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Feedback for Confidence, Site Enhancement, and More Traffic

By Will Bontrager

Mari and I have long been proponents of feedback forms on all web sites. There's something about the idea of knowing one is able to contact site owners that inspires confidence.

An email link also does the job, but is subject to spammer harvesting. Further, the presence of a feedback form says the site owner cares enough to provide the convenience.

Therefore, the "Turning feedback into website traffic!" thread on the public Marketing Secrets forum got my close attention.

This article contains many of the points made in the thread. But you really owe it to yourself to open up your browser and have a look. The post that started the thread has an explanation of how feedback was used to increase website traffic, with a link to one aspect of the implementation.

After participating in the thread, I realize, now more than ever, that active encouragement of feedback and questions will result in valuable insight and information that otherwise might never be realized.

1. We find out what people think about our site and software.

2. Frustrations give us clues about how to improve our service.

3. Feedback and questions can be the source of ideas for additional products or services.

A quote from the forum thread mentioned above: "I have at least 4 product launches that I never would have thought of without getting feedback that I can think of right now. Probably more over the long run."

Comments and suggestions from feedback forms can be used:

1. In newsletters, articles, an eCourse, added to FAQ pages, or as a tip in an autoresponder series.

2. As inspiration for site improvement.

3. As testimonials.

Unless it's malicious or intended only to annoy, all feedback has value, even the negative ones. It's the negative ones that often provide the best clues for improvement.

Few people will write sincere negative feedback. When one arrives, it's precious, an opportunity to do something about a situation that might never have been perceived otherwise.

How to get feedback:

1. Put a feedback form on your site, clearly linked from all of your other pages. Be careful not to require or even invite more information than you actually need. Forms with needless fields can be objectionable. Don't turn away the person who is about to give you the million-dollar observation.

2. Do a poll or ask for advice or thoughts about your site or a product or service. Polls can have a text box for unstructured feedback.

3. Follow up on inquiries you've answered and on sales you've made. Ask directly, "How did things turn out?" or "Is the widget you bought everything you wanted it to be?"

The big question is, "How does one get a feedback form?"

If you're inclined to install your own software on your server, consider Master Feedback from http://willmaster.com/msmf (free) or Master Form V4 from http://willmaster.com/mfv4 ($79). Both of these have anti-hijacking code built in (yes, even the free one).

A note about form hijacking: This has been happening more and more of late. Forms are taken over by a spammer who then sends thousands and even hundreds of thousands of spam emails from *your* server. It's a good way to lose a hosting account and/or to damage a carefully nurtured reputation. The "Spammers Hijack Again!" article at http://willmaster.com/hijack3 talks about this.

It's important that whatever software you decide to use has effective anti-hijacking code built in.

Now, if you don't want to install software, the form service at http://webform.flowto.info/ is the answer. The form service is named In-Form™.

In-Form is hijack-proof.

To create a form, use the In-Form control panel. Then paste a few lines of JavaScript into the pages where you want your form to appear.

The really neat thing about In-Form is that you can change your form right in the control panel. Once you've pasted the JavaScript into your web pages, you don't ever have to mess with that again. Instead, changes made in the control panel reflect instantly on your pages.

Want to change a poll question, or maybe add a comment box? Make the changes in the control panel and your poll changes instantly, even if the poll is on a thousand pages!

We use In-Form for the contact pages of all our web sites and will shortly have polls scattered about.

Definitely look into it.

Let me close this way, "Without feedback, one is unaware of others' perceptions. And understanding perceptions is where communication begins."

November 1, 2005

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