Is there a good, fast, cheap solution for web forms?

QUESTION: How can I make the simplest, cheapest “contact us” web form that will generate a new lead record in Salesforce and that people would actually want to use?

BACKGROUND RESEARCH: I’ve tested Salesforce’s web-to-lead many times in free Google Sites, but research indicates most nonprofits are using WordPress.

HYPOTHESIS: A WordPress site and Salesforce’s ancient web-to-lead form will get the job done.

WEBINAR PLUG: Tomorrow Get Started with Engagement:  Build Web Forms. Tue, Apr 14, 2020 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT

EXPERIMENTS: 

• WordPress: Once you paste the code and post, it no longer shows the fields where you can enter the information.
• Tested other website building tools to see who would take Web-to-Lead HTML. See results below.

CONCLUSIONS:

• WordPress
  • You can’t just paste the Web-to-Lead HTML into WordPress.
  • You can install the free plug-in Brilliant Web-to-Lead configuration (see form below).
  • Here’s the catch: you need to have a Business Plan with WordPress to install plugins (which I do on this site).
  • There are many other plugins that have more bells and whistles, or simple stuff like let you create Contacts.
• Wix
  • I paid zero dollars to get my website and form set up.
  • I quickly made a free website and was able to paste in my HTML.  Lead generation in under an hour.
• Squarespace
  • I’ve heard advertised all the time so I thought I’d give that a shot.
  • I bought a one month plan and was able to paste in my HTML.
  • Bonus: it updates the font and looks better than in Wix.
• Why would anyone want to use Web-to-Lead?
  • You have 0 budget, time or skills, and you want to share your amazing something-or-other with the world right now.
  • Your web developer is a single mother in quarantine with four children (one with ADHD) and two older parents (neither of whom can find their show on Netflix), and you need a new sign up form right away for your virtual drum circle.  You got this.
  • You have the capacity to hire web designers, but you still only need the form to create leads for you.  Thank you  MVP Barbara Christensen  for  sharing  these  gorgeous  examples.
    • https://transportationchoices.org/ Click on “sign me up” without putting in your email.
    • https://www.youngfarmers.org/email-signup/
• What if I need something more fancy than this simple lead form?
  • There are so many options! Check out this very thorough comparison guide from the Power of Us Hub.

Example Forms

These example forms are for signing up to become a dog foster parent with the non-existent Ugly Dog Adoption Agency.

Brilliant Web-to-Lead for Salesforce Plugin

This version uses the plugin of this name to generate leads in Salesforce.

First name: ^*

Last name: ^*

Email: ^*

Type the text shown: *

^* These fields are required.

Form Assembly Contact Form

This version is HTML pasted directly from Form Assembly and creates a contact record AND campaign member record.