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Search Engine Optimization - home >> Search Engine News >> 20 Top Tips to Writing Effective Surveys: Part 2



20 Top Tips to Writing Effective Surveys: Part 2

Online surveys are a cost-effective means of collecting data about your target audience. There are lots of programs available to help you post surveys on your website. Survey Monkey offers a free plan that you can experiment with if you're new to online market research. But be sure you follow best practices when you plan and prepare your online survey questions. Here is the second half of the top 20 tips for composing effective online surveys by Martin Day of Suvey Galaxy.

11. Target your respondents
In some cases you will want to target a specific group, in others a cross section. If you can't easily control the respondents, consider including questions/answers that will allow you to filter out respondents who don't fit your target profile.

12. Allow the respondent to expand or make comments
Allowing the respondent to make additional comments will increase their satisfaction level and will also give valuable feedback on the specific questions and/or the survey as a whole. Remember, though, for a large sample collection it may be difficult to analyze free text open-ended responses.

13. If the survey you are conducting is to be confidential ensure that your pledge is upheld
If you have assured the respondents that the survey is confidential, ensure that the individual data is not to be shared with anyone and the information is not going to be used for any other purpose. Confidentiality must be maintained at all times and any identifying information destroyed after the survey is complete.

14. Weigh up the benefits of allowing respondents to be anonymous or identifiable
If your respondents are to be anonymous, then appreciate that you will be unable to follow up or match "pre" or "post" surveys. However, in some cases,allowing people to remain anonymous will allow people to respond without possible peer pressure.

15. Give careful consideration to the best response format
It is good practice to maintain a consistency in the format used for responses. Keep in mind that when analyzing the data, radio buttons are easier to analyze than check boxes that offer the respondent multiple responses. Do not use a check box if a radio response would do.

16. Give the respondent an idea of how much time the survey will take
Respondent dropout can occur if the survey appears to be a stream of never-ending questions. It is good practice to give an indication as to how long the survey is likely to take so the respondents can choose the best time to complete the survey.

17. Inform the respondents of the survey end date
Encourage respondents to complete the survey as soon as possible but advise respondents as to the surveys end date so that they have the opportunity to schedule the necessary time.

18. Pilot the survey
Before publishing a live survey, publish a small pilot survey to check for questions that are ambiguous or confusing and to ensure that the survey is aesthetically pleasing.

19. Before publishing the survey proof read the survey several times
Check and check again that the survey is grammatically correct and makes sense. If possible get someone else to proofread the survey before you publish. If no one else is available then take a break before checking again.

20. Remember to say thank you
To complete surveys respondents need to invest their time and should be thanked either in a covering letter, at the end of completing the survey or in a follow up letter. You may even want to consider incentives such as a prize draw or reward.

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