Written by ryanchristian 
Forms are essential to any lead-generating site. They’re the ideal way to capture information because form leads are stored in your lead manager without the need for manual data entry.
This document will show you how to create and customize forms to suit your needs. Let’s get started!
📝TABLE OF CONTENTS
Default Forms & Navigation
Your site is designed to generate leads, which means it has pre-built forms on your site. All forms were tested for conversions before they were added to the default design.
Here’s how you can find and access the forms editor for your site’s default forms.
Creating a New Form
Access your forms from your account dashboard by clicking a site’s Content, then Forms on the left menu. This link will take you there.
Click the Add New button on the top right. A pop up will appear to add a title and description to your form.
The title and description become the form’s default heading (form title) and default paragraph (form description). You can always hide those in page settings where the form is being added. Your title should be indicative of the form’s purpose. For example, we always title the form added to the About Us and Contact Us pages “Contact Us” because it’s used to encourage communicating with you and your business.
Editing Form Fields
Click items on the right and drag them over to the middle of the screen to drop them in place where you want them on the form. You have the following options for field types: Standard Fields, Advanced fields, Post Fields, and Pricing Fields. You can find a list of all Field Types further down this doc.
🥕Here are some of Carrot’s favorite form tricks
Add fields to columns
The latest update enables you to add fields side-by-side without having to add any extra classes. It’s just a simple drag-and-drop procedure. Add the fields to your form and drag them in the order you want them. Maximum of 4 columns in 1 row.
Hover over the field to move and click the 6 dots. Keep your mouse pressed and move the field where you want it in the row. You will see a highlighted bar to confirm the placement of the field. Release your mouse when you are ready to place the field.
Use autocomplete for stateside addresses
The Address field is an advanced field type that’s added to a handful of default forms. Carrot applied autocomplete for all default forms but you’ll need to apply that to any new address field you add to forms. International businesses will need to switch the default setting to suggest international addresses, versus only stateside addresses.
Return Access
If you have an opt-in form for a resource or page that leads would want to repeatedly access, it’s best to create a new form and allow “return access.” This is a bit advanced but well worth the time it takes to set up because your leads will have the best experience. For example, Carrot’s cash buyer site has return access applied by default to the properties form so a person only needs to fill out the form once to view properties. Here’s how you can set that up.
Go to your Form > Settings > Confirmations > Default Confirmation > Allow Return Access
Set the redirect text, page, or link and ensure the box is checked to “Allow Return Access”
💡Use this on forms exclusive to a resource and a landing page only. If you use this for forms on the homepage or About Us page, then visitors will be redirected to different resources, which isn’t an optimal user experience. It’s only ideal for resource-specific pages.
Field Types
Standard Fields
Single Line Text is a single line
Paragraph Text allows users to submit multiple lines of text
Drop Down allows you to select one option from a drop-down list
Number is a single line text for numerical values
Checkboxes allows users to select one or many checkboxes
Radio buttons use circles to allow users to select one option from a list
Hidden allows the form to collect information while hidden from the end user
HTML enables you to add HTML to your form
Section content separator that helps separate sections of a form
Page breaks up a form into multiple pages, with pagination viewed with a default “next” button
Advanced Fields
Name adds a first and last name box to your form
Date allow users to enter a date
Time allow user to submit time as hours and minutes
Phone adds a box that formats the content as a phone number
Address allows you to add a auto-complete addresses from Google’s Map feature
Website allows users to enter a website URL
Email formats and accepts valid emails only
File Upload allows a person returning the form to upload a file, such as an application
Captcha is a security feature that makes someone verify they are not a robot
List allow users to submit and remove multiple rows of information
Multi Select uses circles to allow users to select one option from a list
Consent offers a “yes/no” box for users to agree to details you input
Post Fields
Title allows users to submit the title for a blog post
Body allows users to submit the body for a blog post
Excerpt allows user to submit data, used for a blog post’s excerpt
Tags allows users to submit tags for a blog post
Category allows users to submit the category for a blog post
Post Image allows users to submit an image for a blog post
Custom Field allows user to submit custom field values for a blog post
Pricing Fields
Product allows the creation of products in the form
Quantity enables quantity specification for a product
Option allows users to select options for a product, created with the product field
Shipping allows a shipping fee to be added to the form total
Total adds a total field to your form
Editing Form Settings
You can access your form’s settings from your main forms page by hovering over a form’s title and selecting Settings from the menu. You can also access the settings from a form’s editor.
Common Settings to Edit
Form Button: The default text reads “Submit Your Info Now” but you may want to update that Call-To-Action to a specific item. Examples include
- “Get My Fair Cash Offer”
- “Contact Us for More Details”
- “Get my Free Estimate”
- “Set an Appointment”
Restricting Entry Limits: If you receive a lot of spam on a form, this option can be pretty handy because it stops you from jamming up your notifications and lead manager with useless leads. Check the box and save your form settings to apply this.
Adding Forms to Your Content
Return to your site’s content to update a page or post. Edit the content and locate where you want the form. Use the Inserter “+” to add a block. Locate the “Form” block under the embed category. Select the form block and choose your form from the drop-down.
At this point, you can choose to display your form’s title and description on the block settings to the right. Once you have the form where you want it, displayed as you want it, click the “update” button and you’re done!
Best Practices
How many form fields should I have on my home page?
Your site’s home page should have no more than 3 fields (or areas) on your form. Any more than this and your conversions decrease up to 10% per extra field. For example, if you have a first name, last name, phone, email, and address, then you have 5 fields on your form, which could decrease conversions by 20%. To keep the most optimal conversion rates, 3 fields on the home page is best. From there, feel free to play with the field numbers on other forms.
Placeholder text
We rarely use placeholder text. Yes, it’s great if you’d like a minimal form look but it’s terrible from a user experience and accessibility stance. The text disappears as soon as a lead starts typing in the field and they don’t always remember the reason for the field. Placeholder text is also unable to be read by screen readers, which can leave users with visual impairments at a loss. Our recommendation, don’t use this text unless you really want to give it a go and take the chance.
FAQ
How can I get back my lead’s information if I edited the form and they disappeared?
If you edited your form and removed any items, your lead will also be removed from the lead manager. We recommend keeping all fields and updating them to an administrative view (Advanced Field Setting). This removes them from the site but allows you to keep accurate records in the lead manager.
