I think there are many factors that make a survey site ideal. I have outlined several things that I look for in a paid survey panel and made references to online survey sites that embody these qualities. I am certain that I have left a few things out, so feel free to add your comments and your favorite survey sites that you feel belong under these 19 categories.
- Frequent paid surveys
- Fair compensation for the amount of time spent ($1-$10 for 10 to 45 minutes)
- American Consumer Opinion – GlobalTestMarket – HCD Research
- Opinion Outpost – Pinecone – Socratic Forum – SurveySpot – Toluna – Valued Opinions
- Screeners that insure that you qualify for most of the surveys received (80-90%)
- Cash instead of points system
- American Consumer Opinion – Greenfield – Mindfield Online – Pinecone
- Socratic Forum – SurveySpot – Surveyhead – Survey Savvy – Valued Opinions
- Offers Invoke Interactives for higher incentives ($10-$150 for 45-120 minutes)
- American Consumer Opinion – Greenfield – SurveySpot
- Offers product testing
- American Consumer Opinion – Global Opinion Panel/Synovate – Greenfield
- MySurvey – Pinecone Research – SurveySpot
- Instant or quick confirmation of incentives
- Daily Survey Panel – GlobalTestMarket – HCD Research
- Socratic Forum – Toluna
- Surveys that disqualify you quickly
- GlobalTestMarket – Greenfield – Opinion Outpost- SurveySpot
- Low Cash-out Threshold ($1 to $10)
- Daily Survey Panel – Epoll – Greenfield – HCD Research
- Mindfield Online – Opinion Outpost – Socratic Forum – SurveySpot
- Pays via PayPal in a timely manner (3-4 days)
- Daily Survey Panel – Epoll – Greenfield – Pinecone – Surveyhead
- Good customer service by email, phone and snail mail
- American Consumer Opinion – Daily Survey Panel – GlobalTestMarket
- Greenfield – Opinion Outpost – SurveySpot – Valued Opinions
- Surveys that don’t ask repetitive questions or too many specific product traits
- HCD Research – Socratic Forum
- Well-organized easy-to-navigate website with payment and survey history
- GlobalTestMarket – Greenfield – HCD Research
- Mindfield Online – Socratic Forum – Surveyhead – Valued Opinions
- Forum to air complaints with dedicated customer service representative
- Greenfield
- No sweepstakes, advertisements, spam or trial offers
- GlobalTestMarket – HCD Research – Opinion Outpost
- Socratic Forum – Surveyhead – Survey Savvy – Valued Opinions
- Few or no survey glitches
- GlobalTestMarket – HCD Research – Opinion Outpost
- Socratic Forum – Surveyhead – SurveySpot – Toluna
- Surveys that have progress-bars (varies widely)
- Surveys that have Next and Previous buttons so you can go back (varies widely)
- Surveys that have answer-bars instead of small circles for your answers (varies widely)
So that is my idea of the perfect ingredients for a great survey panel! Share your thoughts below:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea and an excellent list! The only thing I can think of to add would be letting you know the system requirements for the survey beforehand. I’ve gotten half-way into some surveys when I find out that I’m expected to download some program in order for a video to play! And since my computer’s usually fine with videos, it is definitely not a standard program. Very aggravating.
-Danielle
Excellent and well thoughtout ideas. I agree with all of them. The only thing I would add that we are told in the invitation the true length of the survey, the subject and the compensation. Qualifying questions should be limited to just a few questions for determination or be compensated for completing almost half of the survey before being disqualified. I live in California, three hours behind the east coast. Because of the time difference I usually miss out on a lot of paid surveys, the quota has been reached. I don’t know how others feel, but after awhile I become discouraged
My favorite websites are: Greenfield – Opinion Outpost – Global Testmarket – Survey Spot
American Consumer
Great list.
What I would add is when signing up for a new survey company, they should allow you to find out IMMEDIATELY if your country can also participate.
I’m in Canada and have often only found out about not being able to participate at the very end of a long registration process.
i like s survey site that has a chat or blog. That way I could ask other surveyers if they think its posible to make $400 a moth doing surveys!