Create a complaint form for your website

You can place this form anywhere on your website. It will look like a compact button in the bottom corner of a webpage and will only expand upon click.

You can get instant email notifications about each submission and respond directly from your inbox.

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add a complaint form to your website using Getsitecontrol — a no-code website form builder. The process takes a few minutes and requires no technical skills. You’ll be able to add custom fields and collect all the data you need to process the complaint efficiently: the complainant's name, their contact information, and the details of the incident.

Here is how to create a custom complaint form in Getsitecontrol

First, you’ll need to register a Getsitecontrol account and connect it to your website. If you’re on WordPress, that’s easily done with a dedicated plugin. If you’re using any other website platform, check out our short instructions on how to do it.

Step 1. Add the template to your dashboard

For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll be using the template featured above. However, feel free to check out other complaint form examples and choose the one that fits your needs.

Once you click on the template, follow the prompts on the right-hand side to add it to the Getsitecontrol dashboard.

From there, you’ll be able to customize the appearance of the form. For instance, to switch the color theme from black to white, use the Theme menu at the top. To adjust a piece of copy, click on it and start typing right there.

Step 2. Customize the fields

If you want to remove or edit any of the existing fields, just click on them and proceed with changes. To add a new field, hit the +Add field and type the name of the field on the following screen.

Apart from text fields, you can add checkboxes, dropdown menus, and radio buttons.

For instance, suppose you want to categorize complaints based on what they’re about. Just add radio buttons and spare customers the need to type this detail.

Keep in mind that if you start adding too many fields on the same page, the form might look clunky, especially on mobile. To avoid that, create an additional page and place some of your fields there.

Speaking of additional pages…

Step 3. Edit the submission success message

By default, the second page of this complaint form contains a submission success message. This is a brief message that confirms form submission and lets the complainant know what’s next.

You can edit the text of the submission success message as well. For instance, you can add your contact information or explain how the complaint will be processed.

Once ready, hit Save & close and activate the complaint form on your website following the prompts.

How to view incoming complaints

If you want to receive instant notifications each time someone fills out the complaint form on your website, open the Notifications tab and type your email address in the corresponding field.

You can also view incoming complaints right in the Getsitecontrol dashboard if you open the Statistics report.

Apart from the message, you’ll be able to view the complainant’s location, device, the date, and the page of your website where they submitted their complaint.

Want to send complaints to a 3^rd-party cloud app? Then go back to the editing mode and simply connect your complaint form to any other software using the Integrations tab.

Tips for optimizing the complaint form on your website

Now that you have an idea of how things work, we’ll cover a few tips to make your complaint form more efficient.

Use pre-filled options

By experience, many online forms get abandoned because they require too much typing. Make it easier for the complainants and use pre-filled options, such as dropdown menus, radio buttons, checkboxes, and such.

If you have assumptions on what the message may be about, these field types can be quite convenient for both you and the complainant. Not only do they save time, but they also help you see the source of most issues when you start analyzing complaints in bulk.

For example, for an online store, you can ask complainants to choose the type of complaint they have: payment issue, item quality, delivery service — thus narrowing down the source of dissatisfaction.

Consider making some fields optional

By default, all the fields in the complaint form templates are mandatory, which means complainants will be unable to submit the form without filling them out completely. However, it may be a good idea to keep some fields optional.

For example, if you want to allow for submitting complaints anonymously, you can uncheck the Required box under the ‘Name’ or ‘Email’ fields.

Place the complaint form on selected pages of your website

By default, the form you’ve created will be displayed on every page of your website. However, this may not always be necessary. If this is the case, open the Targeting tab while editing the complaint form and type the URLs where you want to display it.

Alternatively, in the ‘Exclude’ field, you can type the URLs where you don’t want to display your complaint form.

Use a floating button instead of a panel

Instead of a panel, you can place a complaint form on your website behind a floating button. Unlike panels, floating buttons are more versatile and can be placed on the sides of a page, too. This is what it may look like:

Step 1. Add a complaint form template to the dashboard

For this scenario, we recommend using sidebar forms. They provide more space for the questions and maintain the visitor’s experience on your website uninterrupted. Besides, they’re rather stylish.

Click on the template to add it to your Getsitecontrol dashboard, then customize its fields and appearance following the guidelines from the beginning of the article.

Once you’re done editing the form, open the Targeting tab and scroll to ‘Start to display widget’ field.

Remove the default ‘at once’ option. This means that the form will only pop up when visitors click on the floating button a.k.a. the launcher.

Step 2. Select a floating button template (launcher)

There are a dozen launchers in the Getsitecontrol gallery, so feel free to check it out and select one to your taste. For the sake of this tutorial, we’ve selected a floating side button. Notice that you can easily change its position on the webpage using the Position menu.

Just like with the forms, you can change the color theme of the launcher and the text on it.

Step 3. Connect the button and form on your website

To connect the floating button and the complaint form, find Background click settings, remove the default parameter, and select Show widget. Then select your complaint form from the dropdown menu.

Once you finish and hit Save & close, the launcher will instantly go live on your website.

Turn complaints into opportunities for your business with Getsitecontrol

Having a complaint form on a website is good evidence of a business being truly responsive to customer feedback. That’s why the most important field in your complaint form is the one asking how you can make things right. In addition to showing that you’re willing to improve, you also gain valuable insight that may help your customer support team process complaints more efficiently by offering the resolution requested by customers (such as a coupon or a freebie).

Wondering if this tactic may work well for your business? Then create a Getsitecontrol account and add a complaint form to your website today.