Lead Capture
Tutorial
How to Capture Leads From Any Website into GoHighLevel
From no-code forms to custom integrations—everything you need to turn website visitors into contacts
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Why This Matters
Here's the uncomfortable truth: your beautiful website is practically useless if leads don't automatically flow into your CRM. Most businesses lose valuable prospects because they haven't properly connected their website forms to their customer relationship management system.
The disconnect happens more often than you'd think. A potential customer fills out your contact form, hits submit, and... nothing. The data sits in an email inbox, gets buried in spam, or worse—disappears entirely. Meanwhile, you're wondering why your expensive website isn't generating any ROI.
GoHighLevel can capture leads from literally any website—whether you built it in GHL, WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, or even custom-coded it from scratch. The key is understanding how to make that connection bulletproof.

Key Takeaway
Website ≠ CRM
The connection between them is what actually matters. Without it, you're just collecting digital paperweights.
What We're Building Today
By the end of this lesson, you'll have a complete understanding of how to capture leads regardless of where your website lives. No more guesswork, no more lost opportunities, and no more manual data entry eating up your time.
GHL Website Capture
Learn the fastest way to capture leads when your site is built directly in GoHighLevel
External Website Capture
Master the techniques for pulling leads from WordPress, Webflow, and any other platform
Choose Your Method
Understand exactly which approach fits your specific situation and technical comfort level
Core Concept
The Big Idea
Before we dive into the technical details, let's establish the fundamental concept that applies to every single lead capture scenario. Understanding this framework will help you troubleshoot issues, scale your systems, and confidently explain your setup to clients.
Form
User enters their information
Data Transport
Information travels securely
GoHighLevel
System receives and processes
Contact Created
Lead appears in your database

The only variable: How the data gets from Point A to Point B. The core flow? That stays exactly the same.
Every setup follows this flow: Form → Data → GoHighLevel → Contact Created or Updated. Only the transport method changes based on your needs, technical requirements, and design preferences.
The 3 Ways to Capture Leads
There are exactly three approaches to capturing leads into GoHighLevel, and each one has specific scenarios where it shines. Let's break them down so you can choose the right tool for the job.
1
GHL Site + Native GHL Form
The all-in-one approach where everything lives inside GoHighLevel. Build your page, add a form, and watch contacts appear instantly. Perfect for speed and simplicity.
  • Zero technical complexity
  • Lowest failure rate possible
  • Instant contact creation
2
External Site + Embedded GHL Form
Your website lives elsewhere (WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace), but you still want the simplicity of GHL forms. Embed the form via iframe or script and let GHL handle the rest.
  • Works with any website platform
  • No custom coding required
  • GHL manages the data flow
3
External Site + Custom Form
Maximum design control and advanced functionality. Your custom-built form submits data via webhook or API directly into GoHighLevel. Used by agencies and high-conversion sites that need pixel-perfect branding.
  • Complete design freedom
  • Advanced validation and logic
  • Perfect for branded experiences
We'll walk through live demonstrations of all three approaches, so you understand exactly how each one works in practice.
Option 1: GHL Site + Native Form
Recommended for Beginners
Best for: Speed and Simplicity
This is where most people should start, and honestly, where many should stay. When you build your landing page directly inside GoHighLevel and use a native GHL form, you're working within a closed ecosystem that just works.
The process couldn't be simpler: build the page, drag in a form element, customize the fields you need, and publish. The moment someone submits that form, the contact appears in your GHL database. No webhooks to configure, no API keys to manage, no middleware to maintain.
This approach covers 70-80% of real-world use cases. Unless you have a specific reason to make things more complicated, this is your answer.
Pros
  • Absolutely zero coding required
  • Setup takes minutes, not hours
  • Lowest possible failure rate
  • Built-in duplicate handling
  • Automatic field mapping
  • Native workflow triggers
Live Demo #1: Native GHL Form
Let's walk through exactly what you'll see when setting up a native GHL form. This is the foundation that everything else builds on, so pay close attention to the workflow.
01
Create a Landing Page in GHL
Navigate to Sites → Funnels/Websites → Create New. Choose a template or start from scratch. The page builder is drag-and-drop, so you can have a professional page ready in under 10 minutes.
02
Add a Form Element
Drag the form element onto your page. Click to customize it—add fields like name, email, phone, and any custom fields you've created in your GHL account.
03
Configure Form Settings
Set up your success message or redirect URL. Add any tags you want applied automatically. Choose whether to trigger specific workflows upon submission.
04
Submit the Form
Publish your page and test it. Fill out the form as a real user would and hit submit. You should see your success message immediately.
05
View Contact in GHL
Navigate to Contacts in your GHL dashboard. Your test submission appears instantly with all the field data properly mapped, any tags applied, and workflows triggered.

Pro tip: Always test your forms with real data before going live. Check that tags are applying correctly and that any automations fire as expected.
Option 2: External Site + Embedded GHL Form
Intermediate
Best for: Non-GHL websites that still want simplicity
Maybe your website lives on WordPress because your client's been using it for years. Or perhaps you built something beautiful in Webflow and don't want to rebuild it. That's completely fine—you can still get all the benefits of GHL's contact management without moving your entire site.
The form itself is still owned and controlled by GoHighLevel. You're just embedding it into your external website via an iframe or JavaScript snippet. From the user's perspective, it looks like a native part of your site. From the backend perspective, it's pure GHL magic.
WordPress
Paste embed code into page builder or HTML block
Webflow
Add custom code embed element with GHL form code
Squarespace
Use code block in page editor to insert form
Custom HTML
Drop embed code anywhere in your HTML structure
The key insight here: The website location doesn't matter—the form does. As long as the form is a GHL form, the data flows into GHL regardless of where that form is displayed.
Live Demo #2: Embedded Form
Here's the step-by-step process for embedding a GHL form into an external website. This works identically whether you're using WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, or a custom HTML site.
1
Create Form in GHL
Build your form inside GoHighLevel first. Go to Sites → Forms → Create Form. Design it exactly how you want it to appear, including field validation, styling, and submit button text.
2
Copy Embed Code
Once your form is ready, click the embed icon. GHL generates two options: an iframe embed or a JavaScript snippet. For most cases, the iframe is simpler and more reliable.
3
Paste into External Site
In your website builder or CMS, find where you can add custom HTML or an embed block. Paste the entire code snippet GHL provided. Don't modify it unless you know exactly what you're doing.
4
Test Form Submission
Save and publish your external page. Open it in a browser and submit a test entry. Make sure the success message appears and the page behavior matches your expectations.
5
Verify Contact in GHL
Head back to your GoHighLevel dashboard and check your contacts. Your test submission should appear with all data intact, proving the connection is working perfectly.
This method gives you the best of both worlds: you keep your existing website exactly as it is, but you get the powerful automation and contact management capabilities of GoHighLevel.
Option 3: External Site + Custom Form
Advanced
Best for: Full Design Control and Advanced Logic
This is where things get interesting for agencies, SaaS products, and businesses that need pixel-perfect branding or complex validation logic. Instead of using a GHL form, you build a completely custom form using HTML, React, Vue, or whatever framework you prefer.
When someone submits this custom form, the data doesn't go directly to GHL. Instead, it hits a webhook endpoint or your own backend API, which then sends the properly formatted data into GoHighLevel via their API. This gives you complete control over data transformation, validation, enrichment, and routing.
Used by: Marketing agencies that white-label everything, SaaS companies integrating GHL into their product, and high-conversion sites where every pixel of the form design has been A/B tested to perfection.
Why Go Custom?
  • Match exact brand guidelines
  • Complex conditional logic
  • Multi-step form wizards
  • Custom validation rules
  • Third-party data enrichment
  • White-label everything

Important: Don't start here. Build with native or embedded forms first, prove your concept, then upgrade to custom when you have a specific reason that justifies the complexity.
Live Demo #3: Custom Form Flow
This demonstration shows the high-level architecture of a custom form integration. We won't dive into specific code here—that's a whole separate lesson—but you'll understand the data flow and decision points.
Custom Form Submission
User fills out your beautifully designed, fully custom form on your website. When they hit submit, JavaScript captures the data and sends it to your chosen endpoint.
Webhook Receives Data
Your webhook endpoint (or backend server) receives the raw form data. This is where you can validate, clean, transform, or enrich the data before sending it to GHL.
API Call to GHL
Your server makes an authenticated API call to GoHighLevel's contacts endpoint, creating or updating the contact with all the processed data.
Contact Created + Automation
GoHighLevel receives the contact and immediately applies any tags, pipeline stages, or workflow triggers you've configured in the API call or contact settings.
Key Benefits
  • Complete design freedom
  • Custom business logic
  • Data enrichment layer
  • Error handling you control
Key Considerations
  • Requires technical expertise
  • More points of failure
  • Maintenance overhead
  • API rate limits to manage
Important note: The outcome is the same as the simpler methods—a contact in GHL. You're just trading simplicity for control.
Choosing the Right Approach
Now that you understand all three methods, let's talk about which one you should actually use. The answer depends on your specific situation, technical comfort level, and business requirements.
Site Built in GHL?
→ Use Native GHL Form
This is the no-brainer choice. If your website lives in GoHighLevel, there's absolutely zero reason to make things more complicated. You get instant contact creation, zero maintenance, and bulletproof reliability.
Site Outside GHL?
→ Use Embedded GHL Form
WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace—doesn't matter. Embed a GHL form and get all the benefits of the native approach while keeping your existing website. This handles 95% of external site scenarios perfectly.
Brand/UX Matters A Lot?
→ Consider Custom Form + Webhook
If you're a marketing agency building for enterprise clients who demand pixel-perfect branding, or if you need complex multi-step forms with conditional logic, the custom approach gives you that control. Just be prepared for the added complexity.

The Golden Rule
Don't over-engineer early. Start with the simplest approach that meets your needs. You can always upgrade to something more sophisticated later when you have a proven reason to do so.
Remember: a working simple solution today beats a perfect complex solution that takes three weeks to build. Ship first, optimize second.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Let's talk about the landmines that catch almost everyone at least once. These mistakes cost businesses thousands of dollars in lost leads and countless hours in troubleshooting. Learn from others' pain so you don't have to experience your own.
Not Handling Duplicates
Someone fills out your form twice—maybe they refreshed the page, maybe they genuinely forgot. Without duplicate handling rules in GHL, you get messy contact records and confused automations. Set up your duplicate detection based on email or phone number from day one.
Forgetting Source Tracking
Three months later, you're looking at a contact and have no idea which landing page or campaign brought them in. Always tag your form submissions with source information: campaign name, page URL, ad group—whatever helps you track ROI accurately.
Overcomplicating Version 1
You don't need a custom form with 15-step logic on your first attempt. Start simple, get leads flowing, then iterate. The best system is the one that's actually live and working, not the perfect one that's still being built.
Going Custom Too Early
Custom forms and webhooks are seductive to developers. They're also unnecessary for most use cases. Unless you have a specific, articulated reason that the simpler methods won't work, don't build custom. You're creating technical debt without the benefit.
Other Quick Gotchas
  • Not testing forms on mobile devices
  • Using too many required fields
  • No GDPR/compliance checkboxes
  • Broken redirect URLs after submission
Testing Checklist
  1. Submit test form as real user
  1. Verify contact appears in GHL
  1. Check tags applied correctly
  1. Confirm workflows triggered
  1. Test mobile experience
What Agencies Care About
For Professionals
If you're running an agency or managing multiple client accounts, there are additional considerations beyond just "does the lead get into the CRM?" Your clients expect sophisticated attribution, reporting, and automation capabilities.
Source Attribution
You need to know exactly which campaign, ad, or page generated each lead. Use hidden fields in your forms to capture UTM parameters, page URLs, and campaign IDs. This data becomes critical for client reporting and optimization decisions.
UTM Parameters
Properly passing and storing UTM parameters lets you track leads from first click through closed deal. Configure your forms to capture utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign, utm_content, and utm_term as custom fields.
Pipeline Routing
Different lead sources should enter different pipeline stages. A demo request is not the same as a newsletter signup. Use tags or custom fields to automatically route contacts to the appropriate pipeline stage based on their intent level.
Trigger Automations
The moment a lead enters GHL, workflows should fire: confirmation emails, SMS notifications, slack alerts to sales reps, task creation, calendar booking links—whatever your client's process requires. Set these up once and let them run forever.
AI Enrichment
GoHighLevel can enrich contacts with additional data using AI and third-party services. This happens automatically after the contact is created, filling in missing information like company size, job title, or social profiles.

Client deliverable: This lesson covers the foundation layer that makes all advanced tracking and automation possible. Master this first, then layer in the sophisticated stuff.
Key Takeaway
Let's bring this full circle. Every website—regardless of where it's hosted or how it's built—can send leads into GoHighLevel. The real question isn't if you can do it, but how much control you need over the process.
Most businesses succeed with the simplest approach: native GHL forms for sites built in GHL, or embedded GHL forms for external sites. These methods are reliable, maintainable, and require zero ongoing technical support.
The custom form and webhook approach exists for specific scenarios where design control or complex business logic justifies the added complexity. But it's not the starting point—it's the graduation destination once you've proven your concept and identified a clear need.
Start Simple
Choose the easiest method that meets your current requirements. Get leads flowing. Prove your system works. Then optimize from there.
Scale When Needed
As your business grows and requirements become more sophisticated, you'll know exactly when it's time to upgrade to a more complex approach. That's a good problem to have.
The goal isn't to build the most technically impressive system. The goal is to never lose another lead because of a broken form or misconfigured integration. Simple, reliable, and working beats perfect every single time.
What's Next
You now understand how to capture leads from any website into GoHighLevel. But getting the lead into your CRM is just the beginning of the customer journey. Here's where you can take your knowledge next:
1
Lead Enrichment with AI
Learn how to automatically enhance contact records with company data, social profiles, and behavioral insights using GoHighLevel's AI capabilities and third-party integrations.
2
Routing and Pipelines
Master the art of automatically moving contacts through your sales pipeline based on their actions, responses, and engagement levels. Turn chaos into a predictable system.
3
Webhooks + Automations
Dive deep into webhook configurations and advanced workflow automation. Connect GHL to thousands of other tools, trigger complex sequences, and build truly sophisticated marketing machines.
4
Booked Appointments
Close the loop from lead capture to scheduled meeting. Learn calendar booking strategies, reminder sequences, and follow-up automations that dramatically increase show-up rates.
Action Steps
  1. Audit your current lead capture setup
  1. Identify any broken or missing connections
  1. Choose the right method for each website
  1. Implement and test thoroughly
  1. Monitor contact creation daily at first
Remember
The best marketing system is one that actually exists and works reliably. Don't let perfection paralyze you—ship something today, then iterate tomorrow.
Start capturing leads now. Everything else is optimization.