How to create a Google Survey and collect responses in seconds - Android Police

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.
    Google apps menu
  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.
    Google Forms

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.
    Add question option in Google Forms
    Import questions option in Google Forms
  3. To edit a question and choose how it would appear, click on the dropdown menu beside it.
    A question tab in Google Forms
    Question selection dropdown menu in Google Forms
  4. Click on Add section to break up your questions into different segments.
    Add section option in Google Forms

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.
    Add image icon for inserting images in a question tab
    Option for adding image in separate Google Forms tab
  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.
    Menu for inserting YouTube video in Google Forms

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.
    Drag icon in Google Forms
  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.
    Section dropdown menu in Google Forms
    Menu for reordering sections in Google Forms

Share your Google survey form

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.
    Send your Google Forms survey via email menu
  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.
    Menu for sharing Google survey form via link and social icons
  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.
    Menu for sharing Google survey form via HTML
  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.
    WordPress text editor

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.
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