We build Opti-Behavior, the WordPress plugin discussed here. Originally published on optiuser.com.
A form that gets views but few submissions rarely has a design problem. It usually has one field problem.
Check these first:
- Count the fields. Every field you cannot justify to the visitor costs submissions. Phone number and company name are the usual suspects.
- Test the errors on a phone. Leave a required field empty and press Send. If the message is unclear or appears off-screen, people give up.
- Look at the first field. If many visitors start the form but stop at the same field, that field is the problem, not the form.
- Check that submissions arrive. A form that "sends" but never e-mails you looks like abandonment from the inside.
The hard part is point 3: knowing which field. Opti-Behavior's Forms module (Pro) records where visitors start, the field they stop on and who submits. Smart Insights turns that into a "Form Friction" card that names the field.
Pro: Smart Insights names the field visitors quit on (demo data).
On this checkout form the card points to billing_phone. The fix: make it optional, or say in one line why you need it. Then measure again two weeks later.
The data stays on your own WordPress server.
The 10 fixes, and how to measure the abandonment rate: https://optiuser.com/go/cl-0811-form-abandonment
Drafted with AI assistance, reviewed by the Opti-Behavior Team.