A web form (aka “webform” or “HTML form” if you’re picky) is a part of a web page that is designed for collecting specific information from users, which they have to enter and which is later sent to a server for processing.
If you’ve been on the Internet for more than a few hours in your life, you must have seen at least one web form. They all look more or less the same - typically, it’s a form that features several empty text fields to be filled out, checkboxes, or radio buttons. Here’s one that might look strangely familiar:
Obtaining information on potential clients (and using this information later)
Tracking customer order and purchase data
Receiving feedback
Capturing leads
Any kind of information you deem worth collecting and your customers don’t mind providing can and should be collected via web forms.
Now, it’s one thing collecting data - you also need to store and manage this data in a way that is convenient and (preferably) automated to some degree. After all, the data itself is not going to do you any good if you are not able to process it and make some definitive conclusions that you can act upon.
That’s why most businesses are looking not just for web forms (which are, essentially HTML code) but for a service that will allow them to run the whole web form scenario from start to finish, including things like:
web form creation (in a template-based fashion where you don’t have to code anything, just make a few tweaks to a pre-made web form template)
complete customization (where you can change any parameter - from the background color to the placement of elements)
quick launch (where you click just one button and your web form goes live on your website the same second)
CRM integration (so that you would be able to capture your lead data and have it automatically added to your CRM)
built-in tracking and analytics (to track vital marketing stats like views, CTR, conversion rate, etc.)
Depending on the type of information you want to collect and where you would like to place your web forms, you can choose from the following types of forms within Bitrix24:
Contact form
Typically used for customer service purposes or simply for providing your site visitors with a way to contact you in an organized fashion. May contain fields like name, contact details, and some optional ones.
Registration/signup form
A must-have for any website and/or online store, this is something that every user has to go through before they can purchase from you. An integral part of any registration process is creating a user account and storing the newly created user credentials for return visits.
Lead generation form
Although registration can also be used for capturing leads, the lead generation form takes this game to the pro level. Here, users would be typically required to enter their personal information (name, company/organization, phone/email, etc.)
Order form
Again, another must-have for any online store or service. This form usually features multiple steps, such as providing customer info, payment details, shipping address, etc. Additional data protection must be ensured since payment details are the type of information you do not want to mishandle.
Survey form
Depending on the type of survey, this form may contain fill-in-the-blank, multiple-choice, or simply long-form responses (or all of the above combined). An ideal way to learn more about your customers.
Custom form
Basically, anything else that you may come up with.
In addition to having all of these different types of web forms, Bitrix24 also features allows you to choose how exactly you want your web form to be presented:
Embedded on your website page(s) - most common choice
Displayed in a pop-up window (opens only if a user clicks on the button/link) - works great for order forms
Displayed in a pop-up window with a time delay - although generally despised by users and search engines alike, this type of web form presentation is still used in a limited capacity
For example, you can have every user who has created an account on your website added to your CRM automatically as a Lead (since that’s essentially what they are, from a business perspective). The newly created CRM entry will contain some (or all) of the information your site visitors provide you with when they fill in your web form.
Not only that but you can also have these newly created CRM entries automatically assigned to one (or several) of your sales reps thus building a continuous, self-sufficient workflow that does not require any of your input once it’s been set up. That’s what we’d like to call “set and forget” - and it’s that good, you just have to try it.With Bitrix24 CRM web forms, you can easily connect Google Analytics to any of your web forms and start collecting actionable marketing data right away!
All you have to do is provide your Google Analytics ID in the web form creation form (pardon the unavoidable pun). If the form is published on your site and you already use Google Analytics, events and goals will be auto-registered.If you haven’t tried Bitrix24 yet, well, lucky you! There’s so much good stuff we have in store for you - just get our free version, which will give you access to all of the CRM web form features we’ve mentioned here in this article. Good luck!