Top Reasons Why People Ignore Your Survey

What are the Top Reasons Why People Ignore Your Survey?

1. The purpose of the survey is unknown.

2. It is too difficult to answer.

3. The questions are irrelevant to the respondents.

4. The layout and overall design is not attractive.

5. The intervals of the surveys are too frequent and cause survey fatigue.

 

If you have a successful website on WordPress, then survey tools should be part of your everyday strategy for improvement. Using these tools is an essential practice in order to understand what the customers want and need, so that you can eventually satisfy them.

As a result, they will become content with your service, you will become trusted, and you will be much closer to success. However, the reality at the moment is that surveys are seen as intrusive. Plus, it can be difficult to get a visitor to answer one. The most probable reason for this is survey fatigue.

What is Survey Fatigue?

What is Survey Fatigue?

Survey fatigue is one of the latest issues marketers and researches face. This is particularly because everyone is jumping on the survey bandwagon; feedback tools have garnered a general negative perception due to how excessively prevalent they are in everyday life. Everything from websites to grocery receipts has them incorporated to their systems. Generally, it has become boring, tiresome, and uninteresting to people.

It is important to note that further subjecting your customers to survey fatigue has multiple negative effects for your website; and they are:

  • Wasted resources on the research and execution of surveys.
  • Inaccurate collection of data.
  • Customer irritation and dissatisfaction with your website and its service.

Essentially, there two types of survey fatigue you must remember.

  1. Response – This begins even before taking your survey. Potential respondents will choose not to answer your survey because of being overwhelmed with the overall requests for their feedback.
  2. Taking – This is the type of fatigue that happens while the respondent is taking the survey; he/she abandons it without completing it.

Reasons Why Survey Fatigue Happens

Reasons Why Survey Fatigue Happens

There are a number of reasons why survey fatigue happens in the first place. They include the following: 

  1. Over Surveying

As mentioned above, surveys have become more frequent and more prevalent. This, then, results to excessive surveying. Companies and websites have been littering the world with requests for feedback and the number of respondents, who are getting turned off with constant interruptions, is increasing.

To combat this, companies should enforce longer intervals between the surveys they are conducting. It is advisable for them to conduct them at least every month or every year. This is essentially because intervals that are too short can be seen as annoying, especially since there is a high chance that these surveys will be presented to the same people, who have already taken them.

Lack of Transparency

  1. Lack of Transparency

When people answer surveys, it is natural for them to want to know how their response will be used. In a situation where the survey conductor tells a respondent that their answer(s) may help them improve a service, the chances of them completing the survey is higher. On the other hand, not giving them the reason to take the survey won’t also give them motivation to finish it.

When a potential respondent considers answering a survey, these questions will usually appear in his/her mind:

  • Why should I take your survey?
  • How long will it take?
  • How many questions does it have?
  • What will happen after I give my answers?

These are the questions that you have to clearly answer for your respondents. If it’s possible to show results immediately after the answer(s) is given, then do it; a good example of this would be online polls. Such results will make the respondents feel like they made an impact and give them fulfillment.

Takes Too Much Effort

  1. Takes Too Much Effort

Wasting time is one thing, but wasting effort is another. This is usually a disappointment people face when they accept to take a survey, but it ends up being more difficult than what they bargained for. Online surveys not optimized for mobile are the worst sources of this. It is an irritation for people to have to deal with a pop-up questionnaire that they cannot easily tap the answers onto.

This is the main reason why websites or companies conducting surveys should make them as easy as possible for people to respond to them; and this includes optimizing them for mobile use.

Asking the Wrong Questions

  1. Asking the Wrong Questions

The relevance of questions is also a factor. The more important a person finds a question to be, the more motivated he/she will be to answer it, which is why you must focus on questions that will help you and your website reach your goals. Keep in mind that asking irrelevant questions are a waste of time for both you and your respondents. In order to find out the right questions you should be asking, you must do the right research first and foremost.

Remember, if you can keep the choices concise and in multiple choice form, then you will get more engagement from visitors.

 Not Considering the Respondents

  1. Not Considering the Respondents

Lack of empathy for the respondents and their convenience is a formula that will spell disaster for your survey. Website owners, such as yourself, must find out ways to make the layout, response options, questions, and overall design attractive and exciting for the target market.

In order to be aware if your survey is appealing enough, try answering it for yourself or ask some colleagues to do so. Ironically, getting feedback for your feedback tool can help you make improvements.

Key Takeaway

Surveys are essential part of the website-customer relationship. It is one of the most efficient ways for the two parties to communicate with each other. Mastering the art of this communication is the key to evolving your website.

Sean Si is the CEO and Founder of SEO Hacker and Qeryz. A start-up, data analysis and urgency junkie who spends his time inspiring young entrepreneurs through talks and seminars. Check out his personal blog where he writes about starting up two companies and life in general.

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