From Code to Cash: How Web3Forms is Redefining Contact Forms:

Introduction:

Surijit, a thirty-year-old web developer and designer, founded Web3Forms, a simple contact form API tool for static websites, without any server or backend code.

Surijit began his career by freelancing in 2015 along with selling website templates for Envato Market.

During this period, he made several websites, such as web3canvas.com, web3templates.com, web3inspiration.com, and Web3Forms as well.

Origin:

Surijit explained that while he was making website templates and static websites, he realized the limitations of HTML and CSS in making contact forms.

In order to send out real emails, it is required to use PHP with the Mail() function enabled. A PHP server must be kept running just for the form. The Mail() function behaves differently across servers and is prone to spam. Also, there were many deliverability issues to deal with.

There was a boom in jamstack technologies where static websites can be hosted for free, but it was not possible to get a contact form.

Upon coming to this conclusion, Surijit looked for an alternative solution for his needs. He was not able to find anything and decided to build his own, which was how Web3Forms was born.

Web3Forms was created to solve the issue where people could host websites as static but get a working contact form without any backend or PHP server.

Surijit immediately created a proof of concept and tested it over the Christmas holidays. He did not have any plans to monetize it at the time, since he had created it for his personal use for his templates and client websites as well.

Initial Marketing Strategies:

Surijit launched Web3Forms on Twitter and shared it on a few Reddit and Telegram groups, where he was able to get in touch with beta testers.

It took a lot of time to acquire a userbase since Surijit didn't actively promote it apart from sharing stats on Twitter, and so the momentum was really slow. Despite that, not many conversions happened there. Mostly because the audience did not match.

Surijit did not have any problem because Web3Forms had started as a side project and it served a purpose. So he was content. Besides that, there were some paid customers, mainly acquired from Google. They were the people upgrading to Pro or directly choosing a plan before subscribing.

Surijit explained that it was his efforts in learning SEO in the early days that ended up helping him with that, which resulted in Google picking up many related keywords. It took some time, but it did work, since Google was currently the topmost acquisition channel for Web3Forms.

Monetization and Plans:

Surijit plans to offer more custom plans for startups and users with specific needs. He’s currently using email for communication and Mailcoach for sending newsletters. He also has a small Telegram group where he stays in contact with users on chat.

He also uses Umami.js for Analytics, hosted on Vercel. Other than that, he's not using any other tools at the moment.

Activity:

This business is still a side project for Surijit, so he doesn't actively work on it, but he does answer support questions every day and chat with customers. He even adds more features whenever he gets time.

If any issues or bugs are reported, Surijit immediately takes action and tries to fix them.

Advice from CEO:

Web3Forms is a product in a competitive market, so it takes time to build a user base. It is around 4 years old now, but Surijit still continues to work on it with dedication without losing hope.

He offers the same advice to other builders as well, that even if it takes time, if they believe in their product and it's making them happy, they should not give up on it. Overnight success is a myth. Playing the long term game is the way to go. They will get the reward sooner or later.

Get in Touch:

Reach out for Queries and Suggestions on Twitter:

twitter.com/surjithctly