How to Level Up Your Survey Creation Skills: 10 Tips from Experts

Creating effective surveys is an art and a science. Master survey creators understand how to gather meaningful data through thoughtful questionnaire design and delivery. Whether you’re new to survey creation or looking to take your skills to the next level, following best practices can help you create surveys that deliver actionable insights.

In this comprehensive guide we share insider tips from survey experts to help you refine your survey creation abilities. Learn how to craft engaging surveys that provide the information you need.

Know Your Goals and Audience

All great surveys start with a clear purpose and target audience, Before creating a survey

• Define your objectives – What do you want to learn or achieve from this survey? Get very specific.

• Identify your respondents – Who are you surveying? Their demographics, knowledge level, and other attributes should inform how you design the survey.

• Limit the scope – Surveys with a tight focus provide more useful data than broad, generic surveys. Resist the urge to include extraneous questions.

Starting with a firm understanding of your goals and respondents will guide your design choices throughout.

Choose Survey Software Wisely

Your survey is only as good as the software you use to create and distribute it. When selecting survey software, look for:

• Customizable templates
• Built-in analytics
• Question randomization
• Logic options like skip patterns and branching
• Options for privacy and anonymous responses
• Survey distribution and collection tools
• Data export features

Investing in a professional survey platform like SurveyMonkey or Typeform yields higher quality results compared to free or DIY options.

Lay a Strong Survey Foundation

Write an introduction that:

• Greets respondents
• States the purpose and importance of the survey
• Specifies the estimated time commitment
• Assures anonymity if applicable

This brief intro sets expectations so respondents are primed to provide thoughtful answers.

Structure your survey with organized sections or pages to group related questions. Funnel from general to more specific topics. Use clean page breaks between sections.

End with a thank you statement that reminds respondents to complete any remaining questions.

Write Unbiased, Objective Questions

Survey questions should be:

• Clear – Avoid technical terms or define them.

• Concise – Keep questions as short as possible.

• Neutral – Don’t lead people to certain responses.

• Specific – Ask about one topic per question.

Also avoid:

• Double negatives

• Double-barrel questions

• Loaded or controversial questions

Objective, straightforward questions encourage accurate responses.

Choose Optimal Question Types

Every question type has strengths and limitations. Align question formats with the information you want to gather:

• Multiple choice – For single selection from limited options. Provides quantitative data.

• Checkboxes – Allow multiple selections from a list. Good for categorical data.

• Dropdowns – Like multiple choice as space-saver. Can randomize or alphabetize choices.

• Scales – Measure attitudes, perceptions, or degrees (like Likert scales). Best for qualitative data.

• Open-ended – Let respondents share thoughts in their own words. Time-consuming to analyze but provides rich insights.

• Ranking – Have respondents rank options. Forces trade-offs and priorities.

Mixing question types keeps respondents engaged. Match questions to desired data.

Maximize Response Quality

Several strategies can boost response quality:

• Make questions mandatory to prevent missing data—but use judiciously.

• Randomize options in multiple choice and scales to prevent bias.

• Use questionnaire logic to branch, filter, or rotate questions for each respondent.

• Verify open-ended responses with follow-up questions.

• Include instructional text to clarify question intent and provide examples.

With thoughtful design, you can obtain complete, valid, reliable survey results.

Refine Answering Experience

Minor tweaks to answering options can have major impact on results:

• Use Likert scales for gradations (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree). Offer a middle neutral option.

• Set numerical scale maximums based on your variables—no need for 10-point granularity on every topic.

• Randomize multiple choice order so primacy bias doesn’t consistently favor first options.

• Offer N/A or Prefer not to answer choices where appropriate to prevent forced responses.

Evaluate each question from the respondent’s perspective to build a smooth, seamless survey flow.

Format Questions for Mobile

With widespread mobile survey taking, questionnaire design must accommodate smaller screens:

• Limit text length for easy reading without scrolling on phones.

• Use checkbox, radio button, and dropdown options instead of having respondents manually type inputs.

• Don’t use matrix or grid style questions as these are hard to complete on mobile.

• Add instructional text before tables or complex questions.

• Allow multiple ways to advance screens like buttons and swiping.

Optimizing for mobile improves completion rates—around 80% of surveys are now taken on phones.

Pilot Test Your Survey

No survey design is complete without pilot testing:

• Recruit participants who represent your target demographic. 5-10 testers is ideal.

• Send testers the draft survey and have them complete it as typical respondents would.

• Debrief on their experience – what was clear or confusing? Were any questions repetitive? How long did it take?

• Refine based on feedback before finalizing and distributing the survey.

Pilot testing identifies flaws you can correct to create an airtight questionnaire.

Promote Survey Response

How you recruit survey participation impacts response rates. To maximize responses:

• Send individualized invites rather than anonymous links—people value personal outreach.

• Follow up with non-responders using reminders and stressing the value of their input.

• Offer incentives like gift cards, discounts, or prize drawings for completed surveys.

• Extend the open period beyond your initial timeline to allow flexible response windows.

• Simplify access by distributing via QR codes, website links, email, and social campaigns.

Driving survey engagement takes effort but generates representative, meaningful data.

Analyze and Apply Findings

Don’t let your survey data languish once collected. Following analysis best practices enables you to capitalize on survey findings:

• Review response rate and completion metrics – sufficient sample size? Any data quirks?

• Clean the data by reconciling inconsistencies or incomplete responses.

• Run basic statistical analysis like response frequencies, crosstabs, means testing.

• Connect insights to business objectives – what decisions can you inform?

• Share results visually through charts, dashboards, and reports tailored to key audiences.

• Act on the data to improve products, services, strategies based on respondent feedback.

Surveys only provide value if you derive and act on the insights they provide.

By mastering survey purpose, design, delivery, and analysis—you can elevate your skills as an adept survey creator able to deliver real business impact through listening to customers and stakeholders. With these proven techniques, you can conduct effective research and make data-driven decisions confidently.