How to create a survey that delivers valuable responses in a few easy steps

Before You Start

1. Before you start creating your survey you need to identify why you are making a survey. What do you want to achieve? Maybe you want to gather product feedback? Create a sign-up form for an upcoming event you’re hosting?

   Coming up with a clear and focused objective will help you create a survey that asks just the right questions.

2. Who will be using the results of your survey? Just you? Your team? Partners? Knowing this will also help you when formulating your questions.
3. Next up you want to define your target audience for the survey. All your current clients? Potential prospects? Website visitors? Family and friends?

   Knowing your audience will inform what language to use, how and where to share your survey, etc.

Creating Your Survey

1. Keep your questions clear and to the point. If needed, add additional description and resources to make sure you get the best possible response. When creating “choice” type questions, give each potential choice proper consideration, make them as clear and short as possible.
2. Keep related questions together, this will make it easier for respondents to give you the feedback you desire. If needed use clear separators or intermediate screens to introduce a new section of your survey.
3. Present each question in the best possible way and avoid unnecessary distractions. If possible, show only one question at a time. Select an appropriate font and background color to make sure readability is good.
4. Make your survey attractive and professional by choosing the appropriate look and feel. Match your company or product profile if possible by selecting font, background, colors. Making your survey look good will always be appreciated.
5. Keep your survey as short as possible, this will help respondents keep focused and increase the likeness of them completing it. If needed use skip logic (Jumps, Conditional presentation of questions) to dig deeper into a specific answer. Ex: “Are you satisfied with our product?”, If “No” then show “Why? what can we improve”?

Sharing Your Survey

1. Sharing in link form in email, on social, or on your website is the most basic option. This can work nicely, but in many cases one of the following choices will be a better one.
2. If your primary point of contact with the target audience is via email for example, starting a survey by embedding the first question straight up in the email might be a good choice (this typically only works if the first question is a choice type question).
3. Embedding the survey in a page on your own website can have multiple advantages. A familiar location certainly helps to build trust. Most surveying software allows you to embed your survey as an iframe (including Aweform). Make sure to match the look and feel in the survey and find a natural placement for it.
4. If you engage with your audience through your own SaaS software or mobile app you may want to use a custom starting point, styling the first question to specifically match your own product, and then jumping into the survey from there. Some surveying software allows you to do this natively.