How to create a survey in 7 steps with SurveyMonkey

Creating effective surveys is essential for gathering valuable insights. Online surveys are quick and efficient, making them ideal for collecting data and driving informed decisions. This guide will walk you through how to create a survey, from identifying your goals to analysing the results.

You’ll learn how to design, distribute and analyse surveys using best practices and expert tips. By the end of this guide, you’ll be able to create effective online surveys.

Online surveys gather information from a targeted group via the internet. These digital surveys are efficient and quick ways to gain insights and drive business decisions.

Online surveys are efficient, cost-effective and flexible. They also provide immediate results and broad reach. This makes them ideal for modern data collection, whether for customer feedback, market research or employee engagement.

Creating an online survey with a clear plan is easy. Follow this simple seven-step framework that we at SurveyMonkey have developed over 25 years.

Start by defining clear, specific goals for your survey. Clear goals help focus your questions and ensure that you gather relevant data. For example, are you aiming to improve customer service, measure employee satisfaction or understand market trends?

Specific goals, such as "identify top three employee concerns", provide direction. These goals guide your question design, helping you collect actionable insights. Knowing your objectives keeps your survey concise and targeted, making it more effective.

Know who you’re surveying in order to tailor your questions. Understanding your target audience helps you use language and questions that resonate with them. Avoid jargon and use clear, simple language.

Consider demographic factors such as age, location and interests. If you’re surveying employees, use expressions that are familiar within your organisation. If your audience is general consumers, keep the language straightforward and accessible.

Choose the appropriate survey based on your goals. Different surveys serve different purposes; here are three standard online survey types: 

Customer satisfaction surveys gauge customers’ feelings about your products, services and business practices. They provide insights into customer experiences, helping you understand what works and where to make improvements. These surveys are essential for keeping customers happy, loyal and engaged with your brand.

Use customer satisfaction surveys to:

Employee engagement surveys reveal how employees feel about workplace experiences. They help you understand the impact of your current systems and highlight areas requiring improvement. Engaged employees are happier, more productive and more likely to stay with your company.

Use employee engagement surveys to:

Market research surveys help businesses understand their target market, informing better decision making. These surveys are valuable for capturing consumer preferences, testing new ideas and assessing market trends. They provide data that drives strategic planning and product development.

Use market research surveys to:

Writing your survey is critical to determining the quality and usefulness of the data you collect. Craft straightforward, concise questions to gather the most accurate data. Well-designed questions can improve response rates and provide actionable insights.

Here’s how to write effective survey questions:

Group similar questions to maintain a logical flow. Use page breaks, titles and instructions to guide respondents. Proper formatting helps respondents understand the structure of the survey and reduces confusion. It also makes the survey easier to navigate, improving completion rates.

Keep questions short and to the point to avoid overwhelming respondents. Brevity ensures that respondents remain engaged and are more likely to complete the survey. Long, complex questions can lead to frustration and dropout. Short questions are also easier to understand, leading to more accurate answers.

Focus on one idea per question to ensure clarity. Vague questions lead to ambiguous answers, which can complicate data analysis. Specific questions yield precise responses that are easier to interpret and act upon. This clarity helps you obtain the exact information you need without any guesswork.

Provide clear options for answers and avoid language that respondents can interpret in multiple ways. Clear answer choices reduce respondent confusion and improve the data quality. By being explicit, you’ll help respondents choose the most accurate option, leading to more reliable results.

Use skip logic to ensure that respondents only see questions that apply to them. These conditional controls keep the survey concise and relevant. Irrelevant questions can frustrate respondents and lead to survey abandonment. Relevant questions maintain respondents’ interest and improve the overall quality of the data.

Use yes/no surveys sparingly, as these questions don’t capture nuanced opinions. Yes/no questions are straightforward but often lack depth. Use them for simple, binary information, but rely on more detailed question types to gather comprehensive insights. This approach provides a fuller picture of respondents’ opinions and experiences.

Use matrix questions to gather detailed feedback efficiently, but don’t overuse them as they can overwhelm respondents. Matrix questions allow you to collect data on multiple items with consistent answer choices. These questions save time and effort for you and respondents. But be careful, as too many matrix questions can lead to survey fatigue.

Use survey templates and question banks to save time and ensure quality. Templates and question banks provide a solid survey foundation. They help you identify effective questions, including closed- and open-ended questions, and streamline the survey-creation process. Customising these resources to suit your needs will result in a well-structured and insightful survey.

Before launching your survey, conduct a pilot survey (externally or internally) to identify any design flaws.

A pilot survey, or test run, helps you evaluate the instructions, layout and questions. It’s a small-scale test that saves you from costly mistakes later. A few dozen respondents are typically enough and they don’t have to be from your target audience. Focus on how they interpret the survey rather than their specific answers.

External surveys use respondents from outside your primary study group, so they are perfect for testing technical aspects. Internal surveys involve your target audience, so they provide realistic feedback on the expected responses. After completing your pilot, refine your survey based on the feedback to ensure clarity and effectiveness. If necessary, run a second pilot to confirm the improvements.

Distribute your survey via multiple channels to reach a broader audience. Email is common, but also consider using social media, website links or direct messages. Ensure that your survey is accessible on all devices, including mobile phones. 

SurveyMonkey offers many ways to send your surveys:

Boost response rates by sending reminders to those who haven’t completed the survey. A gentle nudge 48–72 hours after the initial invite can significantly increase participation.

Limit reminders to avoid annoyance: don’t use more than four. Always set a deadline for survey completion and stop reminders after this point.

Express appreciation to respondents with thank you emails to reinforce their valued input. With SurveyMonkey, you can automatically trigger thank you emails after the survey has been completed.

Online surveys offer numerous advantages compared with traditional methods. They provide efficiency, cost savings and immediate access to data, making them essential for modern data collection.

Online surveys typically achieve higher response rates. Respondents can complete surveys on any device, making it convenient and increasing participation.

Creating, distributing and collecting online surveys is cost-effective. There’s no need for large budgets or external agencies. You can manage everything on a single platform, making data accessible across your organisation.

Online survey data is available immediately. You can analyse results and gain actionable insights without waiting for manual data entry. This reduces errors and speeds up decision making.

Online surveys are easy to create and distribute. With templates and sample questions, you can quickly design a survey that meets your needs. Respondents can access surveys on any device and at any time, increasing the likelihood of completion.

Additionally, online platforms simplify collection, analysis, filtering and reporting. Automated tools provide instant insights, advanced filtering and crosstab reports, making it easier to interpret data and share findings.

Online survey platforms offer excellent design flexibility, allowing you to customise the layout and questions. Question banks containing pre-written questions provide ready-to-use answer choices, saving you time while leveraging best practices from survey experts.

Respondents often feel more comfortable providing honest feedback online. The absence of an interviewer eliminates potential survey biases and encourages more candid responses.

Online surveys eliminate the need for printing, postage and manual data entry. Automated data collection and analysis save time and reduce costs, making surveys more affordable.

Your online surveys are accessible to everyone. Tools and checklists ensure that your surveys are compliant with Section 508 and WCAG 2 standards. This inclusiveness increases your reach and response rates.

Although online surveys have many benefits, they also come with challenges. Here are some of the common problems and tips on how to address them.

Online surveys can produce inaccurate data due to rushed responses or confusion. Ensure that your questions are clear and specific to minimise confusion. Use logic features to skip irrelevant questions and keep respondents engaged. For example, if asking about product usage, provide options such as ‘daily’, ‘weekly’ or ‘never’ to capture precise data.

Not everyone has internet access, so this can limit your survey reach, particularly for certain demographics or regions. To combat this, try combining online surveys with phone or face-to-face surveys to include these offline respondents. For example, if you are surveying rural areas with low internet access, conducting phone interviews or attending community gatherings may help you collect more comprehensive data.

Emails can end up in spam folders, thus reducing response rates. Improve email delivery rates by using an identifiable sender name and subject line.

You may need to address technical issues when sending large email batches. Improve email delivery rates by setting up proper DNS records such as SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

SurveyMonkey works with your Internet Service Provider to automatically validate SPF, DKIM or DMARC records. You don’t have to worry about email servers and other technical matters.

Without a moderator, respondents may misinterpret questions or skip important sections. Pre-test your survey with a small group to identify unclear questions. Provide clear instructions and use validation rules to ensure that respondents answer critical questions. For example, make critical fields required or use tooltips to explain complex questions.

By addressing these challenges and testing thoroughly, you can improve the reliability and effectiveness of your online surveys.

SurveyMonkey has a vast library of resources for creating online surveys, including guides, case studies, videos, webinars and more. You can also visit our Help Centre for all the product-related information to maximise your research success.

Now that you know how to create an online survey, start using SurveyMonkey today!