| The answer to the question "What should a | | | | policy and that your form is hosted on a secure |
| registration form do?" might seem obvious, but if you | | | | server. |
| respond with "Collect registration details", there is a | | | | 5. Prevent mistakes - Let's face it, people don't read |
| good chance that you can improve your registration | | | | instructions, so even if you add text to your form |
| forms to increase registration count and put on | | | | explaining what to do and what not to do, it likely |
| memorable events. | | | | won't be read. Your form needs to be set up in a |
| From our experience, here are eight things your | | | | way that mistakes cannot happen in the first place. |
| registration forms should be doing in addition to | | | | 6. Reduce calls to the event planners - Event Planners |
| collecting data: | | | | are busy people, they don't need more calls about |
| | | | registration form issues. Always have a contact |
| 1. Make you look good - Your registration form | | | | phone number on your form in case people do need |
| should reflect your professional image by having | | | | to call, but try to anticipate common questions that |
| consistent branding, flawless formatting, well | | | | might come up and make sure they are answered on |
| positioned text and of course, look the same in all | | | | the form. Also, test, test and test your form. Many |
| browsers. | | | | calls are a result of a problem encountered on the |
| 2. Convert the people who arrive at the form into | | | | form,o make sure yours is perfect before going live. |
| paying customers - Getting people to your form is | | | | 7. Make people say, "Wow! That was easy!" - Even |
| only the first step. Usability headaches such as too | | | | registration forms with lots of options, categories and |
| many required fields, confusing registration options, | | | | workshops can be made to seem simple with the |
| incorrect pricing or dates all contribute to people | | | | right planning and layout. Invest the time, before you |
| abandoning the registration form. | | | | start, to eliminate frustrations and problems later on. |
| 3. Give people a second taste of your event - The | | | | 8. Collect data the right way for meaningful reporting |
| first taste comes from your marketing materials, so | | | | - There is more than one way to set up a question |
| now you need to reinforce it. Your form should have | | | | for many of the fields you find on typical registration |
| a similar look and feel to your marketing material and | | | | forms. All of the question types may get the data |
| be well organized, error free and work as intended, | | | | into your database, but you need to consider |
| just like the event will be. | | | | whether the format of that data will provide you |
| 4. Make people feel safe and secure - Having a | | | | meaningful, consistent and reliable reporting for your |
| professional looking form is a great help, but you also | | | | requirements. |
| need to ensure you have a clearly displayed privacy | | | | |