How To Craft the Perfect Online Survey Questions and Get Honest Answers

Online surveys are effective for understanding your customers’ needs, uncovering key industry insights, and improving your business in almost every way.

But without asking the right questions, you won’t connect with the insights you need to succeed. Poorly worded questions are one of the most common online survey issues businesses face. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

To help you earn a healthy return on investment (ROI) from your online survey marketing efforts, we’re going to give you actionable advice on how to craft questions that inspire valuable responses.

We’ll also explain how you can use ScoreApp to streamline the online survey design process.

The benefits of crafting better online survey questions

By knowing your audience and what you want to achieve from your online survey, you’ll give your questions shape and direction.

Asking questions that align with your goals and resonate with your target audience will open you up to a wealth of business-boosting benefits, including:

• Improved data quality: Clear, targeted questions will lead to more accurate and honest responses.
• Better response rates: Engaging, unbiased, and well-phrased questions will encourage participation, leading to more responses.
• Meaningful insights: Asking questions in a way that inspires honest answers will provide you with actionable feedback for improved strategic decision-making.

Crafting the perfect online survey questions: tips and best practices

Now that you’re up to speed with the benefits of crafting the perfect online survey questions, let’s explore how to get the job done. 

1. Be clear and concise

First of all, your survey questions must be clear and concise. Avoid long-winded words and industry jargon at all costs. Keep your language simple and remove any phrasing that isn’t necessary.

Don’t ask two questions or cover two pieces of subject matter at the same time – it will only confuse or frustrate your respondents.

ScoreApp’s ready-to-go templates are equipped with clear and concise survey questions you can customise to suit your audience.

2. Avoid leading or biased questions

To inspire honest and actionable responses, your survey questions must be neutral and unbiased. There’s no wiggle room here.

This can be tricky, so here are some tips:

• Use neutral wording and phrasing.
• Don’t add your opinions to your survey questions. 
• Be direct and clear with what you’re asking. Don’t use language that’s open to interpretation.

Bad example:

We think we’re pretty great at what we do. Wouldn’t you agree that we’re amazing?

Good example:

How would you rate the level of experience we provide?

3. Use the right question types

When crafting your survey questions, there are different formats to consider. The question type will influence the type of answer. Here are the most effective question styles you can use in your surveys:

• Multiple-choice questions: For offering your respondents the chance to choose from pre-determined answers.

• Likert or opinion scale questions: For gauging your respondents’ thoughts, perceptions, or feelings on a certain subject on a scale of 1 to 10 or Likely to Unlikely, for example.

• Rank order questions: For gaining insights into your respondents’ priorities around certain products or topics by asking them to rank pre-determined statements in order.

• Open-ended questions: For understanding your respondents’ feelings and opinions on a deeper level.

Tip: Try not to ask more than one or two open-ended questions because this can cause survey fatigue and have a negative impact on response rates.

4. Keep your survey focused

One of the most common online survey mistakes businesses make is trying to cover too many topics. Keep your survey focused and you’ll maintain your participants’ attention.

If your survey isn’t focused on a specific goal or topic, it’s likely to become confusing and long-winded. As a rule of thumb, you should ask seven to 10 questions – the ‘survey sweet spot’.

You should also ensure your questions follow a logical flow, starting simple and saving the slightly more complex questions until the end (once your participants have picked up momentum).

5. Make your participants feel comfortable

Making sure your participants are at ease is essential to receiving accurate and honest answers. Here’s how:

• Allow your participants to answer your survey questions anonymously.

• Introduce your participants to your survey, its main aim, and how their data will be used.

• Use ScoreApp to add personal touches to your participants’ survey journey with personalised thank you pages and email follow-ups for maximum engagement.

Tips for getting more honest answers

Now you know how to craft online survey questions that get results, let’s explore some more tips for getting honest answers from your participants.

• Test your survey before launching it: Share your survey with a small group to make sure it’s concise and flows well and to identify any potentially confusing questions or issues.

• Incentivise people to take part: Offer potential participants an exclusive piece of content, a discount code, or access to exclusive content for taking part.

• Be transparent: Communicate your survey’s purpose and assure participants their feedback will be used to improve your products, services, and user experience (UX).

How ScoreApp simplifies crafting online survey questions

Working with a leading online survey tool such as ScoreApp will help you optimise your designs, streamline your process, and earn consistent results for your efforts. Here’s why.

Expert-approved templates

ScoreApp’s customisable templates are designed by industry experts and offer a flawless experience across devices.

Each template is equipped with relevant questions you can tweak to the needs of your audience.

Interactive design

In-built features such as progress bars and interactive elements will make your online surveys more personable and keep your participants engaged from start to finish. 

Data-driven insights

With its very own data analytics dashboard, ScoreApp can visualise your most valuable survey data with ease, empowering you to understand which questions earn the best engagement and response.

Ease of use

Drag-and-drop tools make it simple to edit survey questions, customise your designs, and add your company’s branding for the best possible response rates.

Create better online surveys with ScoreApp

The success of your online survey marketing efforts depends on the quality of your questions. If you focus on one theme or subject, remain neutral, and keep it concise, you’ll connect with the data you need to succeed.

Working with ScoreApp will ensure your survey designs and content are streamlined for success. You don’t need any technical knowledge – ScoreApp’s interactive templates and in-built data analytics will help you create a consistent stream of results-worthy surveys.

Are you ready to start asking the right questions? Try ScoreApp for FREE.