Ongoing surveys can give business owners direct access to useful information on which to base key decisions. They can provide a continuous channel through which companies can gather data about customer or employee satisfaction, product knowledge, and brand perception. They can be used for training evaluations, lead generation, or market research. However, in order for an online survey to produce conclusive results, it should be designed according to a few timeworn principles. Here are four tips to make your questionnaire as effective as possible.

#1 - Begin With The End In Mind

Rushing blindly into an online survey project without first defining your objective will yield data of negligible value. Consider what you would like to accomplish after collecting responses. Would you like to know what percentage of your customer base are willing to buy a new product? Do you need to determine how satisfied your employees are with their jobs? Remember, the purpose of surveying your audience is to elicit information that will help you make a decision. Identify the decisions you need to make before creating your questionnaire.

#2 - Use Branching And Skipping

When designing an online survey, you have access to tools, such as branch and skip logic, that can help you streamline your questions. Branching refers to designing questions based upon the answers given to previous questions. For example, suppose that you ask your respondents to choose their age range. Using branch logic, you could display varying subsequent questions based upon their answer.

Skip logic works similarly. It's a feature that lets your audience skip questions based on their answers to previous questions. For example, if respondents choose 21-30 as their age range, you could use skip logic to let them skip a question that is irrelevant to that demographic. Both branch and skip logic can be powerful tools to customize your questionnaire.

#3 - Aim For Brevity And Clarity

Unless you're compensating your respondents for their time, they're investing it by participating. Make it easy for them to complete your online survey. Design your questions to be brief and clear. If you're splitting your questions across multiple pages, include a progress bar that tells respondents how much further they need to go in order to complete your questionnaire. Doing this will not only reduce your abandonment rate, but it will also limit participants' frustration.

#4 - Mix The Order Of Answers

As much as possible, mix up the choices offered to participants. Depending on the type of online survey you're designing, this randomization can help eliminate a respondent's tendency to rush through the questionnaire. If participants detect that the first choice is likely to be the "correct" choice, they may be tempted to select it without completely absorbing all of the possible answers. Randomizing the answers helps to prevent that from happening.

Once you have collected the data from your questionnaire, the next step is to analyze it for trends and other insights. Ideally, the online provider will offer a few ways to download the results (i.e. CSV, XLS, etc.). In many cases, you'll also be able to view the data in one or more graphical formats. This can be valuable when using the information in a presentation.

The ease with which online surveys can be created is a double-edged sword. Their simplicity makes designing and launching them easy. However, that same simplicity leads many surveyors to give little thought to their questionnaire's design. Once they are launched, they're confused by the high abandonment rates (not to mention the irrelevant data). Use the tips above to make sure your online survey delivers the information you need.