Definition
Form completion rate is how many people finish a form, divided by how many it counts as starting. The number depends on that starting point: everyone who saw the form, or only those who began typing. For a service business, it shows how many inquiries a form loses.
On this page
What does form completion rate measure?
Form completion rate compares two counts. You take the number of people who send a form. You divide it by the number of people counted as starting it.
It is not the same as a page's conversion rate. A conversion rate usually counts one goal, such as an inquiry or a sale, against every visit to the page. Many of those visitors never reach the form at all.
The word that changes the answer is "starting." Two common versions count starts in two different ways.
How do you measure form completion rate?
Decide what counts as a start first. Then divide.
| Version | Starts are | Finishes are | It answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| View-to-completion | Everyone who saw the form | Everyone who sent it | How many visitors does the form turn into inquiries? |
| Starter-to-completion | Everyone who answered at least one question | Everyone who sent it | How many people who begin give up partway? |
Abandonment rate is the other side of the second version. It is the share of starters who left before sending.
What does it look like for a service business?
Here is a made-up example. A heating and cooling business shows its contact form to 400 visitors in a month. Of those, 120 type an answer, and 60 send the form.
- View-to-completion: 60 divided by 400, or 15%.
- Starter-to-completion: 60 divided by 120, or 50%.
It is the same form in the same month, with two honest numbers. A low first number points at the page: people see the form and do not begin. A low second number points at the form itself, such as a question people would rather not answer.
Why do completion rates from different sources disagree?
Published numbers often count starts in different ways. They may also measure different kinds of forms over different months.
A number based on views will be lower than one based on starters for the same form. That is because fewer people start a form than see it.
Before you compare your form with a published number, check three things:
- What it counts as a start.
- What it counts as a finish.
- When the numbers were collected.
The fairest comparison is your own form against itself, month to month, counted the same way each time.
What does a partly finished form tell you?
On a plain contact form, someone who leaves partway often leaves nothing behind. In Qualiform, each answer is saved as the visitor gives it. So a conversation that stops partway still leaves an inquiry with the answers given so far. You can still read what a starter told you, even if they never finished.
To see how the inquiries that do arrive are sorted by fit, read the guide to qualifying leads from your contact form or the short definition of lead scoring.
Common questions
What is a good form completion rate?
It depends on which starting point the number uses, how long the form is, and what it asks. The best number to compare with is your own form, measured the same way each month. That shows you whether a change helped.
Does a lower completion rate always mean a worse form?
Not always. A form that asks a few more questions may get fewer inquiries sent. It can still leave you with more inquiries you can act on. Read the inquiries themselves, not only the rate.
Do small businesses need to track completion rate?
A rough count once a month is enough for most. Write down how many people saw the form, how many started it, and how many sent it. Count again after you change the questions.