When scouring the Internet looking for an internet service that does what I want, I get frustrated when I’m asked to signup for a service thats offered for free. When sites do this without a need for it, I get very frustrated and it turns me away from the site.
Typically these sites have two reasons for requiring a signup. One reason for requiring signup is to create a database of contact information to sell to other businesses. The other reason is because the webservice actually need the info to send you newsletters or account updates. The latter is understandable and should be the only reason you would ever require your users to signup.
You might ask, what about the contact form? Contact forms are a different ball game and should be used strictly for optional contact purposes. For example, I have a contact form on ProvoastMedia and its there for you’re convenience. If you want to contact me regarding a job or questions regarding web production, then you can submit the form. This is the only reason I have a form on my website.
When you do have an online service that requires users to signup you need to remember to only require the necessary contact information from your user. For instance, if you have an online service that only deals with online transactions, then you don’t need to even request the user to input their physical mailing address. Even when you request unneeded information from users, it takes away from a smooth signup for the user and instills a subconscious negative feeling about your site and possibly reduce the frequency of visits.
I hope this helps you understand that signup forms shouldn’t be used unless you want to offer a contact form, newsletter signup, or user access. If you’re reasons don’t match these three and you still insist on a user signing up, then you probably don’t care about their experience and are only thinking about the bottom dollar.
Remember, if you care about you users, make the signup sheets as easy as possible to fill out and don’t request any information you don’t need. If you do what I have advised you will have more people willing to use your online service.
Happy surfing!
