Creating a survey in Microsoft Word

We’re often drawn to the latest and greatest technology, but sometimes the basics can get the job done, like when you need to create a simple survey to print and distribute at an event or hand to clinic patients after visits. In cases like these, Microsoft Word might be just what you need.

While the exact steps may differ depending on your version of Word, here’s a basic rundown of how to create a survey in Word:

Need a survey tool with more to offer?

Using Word to create a survey may be suitable for simple print-and-distribute use cases, but if you hope to reach a wider audience, you need a digital solution. While there are many options available, these three provide unique features you’ll find useful:

Google Forms

Part of the Google Suite, Google Forms lets you create online surveys and send them to an unlimited number of participants. Unlike printed forms created in Word, you don’t have to worry about multiple pages overwhelming survey participants (or annoying you when you distribute and collect them).

Like other Google products, the interface is intuitive and easy to use. Plus, you can keep track of survey responses directly on the platform in its sister solution Google Sheets, or you can have them sent directly to your email. Similar to Word, you can include branding elements, but you’re limited to adding a company logo and changing the background color. Here’s how to use Google Forms to create your surveys.

Facebook

Facebook’s survey feature comes in the form of a poll. It’s limited to two questions, but sometimes that’s all you need. The poll is simple, like Word, but with the bonus of better reach and greater likelihood of responses since it’s so short. This option works really well when you have a social following and want to tap into that audience for their opinions or feedback.

Check out this post on how one business owner uses these surveys to make informed decisions about his products and services, along with the steps on how you can create a Facebook survey yourself.

Jotform

The surveys you create with Jotform can be as simple as the ones you create in Word or more extensive — without the limitations associated with Google Forms or Facebook. 

You can add as many questions as you want. You can also brand and visually distinguish surveys as much as you like, which is perfect if you’re looking to appear professional and impress your survey respondents (especially if they’re customers). 

Embed the surveys on your website, email them, download them as PDFs, or publish them to third-party platforms such as Tumblr, Blogger, and Facebook.

With Jotform, you can

• Customize surveys to your liking. Ask a ton of questions or just a few. Give respondents a few choices or a bunch. Mix up the question format to include multiple-choice questions, checkboxes, and text fields. 
• Integrate with important business services. Want to integrate your survey with Google Sheets or Airtable? Jotform lets you integrate with these and more than 100 other software across industries and categories — from email marketing tools to cloud-storage platforms.
• Accept payments. Jotform is one of the few survey creation tools that gives you the ability to accept payments from respondents (for checkout forms, for example). Jotform provides secure payment integration — whether you choose to integrate with Square, PayPal, Stripe, or another of Jotform’s numerous payment gateway partners.
• Make surveys visually impressive. You can create visually stunning surveys to keep your survey participants engaged. No need for basic blocks of text on equally basic white backgrounds. You want your participants to be in awe, not ready to fall asleep!

You can get up and running with Jotform quickly. Check out these easy-to-use survey templates for inspiration or start your own from scratch and customize from the ground up.