In the age-old understanding of the “marketing funnel”, the more leads that are poured into the top, the more quality results will eventually fall out from the bottom! When it comes to gathering valuable leads for your company or organization, online forms have become the most common and effective method.
Noticing this trend, online web developers have begun to create innovative and effective online form building suites that can help your company gain a competitive edge in a crowded online market. In this blog, we will take a look at some of the most popular online form builders available, and how they can help you meet the specific needs of your organization.
What is a form builder?
Before we jump into the growing list of form builders, let’s take a step back and ask an important question: What is an online form builder?
Online forms are an easy way to capture consumer information from the billions of individuals that peruse the internet every single day. Having someone visit your beautiful website is great, but if they leave without leaving their information, it is impossible to follow up on what may be a valuable customer! An online form allows for websites to easily capture website visitor data and store it in an online database that you can use to follow up with emails, questions, and promotions.
Most online forms are created and placed on websites via popular form-building suites. Companies such as Google and MailChimp have developed customizable form builders that allow users to create a form perfect for their website’s particular needs.
Users can create custom fields for specific data, add their brand colors, and most will generate code that allows for an easy copy and paste into website builders! When visitors enter their information into the form and click “send”, their information is stored in an online database where users can access it quickly and utilize the information to make better business decisions.
So what are the most popular online form builders, and which one is best for your company? Let’s take a look at some of the most popular online form building suites!
Popular Form Builders
AidaForm
With online forms popping up on nearly every website, it is important for your online form to stand out among the rising competition while remaining simple and easy to use. Users don’t want to slog through question after question just to get a response!
You can stand out from the crowd by building conversational website forms with the AidaForm online form builder! AidaForm provides a complete service where you can create forms, share them quickly online, gather responses, and evaluate them in your personal member’s area. You can use the forms to send information about clients or audience, set up payment options, and customize to fit your website’s branding.
The AidaForm service generates the form code, collects form submissions, and keeps all data safe in your account, where you can view it any time you like. Add the online form to your website and start learning more about your visitors to reach your business goals faster.
Check out the AidaForm online form builder – it’s easy to use and has all the essential functions.
Google Forms
As usual, Google sets the standard for online form builders. Google Forms is free and has a simple, easy to use interface – allowing you to create an unlimited number of forms for any need. Another great benefit is Google Forms’s easy connection to the entire Google Suite, allowing for collected responses to be quickly added to any Google Sheet or Doc for reporting purposes.
While a Google Form is quick and easy to create, there are few customizable elements included. It is a basic system that gets straight to the point – making this tool better for those seeking quick responses, rather than the development of professional forms.
Learn more about Google Forms online.
Wufoo
Even with its strange name, Wufoo has quickly become one of the most-used form builders. As part of the SurveyMonkey suite, Wufoo allows users to create appealing online forms that are easy on the eyes and quick to use.
Wufoo’s step-by-step builder creates code that allows users to embed easily on any website. One of Wufoo’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to create fields that accept payments. Wufoo is compatible with many leading online payment systems that most business’s use every day, and can even send notifications to those who fill out the form – notifying them that their payment was accepted!
With the ability to use the form to collect payment information, those who are running businesses will find Wufoo to be very appealing!
Check out Wufoo’s possibilities for your business or website.
HubSpot
As a leader in the online CRM industry, HubSpot has launched its own native form builder. With its integration with the CRM, Hubspot’s online form builder has become one of the most powerful options available today. The tool combines the foundations of form creation with cutting-edge technology to give you much more capability than a normal online form builder can — and it’s also free.
HubSpot combines form builders with powerful HubSpot CRM software to make collecting leads easy. Once a HubSpot form is completed, the information is automatically routed to HubSpot CRM. Users can then set reminder tasks, schedule phone calls, and send customized emails – all helping build relationships with new clients from the moment they fill out the form!
Find out more about the HubSpot form builder and CRM system.
Gravity Forms
WordPress has quickly become one of the most-used website platforms due to its customizable features. For those who choose WordPress to build their website, Gravity Forms is recommended as the highlighted WordPress-powered plugin. This makes Gravity Forms a great option for those using WordPress!
Being part of the WordPress plugin family, Gravity Forms saves users time in navigating other third-party form builders and allows you to set up secure connections right within the WordPress suite. No need to fear to create risky connections between WordPress sites and other online forms!
Learn more about Gravity Forms.
Typeform
Typeform is innovating the online form building world by offering a twist on the typical form. Typeform’s design tools allow for the creation of forms that take users on a question-by-question journey, helping generate more leads with a fun interface!
Typeform is noted as being great for creating customer surveys and conducting user research. The unique format of Typeform is worth checking out!
See more about Typeform online.
Microsoft Forms
As one of the largest companies on the list, Microsoft’s form builder offers many of the same services and options as most applications on this list. A big advantage of using Microsoft Forms is the automatic integration with Microsoft Office 365 – one of the leading online business suites in the world. This makes using Microsoft Forms easy when a company is already using Microsoft’s other suite of programs such as Excel, Word, and Access.
Unfortunately, Microsoft Forms are a bit more difficult to connect with online CMS tools, so these forms may not be the best for those seeking lead generation and workflow processing. But the smooth connection with Excel can help users who are familiar with using Excel systems, which can be a huge advantage!
Read more about Microsoft Forms online.
FormStack
FormStack is great for those looking for a form that has a sleek professional feel. What sets FormStack apart on this list is the powerful programming within the forms that allows users to develop workflows from data. Connections with popular applications such as Google Sheets, PayPal, and MailChimp help you take the data from a form and move it quickly into actionable items. Like Wufoo, FormStack also allows website visitors to make purchases and sign documents online.
FormStack also makes use of a unique A/B testing tool that takes different versions of the same form and lets users decide which to use based on live results from real users! This option is helpful when your business needs to experiment with the best way to reach an audience.
Learn more about FormStack’s software.
For Most Small to Medium Business Needs, AidaForm Is Our Online Form Builder of Choice
While all of the listed form builders are great options, we find that AidaForm has the best combination of tools that most small to medium-sized businesses need.
Similar to Typeform, AidaForm allows users to create build appealing, user-friendly forms that include a variety of customization such as file uploads, rating systems, and drop-down lists. AidaForm also has built-in security for inputting payments, similar to Wufoo. A big plus is AidaForm’s use of CAPTCHA technology – allowing only true users to input information and keeping your data clean.
When it comes to look and feel, the truth is that most customers are visiting your site from a mobile device. This is where the rubber hits the road for the best online form builders. In side-by-side comparisons, Google and Wufoo struggle to function well in most cellular device screens. Functionality – one of the most important elements – can be poor when too many options and input boxes are added. In our opinion, AidaForm is the most mobile-friendly, automatically updating the look and feel of any form to fit most devices. AidaForm is also GDPR-compliant, giving comfort to users who are nervous about inputting their financial data in a mobile web browser!
Ultimately, the choice on which form builder to use for your website comes down to personal choice and need. Different businesses have varying needs when it comes to how their online forms function and any of the above form builders are safe and effective.