Fighting spam is a balance between making your online form difficult to complete for the spambots and yet keeping it easy for the human. 

Rather than employ basic captcha style 'I am not a robot' tests, here are a few more subtle approaches to explore.

This anti-spam tactic works by checking the IP address of the client attempting to complete the form against a database of IP addresses of known spammers - if found in the list, the form submission will be rejected. 

To use this service, you need to register with an RBL checker. Some offer a low-level free service where you can upgrade if you need a faster or more in-depth service. The RBL checker will be kept up to date by users reporting suspected spam from IP addresses anywhere in the world.  

Every time your form is completed, your server will pass the client IP address to the RBL checker. If the IP address is found, you know that this form submission is very likely to be spam.

Pros:

Once installed, it works quietly in the background and does not affect the user experience when completing the form.

Cons:

The speed performance may be affected as the connection to the RBL checker may take several seconds to return with a response. 

Form flood control works by allowing you to set a maximum number of form submissions over a given time interval. 

This will prevent spam bots submitting thousands of submissions to your site into a spam email relay.

Pros:

Once installed, it works quietly in the background and does not affect the user experience when completing the form.

Cons:

This is not a true anti-spam tactic as it does not provide any protection on the forms.

Protecting your online forms against spammers is an essential part of maintaining your website.

The Google reCaptcha is the only anti-spam mechanism that requires human interaction. It is recognised as the most effective captcha-style system, but it has serious drawbacks in terms of putting people off completing the form.

Honeypot, RBL, anitbot and form flood control are all unobtrusive and can be enabled to offer a good level of protection. A pragmatic approach would be to only enable Google reCaptcha if you feel that incoming spam is reaching unacceptable levels.

If you are running marketing campaigns, it may also be worth switching off Google reCaptcha to avoid detering potential enquiries.

Your website needs to be useful and serve a purpose, no matter how beautifully crafted and aesthetically pleasing to the eye it may be.

That's why Netflare recommend Bootstrap 5 modern design framework; it creates mobile-first responsive websites that look amazing.

Not only that, Bootstrap 5 provides a natural and familiar user experience, meaning the layout fits user expectations of layout such as calls-to-action buttons, minimising confusion and reducing navigational frustration.

A hero section is a responsive snippet of Bootstrap 5, having a headline, sub-heading, images, and call-to-action buttons.

The purpose of the hero section is to highlight your brand or message, get your message across and make the call-to-action as clear as possible.

In the bustling marketplace of today, where attention is a scarce commodity, branding design stands as the beacon that guides consumers to the heart of a brand. 

It encompasses every visual element that represents a brand, captivating the attention of ideal customers and forging lasting connections. From the set of formal brand guidelines to the design of the website, each aspect of branding design plays a pivotal role in shaping the perception of a brand and engaging its audience.

Formal brand guidelines serve as the roadmap for maintaining consistency and coherence across all branding efforts. 

They outline the rules and specifications for using the brand's visual elements, ensuring that every communication aligns with the brand's identity and message. From logo usage guidelines to color palettes and typography recommendations, formal brand guidelines provide a framework for creating cohesive and compelling brand experiences.

While branding design plays a crucial role in shaping the visual identity of a brand, true success can only be achieved through a thorough brand development process. 

This process involves defining the business identity, conducting market analysis, crafting a messaging strategy, and structuring information architecture, among other steps. Only by understanding who you are as a brand and how you want to be perceived can you make informed branding choices with confidence and certainty.

If you could demonstrate empathy for your customer's pain and provide the solutions to help them, how would that affect your business?

Naturally, your customer will be the healthy sceptic when seeking advice, but as they learn to trust you, the level of perceived risk will diminish.

You can build trust by demonstrating integrity.

• Write impartial content on your website to show that you do what you say, and say what you do
• Provide evidence such as photos or charts to show how you did something.
• Provide testimonials to highlight your reputation.

As your customer grows to realise your reputation and integrity, they will in turn grow in their reliance on you.

You can build trust by being benevolent.

• Provide online tools or downloads to assist your customer.
• Provide free initial support or diagnostics to assist a struggling customer.
• Offer free samples or trials to help reduce any buyer anxiety.

As your customer grows to realise your abundant benevolence, they will gain confidence in you.

You can build trust by demonstrating ability.

• Provide case studies to show how you solved similar problems.
• Highlight credibility by showing member associations and qualifications.
• Provide details of any regulatory requirements and how you can ensure they are met.

As your customer grows to realise your ability, their sense of immediacy will overcome their reservations to buy.

Freely give away as much information as the customer desires. 

Think of innovative ways as to how your products and services can help their business.

It might feel like you are giving away the crown jewels, but remember that your business is built on your passion and no-one can take that away. The information will be unique to your business. If any other company tries to use it, they will fail without your passion behind it.

Share your knowledge, how you developed it and where you go to find out more.

Highlight an interest in their business by sharing new information.

Giving your secrets away will only make your customers want to follow you more.

Serve and support your customers by following up and requesting feedback.

What more can you do for them? 

The only way to know if your products and services work for your customers is asking for feedback. Then you can improve them and offer even better value and results to future customers.

Sales strategies can be tailored to fit your buyer personas and help personalise your communication, making your message better understood. 

• Creating detailed personas can help build rapport with potential customers by making the message personalised. 
• The research and preparation of creating a buyer persona will help you understand and address their concerns. 
• Each buyer persona will have different pain points you can address separately.

The purpose of deriving customer benefits for your products and services is so that you can outline the delivery of results the customer wants that are specific to them. 

With targeted benefit orientated information, you will be able to educate your prospects and customers with your unique methods, processes, products or services, as they will see immediate value in discovering more. The result will be that your customers and prospects will become better educated and value the service your offer.