In this article Jared Spool looks at the cost of poorly designed forms from the businesses’ point of view. In particular he outlines how one business lost potentially $300,000,000 (yes – 3 million dollars) in sales due to one button.

Look at your online form as if it were the first time you had ever seen it. Check the following:

• Is the requested information is in a logical order?
• Is the same information being requested twice?
  (This is a problem for businesses using third party services – such a PayPal.)
• Are you asking for unnecessary information?
  (If you have the postal code — you don’t need to ask for the city or province.)
• Do you automatically format the input or do you force the customer to use your format?
  (People enter phone numbers in many different ways.)
• Do you validate the fields before the customer submits the form?
  (Yes, fields CAN be validated before the form is submitted.)

Once you have those problems fixed – look at the page layout. Like the disheveled sales person a cluttered form will drive customers away. If necessary beak the form up into a number of pages.

Making your online form a ‘good closer’ is all about making things easier for you customers. It may take some time – but the results are worth it.