Getting a visitor to your enquiry form is a big step. They’ve looked through your website, considered what you offer and reached the point where they’re interested enough to make contact.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll complete the form.
A form that feels too long, asks difficult questions or leaves someone wondering what happens next can introduce hesitation at exactly the wrong moment. Even small amounts of friction can be enough for someone to decide they’ll “come back later” — and often, they don’t.
At Sympley, we believe enquiry forms should make taking the next step feel simple. Here are three key things that can make your website enquiry form more likely to be completed.
1. Ask Only for What You Actually Need
It can be tempting to use your enquiry form to collect as much information as possible.
What service do they need? What’s their budget? When do they want to start? How did they hear about you? What are the project requirements? How big is their business?
Some of that information may be useful, but do you really need all of it before you’ve even spoken to them?
Every additional field gives the visitor another decision to make and makes the form appear more time-consuming.
For many businesses, the initial goal should simply be to start the conversation.
Name, email or phone number, the service they’re interested in and a simple message field may be enough. More detailed questions can then be discussed during the follow-up conversation.
Review every field on your current form and ask yourself: Do we genuinely need this information to respond to the initial enquiry?
If the answer is no, consider removing it.
2. Explain What Happens After They Submit
Clicking “Submit” shouldn’t feel like sending an enquiry into a black hole.
Give visitors a clear idea of what happens next.
For example, you might explain that your team will review their enquiry and respond within one business day. If the next step is usually a phone call, consultation or quote, tell them.
A simple message such as “Submit your details and our team will be in touch within one business day to discuss your requirements” provides much more clarity than a generic “Contact Us” heading followed by a form.
The same applies after submission. Instead of displaying “Your form has been submitted”, use the confirmation message to reinforce what happens next.
Setting expectations helps remove uncertainty and gives the potential customer confidence that their enquiry has reached the right place.
3. Make It Easy to Complete on a Phone
A form that works perfectly on a desktop computer can still be frustrating to complete on a phone.
Fields should be large enough to tap comfortably, labels should be clear and the form should use the appropriate field types. For example, selecting a phone number field should bring up a numeric keypad, while an email field should make entering an email address as easy as possible.
Error messages also matter.
If someone misses a required field or enters something incorrectly, clearly identify the problem rather than simply displaying a generic error at the top of the form.
And don’t forget to regularly test your forms yourself.
As part of an ongoing WordPress maintenance service, forms should be checked to ensure they remain functional, notifications are being delivered and visitors can successfully submit enquiries across different devices.
Make It Easier to Take the Next Step
Your enquiry form is often one of the final steps between a website visitor and a new lead.
By asking only for the information you genuinely need, explaining what happens next and making the form simple to use on mobile, you can remove unnecessary barriers at a critical point in the customer journey.
If you’re getting website traffic but not enough people are completing your enquiry forms, reach out to us here at Sympley. We can review your website and enquiry process, identify areas of friction and help make it easier for potential customers to take that next step through conversion rate optimisation changes to your forms & the larger website.
