Let’s begin at the beginning. What is an online website form?
Let’s say you have a prospective student (or their parents) who might be interested in enrolling. You’d love to convince them you are the right fit, but you can’t do that without knowing who they are, what they are looking for, or how to communicate with them. Enter the web form.
A web form on your school website lets prospective students or staff provide their information so you can understand their needs or interests. Whether they want to know about:
- getting a campus tour
- finding out about tuition or scholarships
- learning what programs or sports you offer
- making a payment or purchase
- or, enrolling or applying for a job
An online form makes it simple for them and lets your school collect the data you need to respond. Forms also let you see who is visiting your website and what their needs are so you can design your website to meet those needs.
If you are a school administrator, the benefits of having your school website become the one-stop-shop resource for your parents and students are likely quite obvious. But just in case you need convincing or some validation, let’s talk about how to use online web forms to optimize your school website’s value.
Lead generation (increasing student enrollment or teacher recruitment)
For schools, the most common reason for creating web forms is to increase student enrollment. This can be through inbound marketing (where you provide something of value for your website visitor, and they provide you with their contact information so you can follow up and market to them).
One inbound marketing example might be a free informative article about how to prepare your preschool child for success in kindergarten, targeting parents of preschool-age children. Then, with the contact data, you follow up with information about your school’s kindergarten programs and their benefits and outcomes.
Another site form example is creating web forms to let parents register for a campus tour or receive an invitation to an upcoming parent information event.
You can also make a simple form that allows prospective teachers or classified staff to apply for open positions right from your school website.
Of course, there is always the ever-valuable online student enrollment form. Cut to the chase and save your office staff time. Let parents complete a registration web form in the convenience of their home and upload all the necessary documents.
Saving staff time (which means saving money)
Having a web form that eliminates the need for parents to stop by the office or requires a teacher to shuffle forms benefits both the parents and the staff. Any time you can keep your staff and teachers on critical tasks, they will be more productive. This translates to more effective use of school funds (which are usually in short supply). Just consider the possibilities!
- Registration forms (enrollment, clubs, sports, classes, extra-curricular programs)
- Recruitment forms (classified and certified staff)
- Online payment forms (parking fees, athletic fees, club fees, etc.)
- Donation forms
- Volunteer forms
- Permission forms (photo releases, field trip permissions, etc.)
Another benefit of online data collection is the time saved when mistakes are reduced or information loss is eliminated through human error. Automated data collection is as reliable as the information typed in by the site visitor. This helps avoid embarrassment from mistakes, and the automatic data collection saves time.
Making it easy (for parents and/or students)
As we hinted at earlier, any time you make a process or requirement available online and save parents or students the trouble of stopping by the office or lugging paper forms back and forth, you are saving everyone valuable time. Here are suggestions to make everyone’s life easier:
- Using online forms to automate data collection.
- Improving customer support and showing consideration for your customers.
- Improving your school brand and building better relationships with your shareholders.
- Making processes convenient will increase compliance and give you more insight into your customers and their needs.
Creating a reliable resource = building trust
A part of your school website’s purpose is to be a reliable resource for information to parents, students, and community members. It is a 24/7 resource that can build trust with your shareholders that you care enough about them to make getting information easy and consistent.
Download Our FREE eBook: How to Create an Exceptional School Website
Ideally, your website and the forms on that site will become a trusted, valuable communications tool. Create web forms and add to your site’s value. It will help you look professional, gain customers’ trust, and be a reliable resource to answer parent and student questions.
Best practices for website forms
Now that you know some of the benefits of using online web forms, let’s talk about some of the best practices to make your forms effective.
Make it one-click easy
Don’t make your users search for critical forms that you want them to find. For example, put your donation form in a location where someone visiting your school website for the first time can find it quickly. Some of the more common high-profile forms are donate/give and apply/enroll.
One common method is to put those common calls to action (CTAs) in the footer or header of your website so they are available from every page.
A CTA refers to the next step a marketer wants the website user to take. So, make sure your CTA will draw their attention so they will take that step. This can be done through bolded text, colorful buttons, or a unique font style. Also, make sure your CTA links directly to the sign-up form so you don’t force them to click again.
For topic-specific forms, be sure you have a prominent button or call to action on the appropriate page. For example, you’d put a button directly to the enrollment form right on the web page talking about enrollment or the field trip permission form on the parent resources page.
Many websites use a pop-up to encourage their visitors to complete an online form. But use this technique judiciously. Having a pop-up on every page will frustrate your visitors simply because they are required to click the close button repeatedly.
Make it accessible
As with the rest of your school website, your web forms must be website compliant as per WCAG 2.1 AA standards. This means that your website must be usable for all visitors, regardless of disability or impairment. You want anyone using your site to gain access to your information, regardless of the technology or assistance they use. The site must comply with certain design and development guides to ensure that it accommodates those with disability and that they have a similar experience as those without disability. Some of these standards regarding online forms include:
- must be keyboard accessible
- must associate form labels with controls
- must be logical and easy to use
Web accessibility, as defined by the W3C, means “that websites, tools, and technologies are designed and developed so that people with disabilities can use them.” This includes online forms. One of our personal favorite websites for learning more about this is WebAIM.
For more information about accessibility compliance or training, we also offer help and training.
Make it mobile-friendly
Remember that many people use their mobile devices most of the time. So, you must cater to your mobile users by assuring that the form will adjust to screen size and orientation. Avoid designing a web form that requires scrolling horizontally, since most users are accustomed to scrolling vertically. Be sure your forms are responsive.
Also, consider the number of form fields you are including since completing a form on a tiny screen is much more challenging. For your user’s benefit, add only as many fields as absolutely necessary.
Make it simple (and brief)
Keep it brief. A lengthy form may scare away visitors who are already hesitant to share their information (we all fear getting spammed into oblivion). If there are too many fields will be overwhelming. So, be sure you keep the form’s intent in mind.
Don’t include fields that are not absolutely necessary (or that you can gather upon the follow-up contact). Often, that means your form only asks for their name, email, or phone number so you can complete the follow-up! Avoid asking for more personal information than necessary and you’ll increase your chances of having users complete your forms.
Consider embedding your form labels within the form fields. This will keep your website form less cluttered and make better use of space.
Make it yours
Web form design also matters. Your website forms should be fast-loading, intuitive, and attractive, and should be designed to match your school’s brand. Match your web forms to your website colors, font type, text size, and style.
Keep it organized. By keeping everything in one column, you can make it easy to complete. However, you may want to keep information like dates (month, day, year) on one line while keeping most other information in a single column. This can help avoid making the website user feel like they are being bombarded with questions.
Include kind error messages
We all make mistakes. Your site users are no exception, and they may make errors when filling out your online forms. You will need to notify them of those errors before submitting the form, but you can do it in a way that is kind.
You want to help them know how to correct the error without placing blame while remedying the problem, all while you reinforce or establish your school’s positive brand.
For example, let’s say your user forgot to fill in their first name. Instead of displaying a message that reads, “You didn’t enter your name,” or “There is something wrong,” use “Please enter your name.” This way, you don’t place blame and don’t provide vague or unclear instructions. It is kind and clear, which is your goal for error messages.
Also, avoid unclear message placement. One of the most clear message placements is directly in line with the error so that your site user can instantly see the issue and fix it.
In summary…
We encourage you to examine ways to streamline your customers’ lives and save your staff time by adding online web forms to your school website. Apply the best practices we’ve included here, and enjoy the success of an improved and effective school website while you improve your customer service.
Need help? Contact School Webmasters and let us help you with your website and all that it entails! You can also call Jim at 888.750.4556.