Not sure about how to create surveys on Google Surveys? Check the 6 easy-to-follow steps for your successful research, as well as things to keep in mind when creating surveys.
In this article:
- Step 1 - Name your survey: Give a distinctive name to your survey
- Step 2 - Pick a question format: Understand different question formats
- Step 3 - Write a question: Conduct questions
- Step 4 - Define audience setting: Reach the proper audience for your research purpose
- Step 5 - Choose demographic targeting: Filter the specific demographics
- Step 6 - Purchase responses: Determine how many responses to acquire
By giving a distinctive name to your survey, It helps you organize multiple ongoing surveys.
Step 2 - Pick a question format: Understand different question formats
There are 12 different question-format options to pick from:
Question formats in which the respondents choose one answer from available options
| Question format | It looks like: | Description | Things to keep in mind when creating surveys |
| Single Answer |  |
The respondents can only pick one answer. Can be used as a screening question. |
Missing an opt-out answer choice |
| Two choices with image |  |
The respondents choose one of two answer options with the uploaded image of your choice. Accepts GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Images larger than 300x250 pixels will be shrunk to that size. Animated GIFs are not allowed. Can be used as a screening question. |
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| Side-by-side image |  |
The respondents pick one of two thumbnail images. Accepts GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Images larger than 125x125 pixels will be shrunk to that size. Animated GIFs are not allowed. |
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| Menu with image |  |
The respondents choose one answer from up to five answer options with a large image. Accepts GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Images larger than 300x250 pixels will be shrunk to that size. Animated GIFs are not allowed. Can be used as a screening question. |
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| Large image choice |  |
The respondents pick one out of up to five thumbnail images that can be enlarged. Accepts GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Images larger than 300x250 pixels will be shrunk to that size. Animated GIFs are not allowed. |
Question formats in which respondents choose multiple answers
| Question format | It looks like: | Description | Things to watch out when creating surveys |
| Multiple answers |  |
The respondents can choose more than one answer and there is an automatic “None of the above” option. Can be used as a screening question. |
Conflicting answer choices |
| Multiple answers with image |  |
The respondents can pick one or more answers from up to seven choices with a large image displayed. Can be used as a screening question. |
Question formats in which respondents answer using a star rating scale
| Question format | It looks like: | Description | Things to watch out when creating surveys |
| Rating scale |  |
The respondents can answer on a 5, 7, 10, or 11 star rating scale (e.g., "Not interested" to "Very interested"). | Rating scales not clear |
| Rating scale with text |  |
The respondents can read a statement in the sentiment text field and choose using a 5, 7, 10, or 11 star rating scale. | |
| Rating scale with image |  |
The respondents can see a displayed image and choose using a 5, 7, 10, or 11 star rating scale. Accepts GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Images larger than 300x250 pixels will be shrunk to that size. Animated GIFs are not allowed. |
Question formats in which the respondents can write their answers in a placeholder field
| Question format | It looks like: | Description | Things to keep in mind when creating surveys |
| Open-ended |  |
The respondents can enter one- to two-word answers or a short phrase. | Character limit |
| Open-ended with image |  |
The respondents can enter text in a placeholder field with an image of your choice displayed. Accepts GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats. Images larger than 300x250 pixels will be shrunk to that size. Animated GIFs are not allowed. |
Step 3 - Write a question: Conduct questions
There are useful tools you can use to design your questions and answers during the creation process.
| Tool | It looks like | Description |
| Bin/Move |  |
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Pinning |
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Randomization |
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| Screening Question |  |
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How to use Pinning
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Click the "pinning" icon next to the answer you want to display at the bottom of the answer list.
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Only one answer can be pinned.
Please note that it's only available in “Single Answer” and “Multiple-answers” question formats.
The answers may not apply to all possible respondents, so adding this choice helps keep response quality high.
How to change randomization
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Click the "Randomize answer order" icon to change the randomization settings.
Note that this feature is only available to certain Question formats. [see Types of Questions]
to check the randomization setting is done correctly.How to set up screening questions
- Select the checkbox for Screen with this question.
- Select the checkbox
for each answer that qualifies a respondent for this audience.
for each answer that qualifies a respondent for this audience.-
Note that this feature is only available to certain Question formats. [see Types of Questions]
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Pricing varies based on the incidence rate for your survey, which is determined through by an audience test.
Step 4 - Define audience setting: Reach the proper audience for your research purpose
This selection of audience lets you reach the proper audience, from the general online population of a country to the visitor on your website, depending on your research purpose.
Please note that only one country or state is allowed to target per survey. And it is not available to target both audiences (Android smartphone users and general population) at the same time.
What settings are available?
- want to get a representative sample of a country’s population? → General Population
- want to survey Android smartphone users on your next new app? → Android
- want to see how satisfied your website visitors are with your latest site content? →your website
Step 5 - Choose demographic targeting: Filter the specific demographics
This selection lets you filter the specific demographics you want to reach.
Need to further narrow your target audience?
→ Use a screening question to filter in only those you want to target.Step 6 - Purchase responses: Determine how many responses to acquire
The number of responses you should purchase depends on how confident you want to be in your results.
Why?
A top-line margin of error of 10% or more is acceptable for some business decisions, but others require more accuracy. For general internet-audience questions, we recommend 1,500 responses to ensure that top-line results are within a 3-5% margin of error and that results segmented by one or two dimensions (e.g., age, gender, etc.) are within a 10% margin of error. The number of responses recommended in order to receive statistically significant responses can be different for targeted surveys to a custom audience.
under "Details" column, and then selecting Desktop, Mobile, or Android App.