Forms completion rates - statistics, insights, and takeaways

Designing forms has always been a challenge. No matter if we're working on a simple onboarding form, lead scoring or a KYC form, UX is always a concern: how many fields should we have? what completion rate should we expect? Do we really need a phone number or can we get away without it? 

So as a service to my future self, here are some useful insights and statistics about form completion rates, taken from different studies. 

What is a good form completion rate?

The average landing page has a conversion rate of 2.35%, with top websites converting roughly 11.5% of visitors.

A report from WishPond, involving 146 landing pages found some different numbers:

• 64 B2B landing pages showed an average of 13.28% conversion rate
• 80 B2C landing pages showed an average of 9.87% conversion rate

Abandonment rate varies between industries: 

• Travel: 81% abandonment rate 
• Nonprofit: 77.9% abandonment rate 
• Finance: 75.7% abandonment rate 
• Retail: 75.8% abandonment rate 

People abandon online forms due to: 

1. Security concerns: 29%
2. Form length: 27%
3. Advertisements or upselling 11%
4. Unnecessary questions 10% 

(Source: Convertica)

12% of users will abandon online checkout forms if trust badges are absent. (source)

Takeaway: add trust symbols by embedding a lock icon next to sensitive information.

Takeaway: add "why do we ask for your...?" next to a sensitive question. 

Be transparent and explain why you ask for sensitive information

Keep it simple: 67% of site visitors will abandon your form forever if they encounter any complications; only 20% will follow up with the company in some way.

30% of people will return to complete a form if there’s something in it for them such as a free tool. (source)

How many form fields are too many?

The average B2B lead form length in 2019 was 5 fields, which usually results in the highest conversion rates. (source: Hubspot)

The average B2C contact form has 3 fields resulting in the best conversion rate: 

• 3 fields per form ==> 25% conversion rate
• 4 fields per form ==> 20% conversion rate
• 5 fields per form ==> 15% conversion rate 

With consumer forms - removing a single field can boost the form completion rate by 25%.

How to design a form for maximum conversion?

According to WPForms, 2-column forms are confusing and can lead to abandonment.

Takeaway: use mobile-style forms with 1 column and a simple layout. 

Multi-step forms can lead to 300% more conversions. (Venture Harbour)

Takeaway: break down long forms into multi-step pages to simplify the experience and keep users engaged. 

Multi-step forms can improve completion rates

Takeaway: Use the foot-in-the-door technique: ask the easy questions first to build trust, and leave the sensitive questions to last (see example).

What form fields cause the highest drop rates?

Every field you add to a form reduces the conversion rate. 

Here's a breakdown of the negative impact each field creates: 

• Phone number: -5% in total conversion rate
• Street address: -4% in total conversion rate
• Date of birth: -3% in total conversion rate
• City & State: -2% in total conversion rate

Avoid asking for a phone number

According to WPForms, 37% of people will abandon a form when asked for a phone number, unless the field is optional. 

Asking for the date of birth will cause a drop of an additional 17% compared to the usual drop. (source) 

Takeaway: your grandma would have told you it is not polite to ask for people's age...

The CAPTCHA impact: 

• Simple CAPTCHAs Have an 8% Failure Rate. 
• Case-sensitive CAPTCHAs have a whopping 29% failure rate

Including dropdown fields in forms can result in high abandonment rates. (WPForms, 2021)

Takeaway: whenever possible - replace drop downs (2 taps to select) with checkboxes (1 tap to select), but make sure to style them nicely.  

Tip: In mobile forms - set the right keyboard for the selected field (numeric, emails, birth date)

Check out the full guide on how to handle the on-screen keyboard without messing up usability.

How do form buttons impact conversion rates?

3% more people will abandon your form if it uses the word “Submit.”

The best-performing CTA button text includes: “Click Here,” “Go,” “Download,” and “Register.” (Quicksprout)

• Don't use vague, generic words such as submit, enter, access, complete, learn, and read more. 
• Use strong action-oriented words like get, try, book, download, and register.

Tip: check out my all-in-one guide to CTA buttons, packed with 30 tips on improving button conversion rates. 

Tip: check out this collection of 84 cognitive biases that will help you design better-converting products.

Measure every field in your form

One error in one of Expedia's contact forms cost the company roughly $12 million in a single year. 

When we launched Missbeez, I accidentally used a case-sensitive + auto-complete field in our early access form, resulting in most users failing to pass the activation form. 

You can't predict what's about to go wrong, but you can definitely expect some things to go wrong. 

This is why you should always be prepared for the worst and measure each and every field in your forms.

When users or visitors land on your page - you'll have the visibility you need to monitor the performance and discover issues as soon as they occur.  

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