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I think that Dan makes a good point. Your business situation should drive your website strategy.
I also think that the mini skirt analogy is a good one. However, it applies to more than just the number of questions on the form.
It also applies to the design of the page. I prefer to make my form the primary thing that shows above the fold.
I sold across kitchen tables back in the 80s and 90s. When I smelled a sale, I closed. I didn't ask for a drink of water or talk about other products. And no matter how many glasses of water I had earlier in the interview, I wasn't about to go to the bathroom and leave the couple alone to give one of them the opportunity to talk the other out of buying. Once I smelled the sale I started completing the application and kept writing unless they stopped me.
I apply the same thinking to my web forms. I try to sell my visitors on the pages that link to my form. Once I get them on the form, I want to close them.
You want to minimize the links to other pages. A link to your privacy policy may increase your conversions, but most other links should be avoided.
You should include elements make it easier for people to trust you. These elements can include the logos of the companies you represent, the BBB logo, your SSL certificate logo and your phone number.
Don't overdo the credibility logos! It can easily turn into a "methinks thou dost protest too much" situation. (Wearing a t-shirt that says "I don't have VD," can make your potential dating partners suspicious.")
You should definitely show your phone number. Prominently displaying your phone number not only increases the number of people who call, it usually increases online conversions slightly.
My preference is for a form landing page that has very little text above the fold (like on my new home owners insurance site), but I plan to split test a design that has more text.
Ehealth puts the form "in your face" as the dominant element above the fold, but still gives you some text to read if you care to. Obviously they have been more than a little successful with their site.
If you have low volume it will take a while for an A/B test to give you statistically valid results. However, it won't cost you anything to install GWO. The software will tell you when you have a large enough sample size. If it takes months to get an answer, so what?
If your form has a low conversion rate, I recommend A/B testing radically different pages. Don't make little "tweaks" until you have a page that converts well.
(You don't even need to know anything about statistics. You do need to know your colors. Green is the winner, red is the loser. Yellow means that you need to run the test longer.)
