Identify Sign Up Barriers

For every user who signs up, there are many more who considered it and decided not to. Your analytics can show you where in the funnel they drop off. It cannot tell you why they stopped.

A sign-up barriers survey targets visitors who show buying intent (viewing the pricing page, clicking the sign-up button, starting the registration form) but do not complete registration. The data it produces explains the gap between interest and action, and that gap is where your growth opportunity lives.

When to deploy a sign-up barriers survey

Exit-intent on the sign-up page. When a visitor navigates away from your registration form, trigger a one-question survey asking what stopped them. This captures feedback at the moment of abandonment.

After partial form completion. If a visitor fills in one or two fields and then stops, they got far enough to demonstrate real intent. A brief survey asking what went wrong can surface form-specific friction.

On the pricing page. Visitors who view pricing but do not proceed to sign-up may have objections about cost, plan structure, or unclear value. A survey here captures pre-registration hesitation.

Via retargeting or follow-up. If you can identify returning visitors who previously viewed the sign-up page without converting, trigger a survey on their return visit.

Sign-up barriers survey questions

1. What held you back from signing up today? | Multiple choice (I am not ready to commit yet, The pricing does not fit my budget, I could not find enough information about the product, I do not want to create another account, The sign-up process seemed too long, I have security or privacy concerns, I need to check with my team first, I want to compare with other options, Other: [text field]) | Required
2. What information would help you make a decision? | Open text | Optional
3. Would you be more likely to sign up if we offered [free trial / demo / money-back guarantee]? | Yes / Maybe / No | Optional

Keep it to one or two questions. These are visitors who chose not to engage further. A long survey will not change their minds and will not get completed.

Common sign-up barriers and how to address them

"Not ready to commit." This is the most common response and the least actionable on its own. Dig deeper with question two. "Not ready" often means "I do not understand the value well enough yet" or "I need to see more before I trust this."

"Pricing does not fit my budget." This may mean the price is genuinely too high, or it may mean the perceived value does not justify the price. If many visitors say this but your customers report high satisfaction, you have a value communication problem on your marketing site, not a pricing problem.

"Not enough information." Visitors who cannot find what they need before signing up will not sign up. Cross-reference this with your "marketing site clarity" survey to identify specific information gaps. Common gaps include detailed feature descriptions, use case examples, integration lists, and security documentation.

"Do not want another account." Account creation fatigue is real. Consider offering social sign-in (Google, GitHub), SSO, or a way to explore the product before requiring an account.

"Sign-up process is too long." Count the steps and fields in your registration flow. Every field that is not absolutely necessary for initial access should be moved to post-sign-up onboarding. Name and email (or just email) should be sufficient to get someone through the door.

"Security or privacy concerns." This is common for products that handle sensitive data. Address it by making security documentation, compliance certifications, and data handling practices visible before the sign-up page. Trust badges and privacy-focused messaging near the sign-up form help.

"Need to check with my team." This is a B2B buying signal. The visitor is interested but does not have sole authority. Make it easy for them to share information with their team: downloadable one-pagers, shareable product pages, and team trial options.

"Want to compare options." Comparison shoppers are a natural part of the funnel. You cannot eliminate this barrier, but you can influence the comparison by offering comparison guides, case studies, and clear differentiation on your site.

Reducing sign-up friction

Beyond survey data, here are proven friction reducers.

Minimize required fields. Email-only sign-up has the lowest barrier. Every additional required field (name, company, phone number) reduces conversion.

Show value before sign-up. Let visitors explore the product, see sample data, or try a demo before requiring registration. The more value they experience pre-sign-up, the more motivated they are to create an account.

Offer social sign-in. Google and GitHub sign-in reduce the effort to near zero and eliminate "another account" objections.

Be transparent about what happens next. "Sign up for a free 14-day trial. No credit card required." removes uncertainty about commitment. Unclear post-sign-up expectations create hesitation.

Show social proof near the sign-up form. Customer counts, logos, testimonials, or a recent sign-up counter all reduce perceived risk.

Common mistakes

Asking for too much in the survey. A visitor who did not want to complete a sign-up form will not complete a five-question survey. One question, two maximum.

Not offering an easy path forward. The survey should include a CTA. If the visitor's barrier is addressable, give them a way to resolve it. Pricing concern? Link to a free tier. Need more info? Link to relevant docs. Need team buy-in? Offer a shareable summary.

Ignoring "Other" responses. The free-text "Other" option often surfaces barriers you did not anticipate. Review these regularly and add frequently mentioned barriers to your answer options.

Not connecting survey data to sign-up experiments. Use barrier data to prioritize which sign-up changes to test first. If "too long" is the top barrier, simplify the form before testing anything else.

Set up this survey in Formbricks

Formbricks supports exit-intent surveys on specific pages, making it straightforward to trigger a sign-up barriers survey when a visitor leaves your registration or pricing page.

The template includes a single-question format optimized for exit-intent display, with optional follow-up questions that appear only if the visitor engages with the first question.

Responses are tagged with page URL and referral source, so you can identify whether sign-up barriers differ by traffic source or landing page. This helps you tailor both your acquisition and your registration experience to specific audience segments.