When it comes to building a website, every business has a different set of needs. However, there’s one website feature that just about every business can benefit from: a lead form. What’s a lead form, you ask? It’s a way of capturing information from the visitors on your site. A basic lead form will typically ask for the visitor’s first name, last name, and email, which is key to building your email list of clients—perhaps your most valuable marketing tool.

But with the right tools and a little bit of know how, you can build your lead form to capture whatever information you’re after. Maybe you want to know which classes your site visitors are most interested in, or the visitor’s birthday, so that you can send them a special class offer to commemorate it. Whatever information you’re looking to gather, a lead form is the right tool to do so.

We asked Vika Osipenko, marketing expert and founder of FunnelMint to walk us through the different types of lead forms, and suggest a few tools to use that make them easy to implement.

DEDICATED LANDING PAGE LEAD FORMS
A dedicated landing page lead form sounds just like what it is: a web page on your site that’s solely for capturing information. To create one, Osipenko says that a simple (and free) place to start would be exploring the tools on the backend of your website. “One option is using the built-in tools and modules provided by your content management system (CMS),” she says. “Simply add a new page and insert a form module along with any text you want. Squarespace makes this very easy, giving you the option to insert a form anywhere on your page with drag and drop functionality.”

If you want to store the information you’re collecting elsewhere (say, for a newsletter), another option is to create the page using a third party form to gather that information. “Wufoo, Gravity Forms, Formsite and many others will allow you to create the form with them and then copy and paste the form code into your own website,” says Osipenko.

However, if you’re not comfortable enough with using HTML to get the page looking exactly how you want it to, Osipenko recommends using lead form software to help build it. “Using lead form software like Unbounce, Leadpages, or Instapage allow you to create beautiful landing pages with built-in forms without touching any code,” she says. “They have templates you can use, drag and drop functionality, A/B testing, and make it incredibly easy to optimize the mobile version of the landing page and form.”

LIGHTBOX LEAD FORMS
Lightbox lead forms act as pop-ups within your site rather than taking up an entire webpage. “You can get pretty sophisticated with this type of lead form,” says Osipenko, “triggering it only for certain geographic locations, during certain hours, for new or returning visitors, etc.” In order to build a lightbox lead form and control when and how it appears, Osipenko suggests using a service to help you do so. “Give WisePops or the new overlay convertables from Unbounce a try,” Osipenko recommends. “You’ll create and style the lightbox and form on their website, and then copy and paste the code into your website. Usually it’s a bit of javascript code that you’ll need to add to your page header.”

QUIZ LEAD FORMS
Instead of a static lead form that gathers information in a straightforward manner, quiz lead forms make the whole process more engaging for your visitors, and can help you gain valuable customer insights. “The basic premise is that you ask your visitors a few questions upfront and then require their contact information before you display the results,” Osipenko explains. Studio or gym owners could build a quiz around “what class type is right for you” or “what’s your perfect post-workout snack?” It’s a great way to nurture your clients and gather information about what they’re looking for. To build a quiz lead form, Osipenko says you’ll need to use a third party platform like Typeform or LeadQuizzes. Once built, you can copy and paste the quiz code into your website.