Generating leads in 2024 is a tricky task. Not only is the online marketplace more competitive, but it is becoming harder than ever to establish long-term relationships with repeat buyers.
One way to improve your lead generation is to receive as much customer feedback as possible. With more insights into what your demographic truly wants, you can craft a human-centric user experience with your UX design that encourages more engagement from your target leads.
If your website is on WordPress, it could be time to look into installing a web form plugin to generate more customer feedback. With 28% of marketers claiming that web form plugins alone have allowed them to gain more qualified leads, web forms are an easy WordPress addition you shouldn't skip.
Web form plugins are extremely popular among web designers. They can be used to provide support to consumers, develop long-lasting relationships, and gather in-person feedback. Each form generates data based on customer interactions, making them a great tool for gaining insight when crafting your targeting strategy.
With this in mind, we’re jumping into how to choose the best WordPress form-building plugin and reviewing some of the best options on the market so you don’t have to.
Choosing The Best WordPress Form-Building Plugin For You
There are plenty of things to consider when choosing a WordPress form-building plugin. While there are hundreds to choose from, you should pick a form builder that is easy to integrate, can be customized, and provides security for both site owners and consumer information.
It’s also important to look out for ‘lite’ versions of popular plugins, and try before you buy. While free models have limited functionality compared to their premium versions, they offer insight into how a particular form-builder could work in conjunction with your website design.
That said, here are a few essentials to look out for when choosing the best WordPress form-building plugin for your business.
Multi-Device responsiveness: this is our top requirement for a successful WordPress form builder in 2024. With over 60% of online traffic now coming from a mobile device, your forms must look good on a smartphone screen and a desktop. Ensure that your choice of plugin has adaptable templates for mobile devices and can be seamlessly filled in on a smaller screen
Ease of use: For beginner brands and those new to WordPress plugins, you should look for a form-builder that is easy to install and configure on your WordPress site. It’s important to get your form live as soon as possible, so choosing a plugin with a visual builder is key. This way, you can simply drag and drop your chosen designs and input your information while letting the plugin handle any technicalities.
Security: Cybercrime continues to rise online, and WordPress websites are no exception. Before adding plugins to your WordPress website, you should first invest in a WordPress hosting plan that offers maximum website protection. This can reduce the risk of DDoS attacks and keep malicious traffic at bay. Once your site is secure, look for a form-building plugin that has end-to-end encryption and anti-spam features. In doing this, you’ll only receive responses from your customer base.
Customizable templates: Web design novices should hunt for a WordPress form-builder with built-in templates. There’s nothing worse than staring at a blank screen and not knowing where to start. Ensure that your web form plugin has plenty of templates to choose from that can be customized to your audience and industry in just a few clicks.
4 WordPress Form Plugins to Try in 2024
With the essential criteria in mind for choosing the best WordPress form-builder, we've collated four tried and tested options for businesses of all sizes and budgets in 2024.
WPForms
WPForms has to be at the top of this list as one of the most popular form-building plugins on WordPress. With over 4 million users, it has become the go-to option for business beginners and UX experts for a number of reasons.
Not only does the premium version of WPForms come with over 1500 pre-built, customizable templates, but its drag-and-drop nature makes it one of the easiest plugins to integrate into a beginner team.
WPForms users can choose from pre-built registration forms, surveys, contact forms, and more. Giving each user the perfect stepping-off point for personalized creation, developers can scroll through endless options for dropdown designs and multiple-choice structures that can all be adapted to fit numerous screens and styles.
Better still, WPForms is also easily integrated with other third-party plugins, such as payment gateways like Paypal, CRM plugins, and even email marketing tools.
Speaking of email, WPForms even allows users to set up customizable email notifications that alert them when a form has been submitted.
With a free Lite version of WPForms that allows users to create basic contact forms, you can try out this WordPress plugin before subscribing to the pro version, which starts at $49.50 per year.
Thrive Leads
Next up, we have Thrive Leads. This is another great WordPress form-building plugin to consider when you’re looking to build accessible opt-in forms on your website.
From two-step opt-in templates to drag-and-drop floating bars and popup boxes, Thrive prioritizes customization and functionality.
Thrive Leads also takes form building one step further. With a built-in A/B test feature, you can send multiple versions of your form live using the plugin, and the platform will automatically gather engagement data for each version to determine which option is most successful for lead generation.
This plugin is the perfect choice for businesses that want a form builder with built in performance analytics. With the pro version available for $99 per year and the entire Thrive Suite starting at $299 per year, this option is on the pricier side, but is brilliant for growing businesses that want to start data-powered form building in 2024.
Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a brilliant WordPress plugin for those who want to create out-of-the-box forms. Rather than your typical customer feedback form, Gravity Forms allows you to build a form from scratch depending on the data you’re hoping to retrieve from your customers.
With a drag-and-drop visual builder and the option to overlay your own designs, it’s great for personalization. However, it does lack pre-built templates.
This said, more experienced developers can access a vast library of over 100 different design components that all create a more interactive and personalized experience for website consumers.
With no free version, Gravity Forms premium plans start at $59 per year and are aimed at UX designers with some expertise under their belt. However, with more customization options than any other form builder, they are a great choice for a brand that wants to create a custom web form.
Fluent Forms
If you’re looking for all-inclusive functionality, Fluent Forms is one of the only WordPress form-building plugins that offer all features included on every paid plan.
With over 70 pre-made templates and the ability to use the plugin across a number of site licenses, this refreshing WordPress plugin is brilliant for making web forms for any industry.
Better still, with over 45 third-party integrations available, you can connect your Fluid Forms plugin to larger platforms like Zapier and other email and CRM services for a seamless transition between plugins.
Fluid Forms does offer a free version. However, template choices are limited, so we suggest investing in the premium plan starting at $79 a year for medium-sized businesses that already have established email and CRM plugins on site.
It can be difficult to choose a good WordPress plugin if you’re not sure what you’re looking for in an integrated platform.
Our advice is to audit your current lead generation strategy and identify what areas require improvement. Once you have highlighted the elements of your website design you’re hoping to enhance, it’s time to search WordPress’ vast list of plugin options.
For those of you looking to introduce a form builder to your strategy, take a look at the ones we’ve listed above and try out some of the Lite versions first. Choosing the best form-builder for your team takes time, but with more knowledge of exactly what your site needs, you’ll be building custom forms in no time.
If you want to learn more about how to optimise your website for an improved user experience, why not check out one of Ironhack’s UX/UI bootcamps? From learning the basics of design thinking to learning how to create your own interactive form builders, you’ll quickly adopt skills that will shape the future of a well-performing website.
