higher satisfaction rate when using the form with inline validation. [11]
- Additionally, users could complete the form with inline validation 42% faster than the form without it. [11]
- A decrease in the number of eye fixations by 47% was also observed. [11]
- When success messages fade away, participants worry that their actions have turned the once-valid fields into invalid ones. [11]
- Comparison forms tend to have the most ‘required’ inputs. [10]
- 27% of the global online population uses mobile search. For forms that require extensive text input, offering a voice option for completion can be a valuable alternative. [10]
- Dropdown menus are well known for their adverse effects on user experience. [10]
- The address question typically takes users approximately 7.4 seconds to complete. [10]
Dropdown menus can introduce several obstacles to a user-friendly experience. For starters, not all users know how to operate dropdown fields, which can cause confusion.
Additionally, these menus demand more interactions to select a value, such as tapping, scrolling, and more scrolling before tapping again, in contrast to a single tap for other fields.
Online forms conversion rate statistics
Online forms conversion rate statistics offer valuable insights into the effectiveness of online forms in converting users into desired actions or outcomes. Whether subscribing to a newsletter, making a purchase, or submitting a request, conversion rate statistics provide a quantitative measure of how successful online forms are in achieving their intended goals.
Understanding these statistics is crucial for businesses and organizations as they strive to optimize their online forms, streamline the conversion process, and improve overall user engagement.
- On average, the conversion rate for online forms is around 21.5%, although this figure may vary based on the specific industry. [2]
- SaaS companies using forms have a conversion rate of 2.4%. [3]
- Quiz forms can potentially triple conversion rates. [2]
- The most influential text for CTA buttons includes phrases like "Click Here," "Go," "Download," and "Register." [4]
- Placing labels above form fields results in higher completion rates for forms. [2]
- On desktop platforms, forms have an average conversion rate of 47.01%. [1]
- For mobile devices, the average form conversion rate stands at 42.95%. [1]
- Meanwhile, tablets see an average form conversion rate of 41.13%. [1]
The relatively high average form conversion rate for mobile devices suggests that optimizing forms for mobile users is crucial for maximizing conversion rates. This implies that businesses and organizations should prioritize creating mobile-responsive forms that provide a seamless and user-friendly experience on smartphones and tablets.
Neglecting mobile optimization could result in lower conversion rates and missed opportunities for engagement and conversions.
- Even removing a single form field can significantly impact form conversions. [2]
- If a form requests a phone number, the conversion rates can decrease by up to 5%. [2]
- Including street address may cause a decrease of 4%, while asking for a person's age may result in a reduction of 3%. [2]
- 49.7% of organizations state that online forms outperform other tools to convert more leads. [2]
The choice of submit text in your form matters: using the word "Submit" can cause a 3% higher abandonment rate, potentially discouraging users from completing the form. [2]
- The conversion rate for online forms accessed through the Google Chrome browser was 46.01%. [1]
- The conversion rate for online forms accessed via the Safari browser was 45.20%. [1]
- Using the Samsung browser, the form conversion rate was 40.61%. [1]
- The conversion rate for Edge browser users was slightly higher at 46.71%. [1]
- Internet Explorer users experienced a conversion rate of 43.62%. [1]
- Lastly, Opera users witnessed a conversion rate of 45.00% for online forms. [1]
By prioritizing mobile optimization, focusing on user experience and design, conducting regular testing, and emphasizing simplicity and trust, organizations can optimize their online forms to achieve higher conversion rates and enhance overall user engagement and satisfaction.
Online form design statistics
By optimizing the user experience, streamlining the form layout, and making the process more intuitive and efficient, businesses can significantly reduce the number of users who abandon the checkout process.
- Creating easy-to-use forms improves the rate of first-time submissions with no errors from 42% to 78%. [5]
- In 2019, the average length of a web form was reported to be five form fields. [6]
- Implementing an improved checkout design can decrease form abandonment rates by up to 35%. [2]
- A multiple-step form has a higher conversion rate than a single-step form. [10]
- Studies indicate that single-column formats tend to result in faster form filling compared to multi-column formats. [10]
With a single-column layout, users can navigate through the form more smoothly as they only need to scan and complete fields one by one vertically. Multi-column layouts may require users to scan horizontally, which can slow down the form-filling process and potentially lead to errors or confusion.
- Placing the question label to the top left of the input field can improve the efficiency of form completion. [10]
- Research shows viewers generally take longer to process text written in all capital letters than lowercase letters. [10]
- A distinct, well-labeled CTA button could receive 232% more clicks than a congested landing page. [10]
- Steer clear of short forms such as "DOB" and explicitly label the field as "Date of Birth." [10]
- Labeling a field as "Optional" is more effective than using "Not Required," as the latter can almost certainly ensure that the user will not complete it. [10]
- Including a reset button that allows customers to erase their previous work is strongly discouraged according to form completion rates. [10]
- To ensure optimal usability, it is crucial to make buttons large. Guidelines typically advise touch targets to be around 9mm x 9mm in size. [10]
- Using icon fonts, which consist of symbols or glyphs instead of letters or numbers, should be avoided as some software used by people with dyslexia to navigate the web cannot interpret them. [10]
- After implementing trust badges on forms, overall conversions experienced a significant boost, an increase of 16% compared to the previous performance without trust badges. [10]
Implementing trust badges on forms has a significant positive impact on overall conversions. Trust badges enhance user trust and confidence, alleviate skepticism, and contribute to the perception of a secure and reliable online environment.
Organizations should consider incorporating trust badges into their form design strategy to foster trust, increase conversions, and build a strong brand reputation.
- New visitors showed a substantial conversion rate increase of 22% after including trust badges, indicating enhanced trust and confidence among potential customers. [10]
- The overall revenue witnessed a remarkable rise of 21.3% following the addition of trust badges, indicating their positive impact on customer engagement and purchasing decisions. [10]
- Dark UX patterns are widely recognized in airline form design, as they trick users into paying more. [10]
- Conversion rates can be improved by eliminating the requirement for double data entry of passwords during account creation. [10]
- Informing users about the strength of their password can motivate them to enhance it independently. [10]
- Including links to customer services can be beneficial in case users have any queries or need assistance. [10]
To provide a seamless user experience, it is important to ensure that your form is integrated within your website and does not redirect users to another location.
Keeping the form within your website creates a sense of continuity and makes it feel like a natural extension of the overall process.
What this means for the future of online forms
The current trends and insights discussed above have significant implications for the future of online forms. Here are some key takeaways:
1. Personalization
The importance of personalization in online forms cannot be overlooked.
As user expectations evolve, incorporating personalized elements in form design and interactions will improve user experience and drive higher engagement and completion rates.
2. Mobile optimization
Optimizing forms for mobile users is paramount with the increasing use of mobile devices for online activities.
Simplifying the form design, utilizing responsive layouts, and considering mobile-specific input methods like voice recognition can ensure a seamless experience for mobile users.
3. User-friendly design
Focusing on user-friendly design principles is vital for online forms.
Avoiding complex layouts, reducing cognitive load, and providing clear instructions and feedback can enhance usability and reduce user frustration.
4. Accessibility
Ensuring accessibility for all users, including those with disabilities, is a fundamental consideration for the future of online forms.
Implementing accessibility guidelines and providing alternative input methods, such as voice input or assistive technologies, can make forms more inclusive and enable a broader range of users to interact with them effectively.
5. Continuous improvement
Online forms should be seen as a dynamic component of the overall user experience.
Regular monitoring, analysis of form analytics, and gathering user feedback will help identify pain points and areas for improvement, leading to iterative enhancements and better form performance over time.
Overall, the future of online forms lies in adapting to evolving user needs, embracing personalization and mobile optimization, prioritizing user-friendly design, ensuring accessibility, and continuously striving for improvement based on data-driven insights and user feedback.
FAQs
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Completion rates vary based on the type of form field. For instance, nearly 95% of individuals who begin insurance forms successfully complete them, indicating a high completion rate in the insurance sector.
On the other hand, the password field has a higher abandonment rate, with a mean of 10.5%. Informing users about the strength of their password can motivate them to enhance it independently, improving security and completion rates.
Mobile usage significantly affects online form completion. Mobile forms tend to have lower completion rates compared to desktop forms. However, the mobile form completion rate varies across industries.
For example, the education sector experiences a 59.63% completion rate on mobile devices, while the healthcare sector has a 49.78% completion rate. Optimizing forms for mobile devices and providing a seamless mobile experience can enhance completion rates in this growing segment.
Trust badges play a crucial role in enhancing form performance. Online forms with trust badges have shown a 16% increase in overall conversions, a 22% conversion rate increase among new visitors, and a 21.3% increase in overall revenue.
In contrast, dark UX patterns employed in airline forms, known for their deceptive and manipulative practices, can negatively impact user experience and trust. [10]
Form abandonment can occur due to various reasons. Security concerns contribute to 29% of abandonment, form length accounts for 27%, advertisements or upselling lead to 11%, and 10% of users abandon forms due to unnecessary questions.
Usability issues, such as difficult navigation or complex layouts, can result in abandonment by 67% of users.
Optimizing form design and user experience involves implementing strategies based on statistics and best practices. For example, single-column layouts can result in faster form completion than multi-column formats.
Making buttons larger and touch-friendly, providing clear labels and instructions, and optimizing the form layout can enhance user experience and completion rates. Gathering user feedback and utilizing form analytics are valuable for identifying pain points and making iterative improvements.
Strategies to increase form completion rates include personalization, mobile optimization, user-friendly design, clear and descriptive CTAs, minimizing unnecessary form fields, and building trust.
For instance, making the phone number field optional can significantly improve completion rates, almost doubling the number of form submissions. Incorporating trust badges can also positively impact completion rates, as seen in the increase of 16% in overall conversions.
Online form statistics provide valuable insights for organizations seeking to optimize their forms and improve user engagement. By understanding completion times, abandonment rates, conversion rates, and the impact of trust badges, businesses can refine their form design, enhance user experience, build trust, and ultimately increase the likelihood of user engagement and conversion.
Regular monitoring and analysis of form statistics are essential for ongoing optimization and improvement of online forms to meet user expectations and achieve desired outcomes.
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