Many people have been asking me how to create a simple online booking form for their equipment rental business. In this post, I will show you exactly how to do that in just a few minutes with Google Sheets and Forms. This is the most basic version of creating an online booking form, but it’s free and pretty easy!
Creating an online booking form for your business doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. There are a few great free tools that you can use to get the job done in just a few minutes. One of my favorites is Google Forms. It’s easy to use, and it’s free! Below, I’ll show you how to create a simple online form with Google Forms and Sheets.
What is an online booking form, and why should you have one?
An online booking form is a simple way to allow customers to book appointments or services online. By having an online booking form, you can make it easy for customers to find and book appointments with you. This can save them time, and it can also help you to manage your appointments more effectively.
If you’re not currently using an online booking form, there are several ways to create one. Many companies use an online booking system like Acuity Scheduling or Calendly to manage incoming requests for appointments. If you’d like more information on how these work, check out my post on online scheduling systems.
Another great way to get started is with Google Forms and Sheets. This is one of the easiest and most flexible ways to create a booking form for your business. I’ll show you how to do it in a few minutes using a free template from Google Drive.
The first thing that you need is an email address where customers can send their booking requests. You can use your regular Gmail or Gsuite account for this, or you can create a new email address specifically for your online booking form.
Once you have an email address, the next step is to create a Google Form. This will be the main form that customers use to book appointments with you. The great thing about Forms is that they’re free and easy to use. You can create them online, or you can use the Google Sheets app on your phone or tablet.
To create a form, go to https://forms.google.com/ and click on the New Form button. You’ll see a screen like this:
Why Google Forms are great for your business
There are a few reasons why Google Forms are a great choice for your business. First, they’re free to use and easy to create. You can create them online, or you can use the Google Sheets app on your phone or tablet.
Second, Forms are very flexible. You can add questions and fields to your form, and you can change the layout to fit your needs. You can also create different forms for different purposes, such as booking appointments, collecting feedback, or registering for an event.
Third, Forms are easy to share. You can share your form with others by sending them the link, or you can embed it on your website or blog.
Finally, Forms are responsive. This means they will look good on any device, including phones and tablets.
If you’re looking for a simple and flexible way to create an online booking form for your business, Google Forms is a great choice. You can create them online, or you can use the Google Sheets app on your phone or tablet. They’re totally free, easy to use, and very flexible.
Let’s get started!
First things first, go ahead and create an Excel file to prepare the information on your booking form (You can skip this step and create the form right away. But it’s always a good idea to plan ahead). You’ll need to edit that spreadsheet to customize it for your business. If you’re not comfortable editing spreadsheets, you may want to try Google Docs instead.
It’s also a good idea to visit your google drive settings and ensure that “allow anyone with the link to edit” is checked off under sharing options. While it doesn’t give everyone editing access by default, this sheet is public, so there are no security concerns.
Now that you have a copy of the sheet, it’s time to start editing! The first thing you’ll want to do is add some basic information about your business. This includes your company name, website, email address, and the fields you need on the form.
Creating the form
The next step is to create the actual online booking form. To do this, we’ll add a text input for each piece of information that we want to collect from the renter. We’ll also add some example responses for each piece of data in case someone forgets what they’re supposed to enter.
You can name your inputs whatever you’d like, but I recommend naming them descriptively, so it’s easy for renters to tell what they need to enter. For example, “first name” or “email address.”
- You will need a Google account.
- Go to the google page, and click “create” on the right-hand side of your screen.
- Click on “Apps & Services” in the left column.
- Scroll down until you see “Forms.” Click on that option
- In this section, there is an option called “Create a new form.” Click it
- Fill out all of the information for your form (name, email address), and then choose what type of form you want.
First, go to the Google Forms page:
Then create a new form:
Now start developing the form by creating the Name field:
Add fields for phone number and email address:
Finally, add the start and return time. The final section belongs to your booking/rental type (Like Hotel, appointment, …):
The final step is to add a submit button and configure it to send the data to our Google Sheets. To do this, we’ll use the “Forms Results” connector in Google Sheets. This will automatically populate our sheet with all the data we collect from the form.
Here’s what the final product should look like:
Now, it’s time to start collecting some data! Feel free to edit this sheet to fit your own needs. And be sure to check out our other posts for more tips on using Google Sheets and Forms.
Setting up notifications that will be sent when someone submits their details on the Google form.
Now that you have your online booking/rental form set up, you’ll probably want to know when someone submits their information. To do this, we’ll use a Google Sheets add-on called Form Notifications.
This add-on will send you an email notification whenever someone fills out your form. It’s a great way to stay on top of your online bookings without having to constantly monitor the sheet.
Form Notifications are free to use and can be added directly from Sheets.
Final Words
Conclusion paragraph: You can easily create an online rental form with Google Forms in just a few minutes for free. And now you have the knowledge to do it yourself! The best part is that there are no limits on how many forms your company can use, so feel free to customize as needed and start building out your online booking process today. If you want more ideas or inspiration, join our Facebook Group, where we share constant content related to marketing, SEO, and digital business tips. Who else has created an easy-to-use online booking system?