Every field raises a small question, and a sentence beside it answers one. Explaining why a field is needed, what happens after submitting, and how quickly somebody responds addresses the hesitations that cause abandonment without removing any field.

What the words are for

A form asks somebody to give up information to a business they have not met. Every field raises a small question, and unanswered questions accumulate into a decision not to bother.

Microcopy is the answer to each one, delivered where the question occurs. It costs a sentence and it does not require removing anything.

That makes it the cheapest available improvement to a form, and the one most commonly absent entirely.

The questions worth answering

Why do you need this

Most useful beside the phone number, which is the field people hesitate over most. So we can confirm the appointment time answers it in seven words.

Also worth explaining for a postcode or address on a service business form, since the reason is obvious to you and not to them.

What will you do with it

A short line saying you will use it to respond and not to add them to anything. Not a link to a privacy policy nobody opens, a sentence in place.

Will you call me

The actual worry behind a reluctance to give a phone number. Saying that you will reply by email unless they ask otherwise, or offering a preference, removes it directly.

What format do you want

Beside anything with a format: a postal code, a date, or a reference number. An example is better than an instruction.

How much should I write

Beside a message field, which people stare at. A prompt suggesting what is useful produces better enquiries as well as more of them.

The prompt that improves enquiry quality

Worth separating out because it does more than reduce abandonment.

An empty box labelled Message produces one-line enquiries requiring three emails to qualify. A prompt saying what helps, such as the type of property, roughly when you need it, and anything you already know about the problem, produces enquiries you can quote from.

That is a change to a label, and it converts a form that generates work into one that generates usable information.

The button

Say what happens, not what the mechanism is.

Send my enquiry. Request a quote. Book an inspection. Each describes an outcome. Submit describes a form action, which is the thing the visitor cares least about.

Underneath it, one line reducing the perceived commitment: no obligation, or we will reply within one working day. That line does measurable work, because the hesitation at the button is about what happens next rather than about the form.

What happens after

The most neglected microcopy on any site.

A confirmation saying only Thank you wastes the moment when the visitor is most receptive and most uncertain. What it should say: that it arrived, who will respond, when, and what to do if it is urgent.

The phone number belongs on the confirmation page specifically, because somebody who has just submitted is the person most likely to want to speak to you.

The same content belongs in the automatic acknowledgement email, which also gives them a record with your details in it.

Error messages

Microcopy at the moment of maximum frustration, which makes the wording matter more than anywhere else.

The consent line

Where you intend to add somebody to a mailing list, that has to be a separate unticked box with its own wording, not bundled into submitting the form.

The wording should say what they will receive and roughly how often. Bundled or pre-ticked consent is both poor practice and, under Canadian rules, generally not valid consent.

Keeping it separate also means the enquiry form converts on its own terms, rather than the enquiry being discouraged by an unwanted subscription attached to it.

What to keep short

A caution, since microcopy can become clutter.

One line per question, not a paragraph. Only where a real hesitation exists, rather than beside every field. And nothing that repeats the label.

A form where every field carries two lines of explanation looks harder than one where three fields carry one line each. The objective is answering the questions that exist, not annotating the form.

Finding out which questions people have

From the enquiries and calls you already receive.

What people write in the message box unprompted, what they ask on the phone before giving details, and what they apologise for not knowing. Those are the hesitations, and each one is a line of microcopy waiting to be written.

The layout and behaviour side of the same form is a separate set of decisions, covered in forms that do not look like paperwork.

Frequently asked questions

What is form microcopy?

The short lines beside fields, under the button, and on the confirmation. Each answers a hesitation at the point it occurs, without removing any field.

Which field needs explanation most?

The phone number, which people hesitate over most. A short line saying why it is needed, and whether you will call or email, removes the worry directly.

How do I get better quality enquiries?

Replace an empty box labelled Message with a prompt saying what helps: property type, rough timing, and anything known about the problem. That produces enquiries you can quote from.

What should the button say?

What happens, such as send my enquiry or book an inspection, with one line underneath reducing the perceived commitment, such as a stated response time.

What should the confirmation page say?

That it arrived, who will respond, when, and what to do if it is urgent. The phone number belongs there, since somebody who just submitted is most likely to want to call.

How should mailing list consent be handled?

As a separate unticked box with its own wording saying what they will receive and how often. Bundled or pre-ticked consent is generally not valid under Canadian rules.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Form people start and abandon at the phone field?

We add the lines that answer the hesitations, and the message prompt that turns one-line enquiries into ones you can quote from.

Start a Conversation