How to Create Surveys Using Free Online Tools
I’ve written several times about the importance of customer surveys - they provide fast insight into what your customers want, their pain points and help you identify any emerging trends.
Whether you are a part of a large company or a solopreneur, there are several free online tools that can help you create surveys and analyze its results - all without breaking your budget.
My favorite free options include SurveyMonkey, Google Forms and Typeform.
SurveyMonkey provides a wide range of question types and basic analytics. However, the free version of the solution limits users to 10 questions and 40 responses per survey - however, this can certainly serve basic needs.
Google Forms is extremely user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with other Google solutions. It is perfect for straightforward surveys and gives users unlimited questions and responses.
Typeform stands out with its visually appealing interface and conversational approach to surveys, but its free version caps users at 10 responses per month.
My all-around pick: Google Forms
Once you’ve selected your survey tool, it’s time to design your survey. I’ve written about crafting a survey before and here is an overview of my best practices that I use with all of my client projects:
Define Your Objectives: Before writing any questions, determine what specific information you want to know. This will help guide your question creation and survey structure.
Keep It Short: Respect your respondents' time by including only essential questions. A shorter survey is more likely to be completed. *Bonus: Before they start the survey, tell respondents how many questions there are and how long it will take to complete.
Use a Variety of Question Types: Mix multiple-choice, rating scales, and open-ended questions to keep your respondents engaged and help diversify your data.
Start with Easy Questions: Begin with simple questions to build rapport and encourage your respondents to complete the survey.
No Leading Questions: Avoid leading questions to keep your results meaningful and valid. For example, instead of "How great was our service?", ask "How would you rate our service?”
Use Logic for Flow: Organize survey questions in a logical sequence that groups related topics together.
Include an Open-Ended Question: Give respondents a chance to provide their own custom feedback that you might not have considered. These answers can yield amazing insights for your business.
Your survey is written and ready to go, fantastic! But that is only half the battle - we need to focus on getting maximum responses. Here’s how:
Creating an Invitation: When inviting respondents to complete the survey, clearly explain its purpose and how long it will take to complete.
Mobile Optimization: Make sure your survey is accessible on mobile devices, as many respondents will use smartphones to complete it.
Timing Matters: Send your survey when your target audience is most likely to have free time to respond. Look at your web analytics and email campaigns to see when your audience is most highly engaged.
Follow-up: Send a gentle reminder to non-respondents after a few days.
Use Incentives: Offer a small reward or entry into a prize drawing for completing the survey. This is especially useful for surveys that are longer than 10 questions or take over 5 minutes to complete.
Surveys do not need to be expensive or time-intensive to use. With free online tools and purposeful design, you can view incredibly valuable insights to help inform your business decisions.
Need more help with your survey creation? Contact me here.
- Kristen
When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
Custom Research Project: Perfect for ad-hoc research needs including market research, general research, trend identification and competitive reviews.
Research Subscriptions: Stay massively informed on any topic, competitor or industry with my weekly and monthly research subscriptions. And you can set up as many subscriptions as you need.
Schedule a 1:1 Coaching Call: Need guidance on your project? Not sure how to approach a research project? Have a small budget and want to know exactly how I would tackle it? Set up a call with me.