Maximizing response rate: Survey length
Agnieszka avatar
Written by Agnieszka
Updated over a week ago

Response rate is the percentage of users that responded to your survey. It is calculated by:

the number of responses/number of total views(unique views in website surveys)x100

Having a high response rate will give you better insights. It isn't a surprise that the response rate is directly correlated to survey length.

Read on to learn how to increase the response rate of your surveys and gather representative feedback.

Micro surveys

Use micro surveys to keep your questionnaire short and focus on collecting actionable feedback.

We analyzed data from Survicate surveys and found a notable drop in the average completion rate with each additional question (1-3 being the optimal number). Find your golden mean between collecting enough information and not scaring your respondents off.

Inform respondents about the survey length

Let your audience know the expected timeframe beforehand and ensure it is realistic. Add this information to the invitation or survey introduction.

Add a progress bar

You can also enable the Progress bar to your survey to manage the time expectations:

Use survey logic

Determine a clear goal for your survey and focus on collecting the most relevant information. Using survey logic will enable you to let some respondents skip unnecessary questions to keep your survey concise and to the point and personalize the survey experience.

This feature lets you:

  • show follow-up questions to unhappy customers;

  • redirect happy customers to a review page;

  • show relevant follow-up questions based on someone's previous answer, such as asking different Text answer questions to those who like your product than to those who'd like you to improve:

Here are more tips and ideas for using survey logic in each question type.

Choose the right question type

If you include open-ended questions, try to limit them to the minimum and intersperse them between more effortless, quick-to-answer ones for the best survey experience. Those questions are super valuable, but use them wisely.

Conclusion

Survey length can significantly influence the response rate. Weight the pros and cons to find the balance between asking enough questions and not overwhelming your respondents with too many inquiries.

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