Survey Welcome Page Debate

When you are creating your survey you get to choose how you would like your survey to begin. Companies have two options: You can start with a welcome page introducing them to the survey. You can start with a question or two and get the ball rolling. Not much research has been done in this area, but there are factors that can affect which one you choose.

Welcome pages are a great way to introduce customers to why you’re doing the study. You can emphasize the incentive, and make sure that they know what their answers will do to benefit your company. Welcome pages are also not very overwhelming, so those that are unsure whether they want to take the survey have a chance to relax, read the information, and then move on only if they want to.

Welcome pages are also a great place to put any additional information, like a privacy policy or links to information they might need. Welcome pages also allow you to have a “Start Survey” button. So you do not need to have a welcome page at all, and can instead use a page that simply asks them to get started when they’re ready.

Welcome pages are still an extra step in a survey, so it’s possible that they will encourage dropout – especially because the survey hasn’t yet begun, so visiting the page doesn’t necessary feel like the start of a survey that the customer needs to finish. Also, if the respondents are all familiar with the content of the survey, why it’s being conducted, etc., then the welcome page becomes superfluous to the actual survey itself, and may no longer be a beneficial part of the survey.

On the other hand, if you start off with survey questions, it’s possible that the individual will feel more encouraged to complete the survey. Once again, little research has been done in this area, but it stands to reason that those that start a survey – especially a short survey – are potentially more likely to complete it than those that receive a welcome page and have not yet begun. Overall the choice is up to you and your company, and the difference between the two is likely very minimal.

But you should still decide on the one that you think is best before you move forward, because it may make a small but meaningful difference.