With more websites opting to include contact forms for consumer ease, a significant amount of leads come from this source. In fact, according to Hubspot, a website’s contact page is the most visited page on the website. However, contact forms can be a target for bots and spam emails, filling up your inbox with unnecessary information and making it harder to identify real clients. As spam emails tend to increase as websites move up the google rankings, installing a captcha form can prevent this from becoming a problem for your business.
Why should I use a contact form?
A contact form is a convenient way your customers can get in touch about your product or service. More of our clients are requesting a contact form to be included in their web design. Renders Online, for example, opted for a minimalist contact form that supports a better user experience. With many complex products and specific uses, customers must have easy access to more information to increase the likelihood of a conversion.
Without the need to open up a new browsing window or open up their emails, customers can quickly provide personal details and explain their query. With 70-80% of customers researching a product or service before purchase, many will likely want to find out more information from the company directly. Additionally, including a contact form can cause your mailing list to grow and provide more opportunities for successful email campaigns. With your contact form added it is now time to consider adding a captcha form, read further to see why you should consider it for your website.
What is a captcha form?
A captcha form can distinguish between a bot and a real user and divert spam emails away from your inbox. This involves using a small test such as identifying letters, performing basic calculations or choosing images that match a description. Usually, this pops up after you try to submit an online contact form. If you pass the test successfully, your email will be received by the business you are trying to contact. Although bots are technically advance, they are not programmed to read distorted letters or analyse images. Therefore, they will fail the test and the spam email will not be sent.
Why use a captcha form?
Installing captcha software on your website poses many benefits. As mentioned previously, it can prevent your inbox from filling up with pointless or even offensive spam emails from bots. This reduces the risk of false leads. Additionally, it can prevent hackers from continuously trying passwords to gain access to accounts. Overall, using a captcha form makes your business more secure and the emails you receive better quality.
How do I add a captcha form to my site?
Basic knowledge of HTML is required to add a captcha to your website. Alternatively, Google reCAPTCHA is an anti-bot system available for third parties at a minimal cost. It can also be installed on WordPress via a plug-in. Overall, a worthwhile investment for keeping your inbox clean and organised.
Additionally, the reCaptcha service only runs if they consider the user’s interaction to be robot-like. If they are displaying human behaviour, the user will only need to check a box to prove they are not a bot.
The other side of the argument
Businesses suffering from constant spam will benefit greatly from installing a captcha form. However, many web developers still advise against it in certain situations. It is worth keeping in mind that not all bots cause harm to your site. GoogleBots and industry-specific bots can lead to your website being indexed higher.