Website Survey Tips

Updated January 13, 2023

All About Asking The Right Questions

While we’re huge fans of digging into Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools for visitor behavior, sometimes the best way to get answers about your website is through a survey. A website survey can provide insight on content that visitors read and value. In this post I’ll share our best tips for a website survey and which tools integrate best into WordPress.

1. Use Mostly Closed-Ended Questions

A website survey shouldn’t contain a bunch of open-ended questions, especially if you want visitors to actually fill it out. Brevity is key, and closed-ended questions are perceived as easier to complete. Here are some examples:

• Have you recommended this website to others?
• Did you find what you were looking for?
• Which statement best matches your reason for visiting today? Then provide several answer options.

The benefit of closed-ended questions is that your results will be structured. This will help tremendously during the analysis phase. Your website survey should be nimble. Therefore, if the tabulation of results is complicated, the process is unnecessarily slowed down. Expect to further refine your questions and ask new ones as your content evolves.

2. Are You Reaching the Right Audience?

A website survey can help you understand your audience and what they need. If you’re not happy with how many pages your audience consumes in one session or their length of time on the site (indications of a boring blog or site), this may be a great time to ask specific questions about content. Here are some examples:

• Which title most closely matches your job role? Then offer a drop-down menu with answer options.
• Have you visited this website before? If so, which statement best matches your reason for returning?
• Did our content answer your question?

3. Timing Is Everything

If your website survey pops up too soon, visitors may not have had enough time to consume much of your content. Ask too late and they may be in a hurry to leave. So what’s the best time? It depends (annoying, but true). Perfect timing of your website survey is dependent upon your industry, how your website is structured, and the strength of your content.

WordPress Website Survey Plugins

When choosing WordPress plugins, we look for three things: 1) Number of downloads: shows popularity and diversity of users, 2) Star Rating: provides a peek into code quality,  and 3) Update Date: indicates if plugin developers are keeping pace with WordPress releases.

We use iPerceptions Customer Feedback Surveys as it’s very stable and fairly easy to use. WebEngage Feedback is also highly rated and has ready-to-use templates. The right website survey plugin should play nicely with other widgets and plugins on your site. In the WordPress plugin repository, do your due diligence: read customer reviews, FAQ, and support questions to make the best choice for your site.

What burning question would you put on your website survey?