Analyze and Optimize Form Input Conversion

This post “Optimize Form Length with Input Analysis” by Allaedin Ezzedin is fantastic.

It covers a trick on how to use Google Analytics to assess form entries, and obtain insights to which form input has the highest obstacle in completing the form process.

To summarize what needs to be done to achieve this in Google Analaytics:

  1. Use javascript to validate the form when users click submit.
  2. In validation, call the “pageTracker._trackPageview” if the values do not exist. For example, “pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/contact_us.htm/empty/’+field_name)” will show “/contact_us.htm/empty/phone” when the phone number field is empty during submission.
  3. Set a specific profile for the form using Custom Filer (Filter Type: Include, Filter Field: Request URI, Filter Patter:contact form page, Case Sensitive: No) so the field name are filtered out of thousands of page views in main profile.
  4. Go to the new Contact Us Profile -> Content -> Top Content to assess the form input.

In addition to this brilliant implementation, I would suggest using Google Website Optimizer to test different forms for better user experience and form completion rate.

Another thing I would think about is, if you’re throwing some kind of validation message or redirecting the users to an error page, then track the % of users completing the form after landing to “reminder of miss entry” page.

Since there will always be users miss entering the information, regardless of how well you arrange the forms, it is always nice to go beyond that to see if your users are interested enough in completing the form even after their form was rejected. In that case, you should also be testing and optimizing the page when users miss enter the form.

Related Articles:
Landing Page Optimization 101 – LPO
Site Optimization – Using Google Analytics and Website Optimizer Together
Optimizing User Experience Using Web Analytics – Part 2
Optimizing User Experience Using Web Analytics – Part2

Related Link:
The Official Google Website Optimizer Blog: Thought Leaders
Wider Funnel: Three Tips for Creating Action Pages
VKI Studios: Google Website Optimizer – 5 Big Mistakes most first time users make

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