How to Create a Survey in SurveyMonkey (Free Plan Tips)

SurveyMonkey is quick to learn, and you can have a short survey out in ten minutes. The parts that decide whether people finish it are the planning and the question types, and the part that catches out free users is how few questions they get. Here's the whole process with those catches flagged.

How to create a survey in SurveyMonkey

1. Sign in and click Create survey.
2. Choose how to start: from scratch, from a template, by copying an old survey, or with SurveyMonkey's AI.
3. Give the survey a title respondents will understand.
4. On the Build tab, add your first question. The most popular types are shown first, and View more opens the rest.
5. Type the question and its answer options.
6. Repeat for each question, using page breaks to split longer surveys.
7. Click Preview and take the survey yourself.
8. Click Send or Collect responses and choose a collector, such as a web link or email.

Choose the right question type

Question type	Use it for
Multiple choice	One answer from a list
Checkboxes	Several answers from a list
Dropdown	Long lists, like countries
Rating scale or matrix	How strongly people agree, or satisfaction ratings
Comment box	Open answers in people's own words
Single textbox	Short typed answers, like a name

The catch: 10 questions on the Free plan

SurveyMonkey's Free plan, called Basic, allows 10 questions per survey, and every question type counts, including text and image blocks you might think of as decoration. It also limits you to 3 collectors per survey and shows only a set number of responses. If you write more than that and then try to send, you'll be stopped.

Treat the limit as a discipline. Ten good questions beat twenty that people abandon halfway. Cut anything you won't act on, and combine related questions into one matrix question where it makes sense.

Write questions people can answer

• Ask one thing per question. 'How fast and friendly was our service?' is two questions.
• Keep wording neutral. 'How much did you love it?' pushes people towards an answer.
• Offer a 'Not applicable' or 'Other' option where people might not fit your choices.
• Put easy questions first and personal ones, like age, at the end.
• Make only essential questions required, or people quit.

Preview and test before you send

Take your own survey on a phone as well as a computer, because many people will answer on their phone. Send the link to a colleague and ask them to time themselves. If a question confuses them, it'll confuse everyone. Fixing a survey before launch is easy. Fixing it after fifty responses means your data is split across two versions.

How to send your survey

• Web link: paste it into an email, newsletter, social post or website.
• Email invitation: send from SurveyMonkey and track who's responded.
• Embed: put the survey on a web page.

Each of these is a collector. On the Free plan you can have up to 3 per survey, so plan them, for example one link for customers and one for your team.

Getting more responses

• Say how long it takes in the first line of your message.
• Tell people what you'll do with the answers.
• Send a single reminder a few days later.
• Close the survey on a set date so there's a reason to answer now.

Survey logic and page breaks

Skip logic sends people to different questions depending on their answers, so customers who say they haven't bought from you don't get asked about their purchase. Even on the Free plan, page breaks help: splitting a survey into short pages makes it feel quicker and lets you see where people drop out. Put a short progress note at the top of each page, such as 'Two more questions', so people know the end is near.

Reading your results

Open the Analyze results tab to see charts for each question as responses come in. Filter by answer to compare groups, such as new and returning customers, and read open comments in full, because that's where the most useful ideas usually hide. Export or screenshot the charts you need for a report.

Ideas for small business surveys

• Customer satisfaction after a project or purchase.
• Event or webinar feedback while it's fresh.
• Content ideas: ask your list what they want to learn next.
• Product or service ideas before you build them.

If you're weighing up survey tools, my roundup of Google Forms alternatives compares the main options.

My verdict

Create survey, add questions from the Build tab, preview on a phone, then send through a web link or email collector. Plan around the Free plan's 10-question limit, which counts every question type, and the 3-collector limit. Ask one thing per question, keep most questions optional, and say how long it takes. For using what you learn, see my guide to measuring results without an analytics tool.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a SurveyMonkey survey be?

Short enough to finish in a few minutes. Ten focused questions is plenty for most small business surveys.

Can I copy a SurveyMonkey survey to reuse it?

Yes. On the Free plan you can copy surveys with 10 questions or fewer.

How many questions does SurveyMonkey's free plan allow?

10 questions per survey, and every question type counts towards the limit.

Can I use a template in SurveyMonkey?

Yes. Choose a template when you click Create survey.

How do I send a SurveyMonkey survey?

Choose a collector, such as a web link or email invitation, from Send or Collect responses.

How many collectors does the free plan include?

Up to 3 collectors per survey.

Can SurveyMonkey write questions for me?

Yes. You can start a survey with SurveyMonkey's AI and then edit the questions.

How do I see my SurveyMonkey results?

Open the Analyze results tab to see charts and individual responses.