How to do a survey on google forms

Whether you need to get customer feedback or want ideas on how to plan a hangout, Google Forms is an interesting tool for gathering people's opinions about anything. It allows you to create custom questions in minutes and build a survey anyone would want to fill out.

You can share your survey on some best messaging apps and embed it on your website for better engagement. Most importantly, you’re not stuck sorting through the responses once they pile in. Google Forms also integrates with Google Sheets and other Workspace apps, so you can view and download responses to your device.

What is Google Forms?

Google Forms is an online survey and questionnaire application in the Google Workspace alongside productivity tools like Google Docs, Google Slides, and more. You can create various questions on your Android device or computer devices, from multi-choice to open or close-ended questions.

After completing your survey, you can share it with third parties via email, copying the link, embedding it on your website, or forwarding it to Facebook and Twitter.

What types of surveys can you make with Google Forms?

With Google Forms, you can create customer orders, job applications, product or service evaluations, and event booking forms. You can even make fun quizzes to test people's knowledge or get people's opinions on everyday matters.

Below are the different types of questions you can ask with Google Forms:

• Short answer questions: Limits people to give responses that are no more than a few words. The response can be a link to their profiles, their names, or a short sentence.
• Paragraph: Gives people the freedom to express their answers in one or more paragraphs.
• Multiple choice questions: Allows people to choose one answer from a group of choices.
• Checkboxes: Allows people to choose or tick more than one answer.
• Dropdown questions: Allows people to choose only one answer from a list of many that appear in dropdown format.
• Linear scale: Allows people to quantify or rate their answers with numbers. E.g., On a scale of 1 to 5.
• Multiple choice grids: You can structure your question into rows and columns. Respondents must select one answer per row and column. You can create a minimum of two rows.
• Checkbox grid: Allows people to choose multiple answers for each row in a grid.

How to create a Google survey on your computer

Google Forms is free, and your respondents don't need a Google account to access your survey — except for you. A Google account is crucial to creating a survey as it will allow you to access Google apps like Forms, Docs, Sheets, and more. An internet connection is also a must-have since Google Forms is a web-based application.

Start a new Google form

1. If you haven’t already, create a Google account or sign in to an existing one. You should see your profile icon if you’re already signed in to your account.
2. Tap the Google apps button beside your profile icon and scroll up until you see Forms. Tap on it, and the page will redirect you to Google Forms.

3. To create a new survey from scratch, click on Blank.
4. To use the pre-existing survey formats, click on the Template gallery. The templates there should give you inspiration on how to design yours. You can add or edit elements to them until you have your desired survey.

Add and edit questions in Google Forms

1. After creating a new form, give it a name and description. You can bold, italicize, or underline both if you prefer.
2. By default, Google Forms inserts a question tab for you. Click on the + icon to add a new question tab. You can also import questions from a previous template you created. Just click on the paper icon with the arrow running through it.
3. To edit a question and choose how it would appear, click on the dropdown menu beside it.
4. Click on Add section to break up your questions into different segments.

Add media elements to your Google survey

You can insert pictures and YouTube videos to spice up your survey. Pictures can exist within a question tab or separately in a different tab. You can also insert videos into your survey form, but not inside a question tab. You’d have to add the video before or after the question in its own tab. Additionally, you can't insert non-YouTube videos into Google Forms.

1. To insert a picture into a question tab, click on the image icon. If you’d rather have the picture existing on its own, click on Add image from the right side of your screen instead.
2. To add a video, click on the video icon. You can search for and add YouTube videos from within Google Forms without having to download them on your device first. If you have the link to a video you'd like to add, paste the link into the URL tab.

Reorder questions and sections in Google Forms

You might’ve made a mistake in the arrangement of your questions. Clicking and dragging the questions to their rightful spots should resolve the issue. You can also move a question out of one section into another.

1. To switch the positions of your questions, hover your mouse cursor on a question tab.
2. You should see the drag icon. Click and hold down on your touchpad to drag the tab to where you want it.

3. To switch the position of an entire section, click on the three-dots icon and select Move section. A new menu will pop up.
4. Use the arrow keys beside the sections to switch their positions, then click on Save to effect the changes.

You can share your Google survey via email to multiple addresses at once, which saves you the trouble of doing it one by one. You can also share your survey link directly on Facebook and Twitter. To send it on other platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, you’d need to copy the survey link from Google Forms and then paste it there, as there’s no option to send it directly.

1. Click on Send, and a new menu will pop up.
2. To share your survey via email, enter the recipient’s address and hit Send. Google Forms automatically separates multiple email addresses with a comma, so don't worry about mixing them up.

3. To share the survey link, click on the link tab and highlight the URL. Press Ctrl+C to copy it or click on Copy, then paste it wherever you wish to send it.
4. Use the social icons to share your survey link on Facebook and Twitter.

5. To embed the survey into your website, click the <> icon and copy the HTML. You can resize the width and height so that the survey ad doesn’t take up too much space on your site.

6. Go to the backend of your website and access the Text editor. It’s the part of your website that lets you edit content with codes.
7. Paste the HTML in your site’s Text editor, then preview the page. You should see how your survey will look when you publish or update the page.

View survey responses on Google Forms

Any response you receive will automatically enter the Responses menu. You can download the answers as a .csv file to your computer or view them in the Google Sheets application.

1. To view your survey answers, go to the Responses menu.
2. To stop receiving responses, tap the toggle switch. You can always enable your survey to accept more responses even after disabling it.

3. To download responses on your device, tap the three-dots icon and click Download responses (.csv).
4. To view responses in Google Sheets, tap the Sheets icon.

How to create a Google survey on your phone

Unfortunately, there's no official Google Forms app. You will need to create a form using your web browser. The good news is that the Google Forms website is optimized for mobile view. So you can generate a new survey on your phone, although you still need to sign in to your account. You may experience difficulties viewing the full website features. But you can resolve that issue by switching your browser view to the Desktop site or rotating your screen to landscape view.

Create new forms and add questions

1. Open your browser and go to forms.google.com. The URL will automatically create a new form for you.
2. Tap Tt to insert new titles and descriptions to your form at any point.
3. To add a question to your form, tap the + icon. You can use the dropdown menu to select the types of questions you want. E.g., Multiple choice or short answers.
4. To undo any edits you make, tap the arrow icon.
5. To change the theme and style of your form, tap the color palette icon.

Add images and videos

1. To add pictures, tap the image icon. Then tap Browse to upload a picture from your phone's gallery. You can also insert pictures via URLs, take a new shot with your camera, or insert them from Google Drive or Google Photos.
2. To add videos, tap the video icon and search for a YouTube video or insert one via its URL.

Add and reorder sections

1. Tap the page break icon to split your form into sections.
2. To reorder sections, tap the three-dots icon and select the Move section.
3. In the new menu that pops, use the arrows to arrange sections. Tap Save when you're done.
4. To reorder questions, tap and hold down the drag icon, then move the question to where you want it.

1. Tap the Responses tab to view answers you've received for your survey.
2. To stop receiving responses, tap the toggle switch beside Accepting responses.
3. Tap the Google Sheets icon to view the responses in a spreadsheet. If you have the app installed, Google Forms automatically opens it for you.
4. To download the responses, tap the three-dots icon and select Download responses (.csv).
5. Tap the paper plane icon, and select how you'd like to share your survey. You can share it by email, copying the URL, embedding it on your website, or sharing it on Twitter and Facebook.

Collect feedback the fast and easy way

Google Forms eliminates the stressful process of messaging people individually to get their opinions on something. It also arranges responses into a spreadsheet, so you don't have to key them yourself. With the free templates and automated collation system, you don’t need to do much on Google’s web app besides pressing a button or two. Google Forms also has add-ons that improve productivity, such as allowing you to add timers, emojis, and electronic signatures to your survey and give you response notifications.