6 Tips for Creating Better Website Surveys

Are you interested in learning more about surveys and how they can help you grow your audience? If so, you're in the right place!

There's no question that surveys offer a virtual goldmine of insights for your business. When done correctly, they can help you understand what your customers love and where you can improve.

But if I learned anything over the years, it's that not all surveys are made the same. A poorly made survey will take up precious space on your website and potentially annoy your audience. On the other hand, a well-made questionnaire can help you unlock new ways to connect with your audience.

Today, I'm going to share 6 actionable tips that anyone can use to create better website surveys. These strategies have helped us over the past decade, and I firmly believe they'll help you, too!

Let's get started!

Define Your Goals

Before you start building your survey, it's crucial to define what you hope to learn. Think of it this way: you're going to have a hard time figuring out how people feel if your survey is a series of mixed-up questions with no relevant theme or pattern.

By setting a clear goal, you'll have an easier time finding the right format for your question, which means more consistent, reliable results. For example, if your goal is to understand your customers' buying habits, you could ask things like "How often do you shop for our product?" or "What influences your purchasing decisions?"

These questions make sense and are relevant to the goal. But if you ask something like, "What social media platforms do you use most often?" this could confuse participants and lead to form abandonment.

Here are some of the common goals we hope to achieve with website surveys:

• Gauge customer satisfaction
• Gathering feedback on a new product
• Understanding shopping habits
• Discovering user goals and pain points
• Figuring out what people want/expect from our brand

I suggest thinking carefully about why you want to put a survey on your site before you come up with questions. This simple thought exercise will help you start your questionnaire on the right foot.

Choose a User-Friendly Design

Next, let's talk about why your survey needs to be user-friendly. A simple, clean design ensures that completing your survey feels like a breeze rather than a chore. For the record, this is about more than looks; it's about making the entire experience as smooth as possible.

The first thing I suggest doing is making sure your survey is responsive on mobile devices. There are nearly 5.5 billion unique smartphone users, so it's easy to see why your survey needs to work seamlessly across all devices and operating systems.

We found that most people who complete our surveys do so on their phones, but that doesn't mean you should neglect tablets and computers. If your survey doesn't adjust to their screen size, chances are they won't bother completing it.

You should also focus on clear, readable fonts that are clear of unnecessary clutter. Each question should be easy to read and answer. We've had luck adding small touches, like progress bars since they show participants how close they are to finishing. And if you have different types of questions, consider using a multi-step form. This will guide users through the process step-by-step and can boost your completion rate by 300%!

User-friendly surveys are the best way to ensure people can easily and comfortably answer your questions. I suggest using a form builder that lets you switch between different formats so you can make sure they look good and work correctly regardless of how someone decides to fill it out.

Keep Things Brief

Here's the deal: time is precious. When it comes to surveys, the last thing you want to do is overstay your welcome in your users' busy lives. So, how long should your survey be?

Aim for the sweet spot of 5 to 10 minutes. That's the magic timeframe most folks are willing to give you. Ask them to spare more, and you might see your response rate plunge, and that's not going to help you gather actionable information.

But it's worth mentioning that short doesn't mean shallow. Be careful not to sacrifice depth for brevity; your survey still needs to pack a punch. That's where crafting your questions comes in. I recommend asking fewer but more comprehensive questions that dive into the heart of what you're trying to learn. It reminds me of the old saying quality over quantity. It's better to have 6 specific questions than 20 bland, generic questions.

Shorter surveys are more respectful of users' time and are more likely to yield the valuable insights you're looking for. So keep it brief and to the point, but make every question count.

Mix Up Your Question Types

Blending multiple-choice questions with open-ended ones can really elevate the quality of data you gather. They both have a purpose and can make the data that you can from your survey more valuable.

Multiple-choice questions are your go-to for quick, clear insights and are especially useful when you already have an idea of the common responses. You could ask plainly, "How would you rate your customer service experience today?" with 4-5 clickable responses.

Open-ended questions, on the other hand, are where you let your users voice their thoughts in their own words. Use these when you want to uncover deeper insights or gather feedback that you might not have anticipated. They're your opportunity to really listen.

I like to use open-ended questions to follow up on multi-choice questions. For example, after asking someone to rate their service experience, I include an open-ended question that asks, "What can we do better next time?"

By mixing up your question types, you keep your audience engaged and gather a rich variety of data. When done correctly, you can strike a balance between guiding your users and giving them the space to share their unique perspectives.

Offer an Incentive

Offering a little reward can significantly boost participation in your survey. It's a way of saying "thank you" to those who take the time to help you out.

The best part is there are plenty of unique things you can offer your audience.

Gift cards, discount codes, or even entry into a giveaway are all enticing rewards. These options are not only appealing but also versatile enough to suit various audiences. You could also consider donating to a charity for every completed survey, which can resonate well with participants who value social impact.

When presenting incentives, it's crucial to keep things neutral to avoid skewing responses. Instead of saying, "Give us a good review and win a prize," opt for, "Complete our survey and be entered to win a prize." This way, you encourage honesty without implying that a certain type of response will be more rewarded than another.

By offering an incentive, you not only show appreciation for your participants' time but also improve the chances of gathering the honest feedback that you need to create the best experience possible for your customers.

Test Before You Launch

Finally, I can't stress the importance of testing your surveys before they go live. This means getting your team, or even a group of friends, to fill it out. It's the best way to catch any errors and get a real sense of the user experience without inconveniencing your audience.

Keep an eye out for typos, confusing questions, or technical glitches that might trip up your respondents. I like to give the survey to team members who didn't work on it since they're more likely to pick up on little mistakes that we otherwise would miss.

Use this early feedback to polish your survey so that it's clear, engaging, and ready for launch.

Despite the advantages of this strategy, a shocking 36% of marketers say they don't test their forms before they hit publish. I believe if they took the time to do this, they could dramatically improve their conversion rate.

Remember, the better the test run, the more reliable your final results will be. So, take the time to refine your survey, and your efforts will pay off with high-quality data in the end.

Conclusion

There you have it! As you can see, there are plenty of effective ways to create better surveys for your website. My final piece of advice is this: don't forget to analyze your results and put what you learn into practice. People will trust and respect your brand if they see their changes come to life the next time they visit your site.