How to Create an Online Survey using SurveyMonkey … for FREE

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By DeltaHotel
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Many of us have completed online surveys or feedback questionnaires. Often these sorts of surveys are created by research marketing organizations on behalf of retail or service companies. Other times they may be custom developed using dynamic HTML or scripting languages. But you don't need to contract with a research firm or understand HTML in order to create a professional online survey. In fact, you can build your own survey without spending any money, and with very little effort and time. In this article, we'll explore creating an online survey using SurveyMonkey, a site devoted to online surveys that is extremely flexible and easy to use. SurveyMonkey allows you to create professional surveys, to view results in real time, and to analyze or share results. SurveyMonkey offers a basic survey service for FREE that allows you to include more than a dozen types of questions and to view results online. Using the FREE service, the number of questions and responses is limited. If you have more sophisticated needs, then SurveyMonkey has a couple of very affordable plans that allow you to create unlimited surveys (at the time of this writing, $200 annually for unlimited surveys and responses). For this reason, SurveyMonkey may be the ideal choice if you expect your survey needs to expand or if you have ongoing needs for multiple large or more complex surveys. As an alternative, for a completely FREE but less sophisticated online survey solution, have a look at Google Documents (see link to my eHow article in Related eHow Articles, or see My Other Articles).

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Computer with Internet connection
Draft/idea of your survey questions and responses

Step 1

To get started with SurveyMonkey, visit their website (http://www.surveymonkey.com, or see Links section below) and click the link to Join Now for Free. This allows you to create a username and password for your account.
Step 2

Create Survey

Once you have created an account (or signed on using your account), click "Create Survey" on the top menu bar to begin creating your first survey.
Step 3

Enter a Title for your survey. This title optionally appears at the top of your published survey. Note that if you upgrade your free account to a professional account, you may create and use survey templates. Templates allow you to create saved layouts and formatting for easy re-use in multiple surveys.
Step 4

Select Themes

You may select from a variety of Themes for your survey. Themes control the colors and formatting for your survey. Use the drop-down control to select the desired Theme. Note that if you upgrade your free account to a professional account, you may create your own Themes.
Step 5

Your survey may be a single Page, or you may choose to divide the survey into multiple Pages. Click the "Edit Page" option to modify properties for the page.
Step 6

Page Title

You may customize the Title for each Page, as well as the Page Description. Both appear at the top of each page, just below the Survey Title. This is most useful in cases where your survey is divided into multiple pages.
Step 7

Add Question

Click "Add Question Here" to create your first question. Note that questions may easily be inserted later, if needed.
Step 8

Question Types

Next, you must choose a Question Type. Select from among the available options. SurveyMonkey provides a wide variety of question types to suit just about every need. Be sure to click the "Question Examples" link from this dialog to view samples for each of these types.
Step 9

Question and Answers

The Question and Answer dialog will provide varying options, depending on the Question Type you selected. Note that you may change the type of question at any time. Most question types prompt you for at least the Question and the possible Answers. Other options may be provided (again, depending on the Type of question).
Step 10

Continue adding questions (and optionally, Pages) as needed for your survey. Remember that you can also insert Descriptive Text as needed. Simply select the "Descriptive Text" as your question Type.
Step 11

Survey Options

Once you've entered all Questions, click "Survey Options" to view or modify options for your survey. This include things like Page and Question numbering, whether to show titles, whether to show a progress bar, etc.
Step 12

Collect Responses

When ready to publish or distribute your survey, click the "Collect Responses" tab. You have several options for how you'll distribute your survey. For most applications, the first option is used, which creates a link you may send via e-mail or insert on a web page. Enter the name for the link, then click "Next Step".
Step 13

Response Link

SurveyMonkey will create a unique link that you may either send via. e-mail or insert on a web page.
Step 14

Once you've selected how responses will be gathered (SurveyMonkey calls this a "Collector"), the "Collect Responses" tab will display the selected Collector and the number of responses, etc. You may clear responses on this dialog. Note that you may have multiple Collectors for a single survey. For example, you may send the same survey to multiple groups, and collect responses separately.
Step 15

Analyze Results

Once you've distributed your survey, you may view the results by clicking the "Analyze Results" tab. SurveyMonkey displays statistics for each question on a summary form. You may also view individual responses, browse and filter responses, and download responses. If you upgrade your free account to a professional account, you may even share the response summary or detailed results (SurveyMonkey creates a link that you may share with others that displays these results).
Step 16

That's it! It couldn't be much easier to create a professional online survey for FREE. And if your survey needs expand in the future, SurveyMonkey provides a very affordable professional subscription that offers unlimited survey capabilities. As an alternative, for a completely FREE but less sophisticated online survey solution, have a look at Google Documents (see link to my eHow article in Related eHow Articles, or see My Other Articles).

Comments

peterdesign said

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on 11/25/2009 Very helpful. I have question is it possible to control who takes the survey. I mean if just a special team is chosen. The qustion goes forboth surveymonkey and Google survey.
Thanks from Sweden!