Learn to create an online form in four simple steps

Creating a web form gives your visitors an easy way to get in contact with you and send information or a query. It also increases opportunities to capture important visitor details like name, email address, preferences, comments and feedback.

In this article, you’ll learn how to create a web form that can help you to communicate with your visitors and gather pertinent data. We’ll walk you through the process in four simple steps.

This post will explain:

• How to quickly create an online form
• Step 1. Create a new online form
• Step 2. Add fields to your form
• Step 3. Customise your form
• Step 4. Embed and share your form

How to quickly create an online form

Online forms are a powerful tool for organisations to collect and store information about customers, suppliers and employees in an efficient way. They can be used to gather customer data as part of sales and marketing processes, take online orders and payments and even collect RSVPs.

One of the benefits of using online forms is the ease with which they can be used to achieve various goals. Whether you’re capturing leads or financial details during an ecommerce transaction, online forms streamline the process and provide a convenient solution for both businesses and customers.

Before creating your online form, you need to determine its purpose. Determining the purpose of the form will help you to have a successful experience when it comes to collecting information. Think about the message you want your form to convey and make sure it’s easy to understand. Provide clear and concise instructions on how to complete the form, including any relevant required fields. Also, consider using visual aids like images or icons to help guide users through the process. If users understand the form’s purpose, they will be more likely to complete it accurately.

Step 1. Create a new online form

The first step is to choose the type of web form you want to use. Some common types include contact forms, lead generation forms, order forms, registration forms and survey forms. When setting up a form on any platform, you can begin by selecting your form, creating it and changing the default title from “Untitled Form” to something more descriptive. To change it, simply click the title and type your new one.

In the form settings, you can edit various preferences, such as adding confirmation text or choosing to redirect visitors to another section of your website after they submit their form. To track form performance, use measurement tools like Google Analytics or another analytics solution. You can also set up a customisable confirmation email to send after someone submits your form.

Step 2. Add fields to your form

After creating your form and customising the title and preferences, you’ll have the option to include several fields for customers to input information. Adding fields to your online form is essential for collecting information from your leads. By considering the responses you’ll require, you can determine which questions to ask, what types of fields to include and how to label your form fields.

It’s important to include basic contact details like name and email so you can identify each submission. By creating clear and concise form fields, you’ll improve the user experience and increase the likelihood of obtaining accurate and useful data.

To add fields to your online form:

• Click the “Add a Field” tab
• Click a field to add it to your form or drag and drop it to any location on your form.

Step 3. Customise your form

Once you have the fields you need, it’s time to customise them. Customising your fields is crucial to creating a user-friendly and visually pleasing form. Click each field to see the customisation options available. Each field has different options to play with, but you can always change the field label, make it required, add instructions and use CSS keywords to place fields next to each other in the live form.

Don’t ignore more advanced features like conditional logic. This allows you to show and hide fields based on user responses, send different confirmation texts and emails depending on how the user fills in the form and even redirect users to another page. These features can be used to streamline the user experience and improve the overall effectiveness of the form.

In addition to basic fields like text boxes and text areas, there are other field-entry types for you to include in your forms, such as:

• Multiple choice
• Drop-down menus
• Tickboxes
• Radio buttons

Using a variety of field-entry types can make your form more engaging and interactive, which can lead to more people completing the forms and better data collection.

Step 4. Embed and share your form

After customising your form, you’ll need to embed it on your website. Follow these steps to embed your form:

• Click the “Embed” button on your form builder page.
• Choose the options for your form’s dimensions and the code format you’d like to use.
• Copy the code and paste it where you want the form to appear on your website.

Once your form is ready, you have several options to publish and share it. You can access all the options by clicking the “Share Form” button at the bottom right of your form builder page or the “Share Form” icon that becomes visible when you hover over the form in your Form Manager. You can share your form via a permanent link that uses the name of your form or click to share it on social media or email.

Now that your form is embedded and shared, website visitors can start completing and submitting forms, providing you with data about leads that will be crucial for your business.

An even easier way to create a form

Web forms are a simple and effective way to connect with your website visitors and gather valuable information. By including fields to capture contact details, preferences, feedback and more, you can engage your audience and learn about their needs.

Using prebuilt form templates can save time and effort. They’re designed to be customisable and provide a great starting point for your specific needs. They can be found online and are available for a variety of purposes, from contact forms to surveys.

When you’re ready to get started, discover how web forms can simplify the way your business interacts with customers. Adobe Experience Manager Forms lets you use powerful data integrations to automatically personalise your forms and communications. It also combines with smart, secure e-signature tools and automated workflows to eliminate manual processes.

Watch the demo video or request a demo to learn more about Experience Manager Forms.