Online Form Builders Overview
Online form builders are tools that allow users to quickly and easily create web forms without any coding knowledge or experience. They provide a user-friendly interface that makes it simple for non-developers to build custom forms with no development expertise required.
By providing an extensive library of customizable pre-built templates, as well as the ability to quickly drag and drop elements such as text fields, checkboxes and radio buttons, online form builders make it super easy for anyone to craft unique and engaging forms for their website in just a few minutes.
Forms created with online form builders can be used for anything from collecting customer feedback, registering new users, collecting data from surveys or polls, taking payments from customers and more. Additionally, many online form builders come with built-in analytics that allows you to track your responses in real-time giving you useful insight into how your customers interact with your forms.
A great feature of many online form builders is the ability to integrate them directly into popular services like Salesforce or Google Drive allowing you to synchronize data right away. This means that any information collected through the form will automatically be stored in these external services saving time and effort when it comes to managing records.
Moreover, most of these services support multiple languages so if your website targets multicultural audiences then building a multilingual version of your forms should be easy enough. Furthermore, they usually offer unlimited storage allowing you store tons of data without having to worry about running out of space anytime soon.
Finally, online form builders also come with robust security features like encrypted HTTPS connections and captcha verification screens making sure that all the data collected through them is safe from prying eyes.
Why Use Online Form Builders?
- Streamline Data Collection: Online form builders make it easy to collect data quickly and efficiently in digital forms rather than on paper, saving time when compared to traditional processes that involve manual data entry.
- Organize Data Easily: With online form builders, you can manage gathered responses more productively and effectively by organizing them into custom folders or adding tags so they’re easily searchable.
- Customize Forms Easily: Most online form builders give you the ability to create customized forms quickly with simple drag-and-drop editing tools, so you can create user-friendly forms that are tailored to your specific needs with little effort.
- Automate Processes & Delivery Notifications: You can set up automated processes for server-side validation and confirmation messages to ensure accuracy of collected data and let users know their information was received successfully—making the entire process easier from beginning to end.
- Collect Real-Time Analytics: Analyze your collected data instantly so you can make decisions faster without having to wait for reports or manually tabulate results as is often necessary with paper forms; many online form builder applications provide access to real-time analytics of response counts, completion times, etc., making it easy to make informed decisions right away based on extensive feedback from customers, employees or other stakeholders who use your forms regularly.
The Importance of Online Form Builders
Online form builders are incredibly important in modern society, allowing companies and organizations to quickly create forms that can easily be distributed online. In today’s digital world, most communication is done electronically, so having quick access to an efficient way of collecting information is essential for businesses. Without the use of a form builder, creating customized forms would take up valuable time and resources as you would either need to manually enter data or hire someone skilled with coding languages like HTML and JavaScript.
Using a form creator helps speed up the process of gathering customer information or survey responses by providing users with premade templates that can be customized without needing to have coding knowledge. This helps save time on designing custom forms from scratch which often requires several edits before it's ready for public use. It also allows for easy formatting, validation of data entry fields, user authentication features like password protection, and integration with other platforms like email marketing services or payment gateways.
Additionally, online form builders allow users to make their forms mobile-friendly so they can be accessed on any device such as tablets and smartphones; this makes them much more accessible than paper-based alternatives. Form builders will often include analytics tools which provide useful insights into user behavior based on the submitted data so you can better understand your customers/audience. Having this kind of information available at your fingertips is invaluable in making informed decisions about product development or marketing campaigns.
In conclusion, using an online form builder has multiple benefits that make it an irreplaceable tool for businesses in today's rapidly changing digital landscape; it saves time on creating custom forms from scratch while providing useful data insights into customer behaviors which help inform strategic decisions going forward.
Online Form Builders Features
- Drag and Drop UI: Online form builders often provide a drag-and-drop user interface that makes it easy to create beautiful forms without any coding knowledge. This means users can quickly add, delete, or reorder fields with simple mouse movements.
- Mobile Optimization: Modern online form builders also come with mobile optimization features such as responsive design and automatically adjust the form’s layout for tablet and mobile devices so that the forms look great no matter what kind of device is being used to fill them out.
- API Integrations: Users can connect their forms to other applications through API integration features, allowing data collected in the form to be used in other parts of their business, such as customer relationship management systems (CRMs) or email marketing platforms.
- Form Validation: These tools include built-in validation rules which ensure that only valid information is submitted into the database; this helps keep user data consistent and accurate across applications and teams within an organization.
- Security Features: Security is one of the most important aspects of form building, yet many desktop solutions do not provide adequate protection from malicious actors or tampering. Online form builders offer high levels of security by encrypting data at rest or in transit using Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS), Secured Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Secure HTTP), and other industry-standard protocols.
- Conditional Logic & Branching: Conditional logic allows someone filling out a form to quickly jump between sections based on decisions they make while going through it - this makes complex forms much less intimidating for those filling it out while streamlining data collection processes for teams managing them on their backend system(s). Additionally, branching allows users to tailor a single question’s answer set based on previous questions; this is especially helpful when asking clients demographic questions as certain age groups may have different options from others due to legal/governance/compliance requirements or simply because some products are better suited for certain target markets than others.
- Language Support & Accessibility Options: Some online form builder tools allow users to choose which language they would like their forms presented in; these benefits extend beyond potential users providing their native language preference but also help with meeting accessibility standards laid out by international disability organizations who recommend websites with multilingual support. Additionally, some platforms even let developers customize access controls for specific users or roles allowing companies greater flexibility when deciding who should have access to sensitive company data via webforms.
What Types of Users Can Benefit From Online Form Builders?
- Businesses: Online form builders are a great way for businesses to collect customer feedback, take orders, and manage customer information quickly and easily.
- Nonprofits: Organizations can use online form builders to organize fundraising activities, create member signup forms, or build surveys to measure the success of programs.
- Educators: Form builders offer an easy way for teachers to design course registration forms, quizzes, surveys or even give assignments or tests over the internet.
- Entrepreneurs: Online form builders allow entrepreneurs to gather information from potential customers without having any coding experience or technical background.
- Web developers: Experienced web developers can use online form builders as part of their process when designing websites because it makes creating custom forms faster and easier than building them from scratch.
- Students: Students can benefit from using online form builder tools by gaining valuable skills such as how to create their own surveys for projects or learning about coding fundamentals through interactive tutorials.
- Government Agencies: Governments often rely on these type of platforms in order to carry out official processes such as registering citizens’ details, collecting taxes and fees, taking applications for permits or licenses etc.
How Much Do Online Form Builders Cost?
The cost of online form builders can vary widely, depending on the type of service desired and the features available. Generally, most online form builders will offer either a free version or an affordable paid plan that provides additional functionality.
The free version may come with basic features such as drag-and-drop design tools, embedding capabilities to place forms on existing websites, and customized emails for submissions. However, many limitations are typically attached to a free version — number of submissions may be limited each month or the number of fields allowed per form might be restricted. Also, additional customization options might not be available.
Paid plans usually range from $5 to $100+ per month depending on the features desired. These plans often include increased data storage limits, unlimited submissions/forms/responses each month, more input integration choices (eCommerce platforms), analytics tracking abilities and customizable themes/templates. For companies needing larger scale applications or those with stringent security needs — such as HIPAA compliance — higher end packages are also available which we often include personalized support and various other robust tools.
Risks Associated With Online Form Builders
- Security Risks: Online form builders can make it easier for hackers to access personal information, as they are often not secure. Additionally, the forms may be vulnerable to phishing attacks.
- Privacy Concerns: Online form builders may also require users to provide certain personally identifiable information (PII) such as names, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses. This data could potentially be used for malicious purposes if it falls into the wrong hands.
- Data Breabches: Another risk associated with online form builders is the potential for data breaches. If a breach occurs, any confidential or sensitive information that has been stored in the form builder can be accessed by an unauthorized person or entity.
- Lack of Customization: There is usually limited customization available when using an online form builder, which means that users will not always have full control over how their forms look and function. This can limit their ability to create unique forms that meet their needs and stand out from competitors’ forms.
- User Error: Errors made by users while creating forms on an online form builder platform can lead to incorrect data entry or submission errors that frustrate customers looking to complete the form quickly and easily.
What Software Can Integrate with Online Form Builders?
There are many types of software that can integrate with online form builders, including customer relationship management (CRM) software, accounting and bookkeeping software, eCommerce platforms, and analytics tools. With CRM software, businesses can use form builders to collect customer information from customers and then store it in their CRM system. Accounting and bookkeeping software can be used to quickly pull together invoices or other financial documents for customers after they have filled out a form. eCommerce platforms allow businesses to create forms that collect payment details from customers so that they can complete a purchase. Lastly, analytics tools allow businesses to track customer responses and interaction with the forms in order to analyze how successful their strategies are.
Questions To Ask Related To Online Form Builders
- Does the form builder allow for consistent branding, with customization options such as color, logo, font types and sizes?
- Can data collected from the forms be easily exported to CSV or other file formats?
- What measures does the form builder have in place to protect user data and prevent malicious actors from gaining access or compromising collected information?
- Does the platform provide a secure connection to ensure that users' personal information is not exposed when they interact with the online forms?
- Is there a support team available to help with any technical issues arising while forming and managing online forms?
- How easy is it to embed HTML code into my forms so that I can customize them further if needed?
- Does the service provider offer an analytics dashboard where I can track and measure the performance of each form over time?
- Are there conditional logic capabilities so that I can build more sophisticated forms according to user inputs and responses given during completion of a form?
- Can payment functionality be added directly within my forms if subscription-based plans are requested by visitors to my website or landing page?
- Is there any additional cost associated with features like hosting, extended number of submissions allowed per month, additional templates etc.?