17 Best Survey Software in 2021

What are Survey Software?

Businesses depend on survey tools for expanding the customer base as well as improving customer retention rates. To see how well a product or service is doing in the market, getting customer feedback is important. Survey tools function as online survey forms creator to prepare a set of neatly structured questionnaires for distribution amongst the relevant audience.

Online survey tools are critical for business organizations for keeping tabs on the latest market trends. Survey software helps them create and run various types of surveys by posting them on their own websites or sending the forms via email to respondents. You can also post-survey forms on hosted web pages. Online survey sites often charge as per the number of respondents who received the form or viewed the survey.

With the help of different branching techniques, you can be an online questionnaire maker who helps businesses get accurate responses from the target section of the society.

Most Common Features of Online Survey Software for Research & Assessment

Survey logic: Online survey form creator has to design the form in such a way that an entire section or a part of the survey can be excluded for those respondents that do not fit in that particular criteria or is not relevant for them the. For instance, the demographics of the people. In a situation when the demographics of a place do not fit with the existing respondents then the survey tool can remove these people from that section of the form. This feature is a time savior for both respondents and the organization running the survey

Data analysis: Data analysis is another functionality that helps save a lot of time and resources. For the simple reason that you don't have to go through each form individually to analyze the data as per your hypothesis. Survey tools do the job for you by presenting data in the form of charts, graphics, sheets, etc.

Website integration: Website integration by online questionnaire creator makes form-filling more convenient for responders and also easy. As a result of website integration, respondents can access the survey form easily and start sharing their responses.

Question morphing: Survey forms often need to be edited and re-edited as per changing research questions, data and information. Therefore, survey tools do question morphing without changing the format of the questionnaire.

Auto Save Survey Data: Auto save automatically saves data in case of a computer crash or system slowdowns. Survey makers’ autosave technicality continuously saves your valuable data to make your research foolproof and safe from data loss problems that may occur due to technical faults.

Branching logic: This is an interesting feature of online survey creation tools. The following example would make it clearer. Suppose a respondent answers no to this question- if she/he ever bought any product from the XYZ brand. Now if the answer is no, then the following question about, ‘how was their experience with the product’ is useless. With online survey software, this possibility of such irrelevant questioning is eliminated as best survey tools remove such questions based on the previous reply.

Response management: Survey responses can be categorized into different heads for tracking the number of responses received and setting response quotas. With this feature, businesses can also track multiple iterations and get real-time feedback with an end date to surveys.

Data analytic tools: Survey builders offer standard data analytics tools for showing basic summaries. Then there are also advanced tools available for performing more complicated analysis such as weighting, filtering, cross-tabulation and other types of statistical reports.

White label: Most businesses and organizations prefer to attach their logos and watermark before forwarding the surveys to the targeted audience. With an online survey creator software, you can white label the survey questionnaire and make your brand visible to a larger audience.

Scoring types: Scoring helps categorize the responses as per the chosen metrics. Different scores are assigned to different numbers, which respondents can see as they proceed through the survey. At the end, respondents get to know their survey scores. This feature is popularly used for online quizzes and knowledge test.

How to Create a Online Survey with Smart Tools

The following steps need to be taken to create precise survey forms that can be understood easily by the respondents. The more structured and neater the form is, the better would be the outcome in terms of the number of responses.

Step 1: Formatting- Group similar kinds of questions together at one place. You can also add titles and page breaks so that your audience can understand the survey form clearly.

Step 2: Ask briefly- Respondents may not have enough time to respond to detailed long questionnaires. Therefore keep your survey forms brief and to the point.

Step 3: The first question helps set the tone- The first question is the most important thus avoid asking personal questions and any kind of question that requires lengthy, time-consuming responses. Try as much as possible to make your audience comfortable in answering the very first question.

Step 4: As relevant questions- Respondents would only fill up forms that reflect the products or services relevant to their situation. Try asking questions that apply directly to those taking up the survey to keep them interested and engaged.

Step 5: Avoid numbers- In case you want to ask the feasibility of a product on a scale of 1-10, try avoiding numbers altogether. Instead, use words such as likely highly likely, agree, strongly agree, etc. as people are able to understand words better than numbers.

Advantages / Benefits of Survey Software

Cost efficient: Best survey features tools help companies save up on inventory and such distribution costs aside from other administrative costs. With one click people can access the forms for filling up. Also, surveyors can post their survey forms on multiple online forums of their choice.

Time saving: Survey tools offer multiple features that help save survey makers a lot of time and resources. For instance, automatic deleting of questions based on previous answers that may be irrelevant to those taking up the survey saves businesses from going through unimportant answers during the data analysis stages. Or one-click option to start filling up surveys, which gives easy access to respondents is also benefitting companies as more and more people take up the surveys.

Accessible and convenient: Survey tools are handy survey builders for not just companies but also the respondents. As an individual taking up a survey, such forms are easy to access with a stable internet connection and convenient to fill up. You can also stop filling it up midway in case questions don't suit you.

Objective approach: For those looking for more unbiased views and opinions, online survey form creators are the best. As forms are mostly sent online, there is a lesser possibility of respondents getting influenced by the views of the surveyor. This usually happens when survey questions are being asked telephonically or in person.

Anonymity of respondents: Survey forms maintain the privacy and anonymity of respondents by never asking them their contact details or names. Thus, respondents can fill up these surveys in an unbiased manner, thereby helping companies receive some genuine answers.

Multi-language support: Online survey software is available in multiple languages so that forms can be accessible to a larger audience. Geographical border or language is thus never a reason for organizations for not being able to send the survey forms. Surveys in large proportions thus get set to huge audience proportions across the globe.

Here are Some of the Survey Software Platforms with Questionnaire Maker Templates

1. SoGoSurvey

SoGoSurvey is one of the free survey sites, best used as a research platform for designing surveys and distributing those. Advanced data analytics and robust reporting make SoGoSurvey one of the best free survey tools.

You can create quizzes, questionnaires and polls with the software for undertaking different types of survey projects.

Key features of SoGoSurvey:

• Advanced basic question types
• Customised logos
• Survey templates
• Question skip logic
• Personalised messages

2. SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is currently one of the best survey tools offering survey creation and sharing capabilities to businesses. You can edit, analyze, and filter results before exporting them with SurveyMonkey survey builder. You can also take advantage of the software’s critical features such as skip logic, advanced survey logic, and unlimited responses/questions.

Key features of SurveyMonkey:

• Incidence rate
• Online samples based on current demographics
• PR tracking
• Issues management
• Labels for presentation ready reports
• Data exporting

3. ProProfs Survey Maker

ProProfs is an online survey creation software available for free that also provides a range of customizable templates for survey creation. You can add scorings and brandings to all your surveys with ProProfs Survey Maker.

Key features of ProProfs Survey Maker:

• Respondent email notification
• Branching/skip logic
• Net Promoter Score
• White Label
• API and SSO
• Sidebar forms
• Popup survey

4. Typeform

Typeform survey tools with the poll maker as its unique feature provides multiple formats for creating questionnaires and survey templates for building surveys. You can use the survey maker for creating different types of surveys, such as product feedback forms, surveys for brand awareness, customer satisfaction questionnaires, branding surveys and churn surveys.

Key features of Typeform:

• Logic jump
• Hidden fields
• Calculator
• Unlimited typeform questions
• File uploading
• Screen

5. Qualtrics

Qualtrics is one of the best survey tools that uses artificial intelligence for data analysis and prediction of market trends. Sample sourcing or in-depth analysis, research or progress reporting, Qualtrics can be used for all forms of standard online surveying.

Key features of Qualtrics:

• Advertising optimisation
• Brand tracking
• Market segmentation
• Multichannel distribution
• Competitive benchmarking
• Concept testing

Factors to Consider When Selecting the Survey Software

Multiple Language Support

When you are running a survey, which needs responses from a more diverse audience, then it has to be in as many languages as your respondents are likely to speak. The best survey builders offer multilingual support so that your survey questionnaire can be sent to a diverse set of audiences.

Display Survey Results Visually

Look for an online survey tool that displays survey data visually in the form of binary charts, rating scale and demographic results. Responses to multiple choice and single choice answers can also be displayed visually for better interpretation.

User Segmentation

Survey maker segments users as per the organization's or individual's requirements. Therefore, surveyors can decide to show which surveys to whom- returning visitors, new ones, respondents from a specific place, etc.

Audience Sampling

Sampling provides an overview of the targeted audience. It is based on this sampling that questionnaires are designed, and survey forms are prepared. Sampling provides a cost efficient mechanism to businesses for saving resources by sending the right kind of questions to the particular type of audience.

Survey Process Automation

Survey designing, questionnaire form distribution and data collection are time taking processes of the whole survey project. Therefore, look for the best online survey tools that automate these processes so that time can be allocated to survey planning and interpretation.