Do you want more email subscribers? Connecting a WordPress contact form to your email list is an easy way to capture more leads from website traffic.
In this ultimate guide, we’ll show you how to create high converting WordPress contact forms for email list growth using WPForms.
Why Every Website Needs Contact Forms Connected to Email Lists
Let‘s start with why you should add contact forms in the first place:
According to statistics from OptinMonster, contact forms have an average conversion rate between 30-50% when users join email lists. Additionally, email marketing boasts up to 4,400% ROI making it hugely profitable.
Benefits include:
- Captures subscriber data you own
- Allows direct marketing unlike volatile social media
- Builds trust and credibility signals
- Converts anonymous traffic into leads
- Higher revenue through email sequences
With the right optimization, WordPress contact forms can become lead generation machines that continually grow your subscriber base.
Step 1: Install User Friendly WordPress Contact Form Plugins
While you can technically build contact forms from scratch in WordPress, it‘s faster and easier to use dedicated form builder plugins.
We recommend WPForms as the best well-rounded solution that checks all the boxes:
✔️ Drag and drop visual builder
✔️ Pre-built form templates
✔️ Instant mobile responsiveness
✔️ Email/SMS notifications
✔️ Multi-page form workflows
✔️ Lead capture integrations
✔️ Detailed analytics
The free WPForms Lite plan lets you create unlimited forms and even connect basic platforms like Mailchimp out of the box.
Next, you’ll learn how to set up contact form and email service integration to capture subscriber data and automatically grow lists.
Step 2: Set Up Service Integrations to Capture Contact Form Email Leads
Connecting your WordPress contact forms to email marketing platforms involves just a few quick steps.
Here is a walkthrough for some of the most popular ESPs:
ConvertKit
- Install WPForms ConvertKit addon
- Enter ConvertKit API key in settings
- Map form fields to ConvertKit tags
- Choose signup confirmation options
Benefit: ConvertKit specializes in creator economy email marketing.
Mailchimp
- Upgrade WPForms to paid plan
- Click "Add new connection"
- Authorize Mailchimp app
- Select account and subscriber list
- Map form fields to list
Benefit: Mailchimp excels at email automation workflows.
Campaign Monitor
- Install Campaign Monitor addon
- Enter API key and select data center
- Choose account and list
- Configure field mapping
Benefit: Great email builder and segmentation.
| Email Service | Free Plan | Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| ConvertKit | ❌ | Creator focus |
| Mailchimp | ✔️ | Automations |
| Campaign Monitor | ❌ | Segmentation |
This table compares some of the most popular email marketing platform integrations available for WPForms contact forms. The key is choosing the right service for your business needs.
As you can see, integration setup is straightforward making it fast to instantly grow your subscriber lists using WordPress contact forms.
Step 3: Design High Converting Contact Forms
Simply adding a basic contact form isn‘t enough. You need to optimize user experience for maximum conversions.
Here are some best practices to follow:
Appealing Form Design
Good visual design improves perceived trust and completeness rates. Consider:
- Minimalist single page layout
- Soothing color scheme
- Clean sans-serif fonts
- Adequate white space
Reduce clutter and overwhelm. Draw users‘ attention to key action areas like email signup checkboxes using contrast, sizing, and placement.
GDPR/CCPA Compliance
Legal data regulations require user consent before collecting and storing private information like emails.
Enable GDPR mode in WPForms settings. This adds:
- Required subscriber consent checkbox before joining list
- Right to erasure and data export
- Anonymization by disabling IP tracking
Smart Conditional Logic
Show optin checkbox only after users enter email address. This encourages completing earlier fields first.
Create multi-step contact form workflows to gradually collect data across pages while increasing value.
CAPTCHA Spam Filters
Bots attempting to spam contact forms are a nuisance. Add CAPTCHA image challenges to separate humans from spam robots.
Integrate hCaptcha or Google reCAPTCHA to let valid users pass while blocking bots.
Optimizing user experience drives contact form completion rates crucial for email list growth.
Step 4: Embed Forms on High Traffic Pages
Placement plays a key role in form conversion performance. Consider:
- Contact page – Expected location
- Blog posts – Engaged readers
- Popups – Intercept exit traffic
- Slide-ins – Less disruptive
- Sidebars – Persistent visibility
Analyze your site analytics to identity high value placement opportunities. Test multiple options to learn what works.
For example, exit-intent popups and slide-ins displayed when users move to leave capitalize on this intent to recover abandoning visitors.
Tools like OptinMonster make it easy to deploy these advanced conversions without coding skills. See our list building guide for more subscriber growth strategies.
Continually Test and Optimize Performance
Treat your high traffic WordPress site like a landing page. Set key metrics and track contact form analytics to improve email conversion rates through optimization.
WPForms includes detailed reporting on:
- Form views
- Completion rates
- Conversion rates
- Field performance
- And more…
The key is relentlessly testing aspects like design, placements, CTA language, incentives and observing which changes impact metrics positively.
There are always opportunities to further enhance subscriber opt-in performance through continual contact form optimization. Over time results compound dramatically.
Conclusion
Attracting visitors is useless unless you can convert that traffic into leads and sales. WordPress contact forms are the perfect lead capture tool for this goal.
In this guide you learned:
- How contact form and email integration works
- Tips for maximizing form conversion rates
- Tools to expand beyond basic forms
- The power of continually optimizing performance
Now you can unlock consistent email subscriber and revenue growth leveraging high performing WordPress contact forms.
Is there anything else you want to know? Let me know in the comments!
