How Long Should an Online Survey Be?
Posted on | March 21, 2013 | No Comments
The name of the online survey game is information gathering. The vehicle used to gather that information is the well-written question and the trick to getting respondents to complete surveys is driving directly to the point. Survey creators walk a fine line; they need to gather as much complete and valuable data as possible without scaring off the respondent with miles of questions. Respondents shouldn’t feel as they have to go through something as complex as the U.S. Tax code to answer a simple question on whether or not they enjoyed a recent purchase.
Industry standards demonstrate that an increase in survey questions will result in less time spent thinking about and answering each question and will produce a higher abandonment rate. Ennect online marketing software recommends that a survey be on average about 10-questions. A good 10-question survey should take a respondent no longer than 5 minutes to properly complete.
So here are a few ideas on how to keep respondents interested and from abandoning ship:
- Honesty: Let them know how many questions and approximate completion time
- Simplify: Keep your questions brief and to the point
- Focus: Stay on survey topic and do not include any “curve-ball” questioning
- Don’t Get Greedy: Ask for only what you need and nothing extra
- Incentives: Possibly include an incentive for finishing the survey
Ennect Survey is a web-based marketing software that empowers you to create online surveys quickly and analyze results even faster!
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