Everyone has an opinion. Within those opinions can be some excellent business pointers if you want to know how popular a product is likely to be, what your audience thinks of your latest advertising campaign or whether branching out into a new area within your business is going to be met with apathy or enthusiasm. The trouble is that these opinions are rarely collated in a way that’s going to help you make a fundamental business decision. That’s where a free online survey can help.

What is a free online survey?

A free online survey is exactly what it says it is. There’s no mystery or hidden art to carrying out a survey. Your starting point should be a specific question that you as a business owner wants answered. That could range from something trivial such as where everyone wants to go for the Christmas party, through to a weightier topic such as whether your business should expand into a new marketplace with an innovative product. Online surveys give you instant results that can be data mined for information later on, particularly if you include a suggestions or comments section within the body of the survey.

A free online survey can be used for almost any reason. You could use it to:

1. Generate new product ideas or implement improvements on existing lines

2. Discover what your customers think of your business

3. Find out if your employees are happy or if there are issues that need addressing

4. Collate visitor demographics that can help you to target your advertising campaign

The feedback you receive can be invaluable as a business tool or to improve labour relations between management and your workforce.

Making people feel involved

Asking people their opinion engages them on a much more personal level than just assuming that a certain demographic is going to have a designated or generic viewpoint. Involving them directly by using a free online survey reinforces that feeling of inclusion and garners a far better response rate. As most people do the majority of their work online now, utilising the Internet is a natural progression. It doesn’t take up too much time, particularly if you structure the free online survey in such a way that the questions are concise and easy to answer. And because it’s free, your respondents will be more inclined to take part.

How do I do a free online survey?

There is plenty of software available on the Internet that will let you create your own free online survey. But something as simple as a template email questionnaire will be just as effective, as long as it doesn’t look like a spam email! This is why using a programme that helps you to generate a survey is more effective, as there is less of a chance that it will be blocked by email spam filters and consequently you have a better probability of a high take up amongst your respondents.

Keep it simple. Choose one question you think is key to understanding or improving your business and stick to that. A free online survey that takes too long to complete or asks too many diverse questions on a range of topics may be at risk of becoming boring or tedious. If you have several questions you want people’s opinions on then generate a series of surveys, each dedicated to one question only. This also prolongs your campaign and gives you topic-specific data that is easier to interpret. If you are struggling to construct what you think will be an effective free online survey then talk to a specialist who will be able to work with you to create a survey that could get to the heart of the matter.

Whether it’s the location for the Christmas party or relocating the business entirely, a free online survey gives you a starting point from which you can make a considered decision that is best for you, your employees, your customers and your business.