How to write survey questions people actually answer

One idea per question

'How satisfied are you with our price and quality?' is two questions. Someone happy with quality and angry about price has no honest answer. Split it.

Neutral wording

'How much did you enjoy our award-winning service?' tells people what to say. Ask 'How would you rate the service you received?' and let the scale do the work.

Balanced scales with labelled ends

Five points, equal numbers of positive and negative options, and plain labels at both ends: 'Very dissatisfied' to 'Very satisfied'. Avoid scales that run from 'Good' to 'Excellent'.

Give every respondent an option

Single-choice lists need to be exhaustive. Add 'Other' or 'None of these' so nobody is forced into a wrong answer, which quietly corrupts your data.

• Keep lists under eight options
• Randomise order where it does not matter
• Put 'Prefer not to say' on anything personal

Short, concrete, recent

'In the last 30 days, how many times did you…' beats 'How often do you usually…'. Memory is reliable for recent, specific events and unreliable for habits.

Open text sparingly

One or two open questions, placed after the closed ones, capture the 'why'. More than that and completion rates fall; people will not type paragraphs on a phone.

Test on a phone before you send

Most responses arrive on mobile. SurveyHood's builder previews every question at phone width, and the AI question check flags leading, double-barrelled and ambiguous wording before publishing.