What a free estimate page needs before anyone fills it out
A free estimate page is where a search turns into a lead, and most of them leak. Here's what we put on every one now, from builds for clients in Lawrence, MA and around the US.
Johnny Urena, a client in Lawrence, Massachusetts, hired us on Upwork to build a free estimate page. His review afterward: "Straight forward, doesn't waste time. If he can't do something he'll tell you."
A free estimate page looks like the simplest page on a site. It's also the one that decides whether all the SEO work turns into a lead. Here's what we put on every one now.
Short form, the right fields
Every extra field costs you people. Name, phone, email, town, what you need, and an optional photo upload. That's it. The photo matters more than it looks. A roofer, a tint shop or a paving company can quote half the job from one picture, and the person who took the time to upload one is serious.
Ask for the town. People will give you the full address after you've called them back.
Say where you work
List the towns you serve on the page in plain words. If you're in Lawrence, that's probably Methuen, Andover, Haverhill, Lowell and North Andover. People check before they fill out the form, and so does Google.
Say when they'll hear back
"We'll call you within one business day" does more than any trust badge. Then keep the promise.
Make the phone number tappable
A lot of people land on the estimate page on a phone and decide to call instead. The number should be a real tap-to-call link, near the top, and it should be tracked.
Track the submission itself
The form should fire an event when it's actually submitted. Tracking a visit to a thank-you URL counts bots and people who refresh. Mark that event as a key event in Google Analytics so it shows up in every report, next to the search that brought the person in.
Check the form still sends
This is the one nobody does. Forms stop sending all the time: an email password changes, a caching plugin blocks the script, a mail setting expires. In July we found form submissions on a client's site had been dropping since March. It was an email setting. Four months, and nobody caught it, us included. We test form delivery on every site we manage every month now.
Spam without the friction
Use a hidden honeypot field and server-side checks before you reach for a puzzle captcha. Every "click all the traffic lights" screen loses you a few real people.
The page, in one list
- Five fields plus an optional photo
- The towns you serve, in plain words
- When they'll hear back
- A tap-to-call number, tracked
- A submission event marked as a key event
- A monthly test that the form still delivers
If your estimate form hasn't been tested in a while, test it today. If you want someone to check the whole path from search to form, that's what the Site Audit covers.
The Koinophobe team
Frequently asked questions
What fields should a free estimate form have?
Name, phone, email, town, what you need, and an optional photo upload. Every extra field costs you people, and they'll give you the full address after you've called them back.
How should I track free estimate form submissions?
Fire an event when the form is actually submitted, because tracking a visit to a thank-you URL counts bots and people who refresh. Then mark that event as a key event in Google Analytics.
How often should I test my website contact form?
Every month. Forms stop sending when an email password changes, a caching plugin blocks the script or a mail setting expires. In July we found a client's form submissions had been dropping since March because of an email setting, and nobody caught it for four months.
