How to Make a Poll

Polls can be helpful for a variety of reasons. You may be doing a scientific study and need to collect data. You may simply want to know what dates a group of friends are free. Whatever your reasons, there are several ways to create a poll. To create a poll for a large audience, choose an online poll service and compose appropriate questions. For a more personal poll, you can create a poll using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Creating a Poll for a Wide Audience

1
Select an online poll service. If you want to send a poll out to a wide audience, there are a lot of survey tools online you can use for free or for a fee. Browse the most popular online poll services to find a service that matches your needs.^{[1]XResearch source}
- A lot of online survey tools are free, but range in how many questions you can ask and respondents you can seek out. Survey Monkey, for example, only allows up to 15 questions and you can only send your survey to 100 people. This may work for a smaller survey, but Typeform and Google Forms allow unlimited questions and respondents. Google Forms also automatically uploads survey information into a spreadsheet and allows you to embed information in emails and websites.
- You can also opt to pay for a survey tool. This may be a good option if you need particular analytical features. Client Heartbeat, for example, may work if you have an ongoing poll on your company website. It sends alerts to let you know about unhappy customer feedback and other important issues. The price ranges from $25/month to $85/month depending on the version you use.
2
Keep your audience in mind. When you begin to compose your survey questions, you have to think about your tone. Who are you trying to reach? What kind of language would this audience respond to? For most polls, you'll be aiming to reach as wide an audience as possible, so you'll want to adopt a tone that can be widely understood.^{[2]XResearch source}
- For example, say you're asking a group of potential customers to rate medical services they received at a local hospital. Avoid jargon heavy language. When necessary, explain what you mean in simplistic terms or define something briefly for your audience.
- Do not write a question like, "Did you feel the nurse's were professional and warm when taking your vital signs?" Not all audiences will recognize the term "vital signs" offhand. Instead, write something like, "Vital signs, which include your blood pressure and heart beat, are collected prior to your exam by our nursing staff. Did you find our staff to be professional and warm when checking your vital signs?"
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3
Strive for simple questions. You want to make your questions somewhat brief. Many people will be taking your poll quickly, and may not want to spend too much time reading over questions. They're more likely to give a thought out response if they get the question's content quickly.^{[3]XResearch source}
- Say you're doing a survey on your target market's personality type. Participants have to rate a question from strongly disagree to agree. You write a sentence that reads, "I am the type of person who typically feels resistant to changes in my work or social setting that are unexpected." This question is somewhat lengthy. Participants many not read over it, and may simply answer "neutral" or "I don't know."
- Fix up this sentence. Essentially, your asking people if they tend to resist change. Write something like, "I resist sudden changes to my work or social setting."
4
Avoid bias in your questions. You want to watch for bias in your poll. In order for a poll to be successful, you cannot ask questions that push your audience to adopt a certain answer. Make sure all your questions give the participants a chance to think for themselves and answer the question accordingly.^{[4]XResearch source}
- Never ask leading questions in a survey. For example, "Most people find the smell of fruity perfumes, like pineapple and mango, remind them of summer and sunshine. What associations do you have?" You're pushing your audience to associate these smells with a certain season.
- Instead, ask something like, "What weather do you associate with fruity scents like pineapple and mango."
Once you've completed your poll, send it out. You can send the poll to a variety of participants via email. You can also put the poll up on your website and encourage visitors to participate. If you have a strong social media presence, consider linking your poll there and allowing your fans to participate at will.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Making A Facebook Poll

1
Select the poll app. Facebook has a simple app you can install that allows you to set up a poll on your Facebook page. Unless you're operating a social media presence for your business on Facebook, Facebook polls are usually more casual. You may be asking your friends what color they feel you should dye your hair, or asking for advice on which summer job to take. To start a Facebook poll, first find the app.^{[5]XResearch source}
- Search "poll" in the Facebook search bar.
- The first thing that comes up should be a simple app titled "Poll." This is an easy app to use to post a poll on your personal Facebook page.
Click the "View App" just to left of the app icon and description. The app will request permission to access some of your Facebook information. It will let you know the specific information the app will have access to. If you are comfortable with allowing the app access, click "Allow."^{[6]XResearch source}
3
Enter your question and potential answers. From here, you can enter a question and potential answers. The process is very straight forward and should not take very long.^{[7]XResearch source}
- On the bottom of the page, there will be a button that says "Click here to get started." Click that button to begin making your poll.
- There will be a bar where you enter your question. For example, "Which bar should we go to for my 22nd birthday?"
- There is a larger box below where you can enter your answers. You write one answer per line. For example, you would write "Crunchies" and then hit the enter key. On the next line, you would write, "Harper's." Then, you press enter again and write down "The Peanut Barrel." Keep hitting enter and writing down bar names until you have a suitable number of answers.
At the top of the app, there is a small section with a drop down menu titled "Post to page." You can decide whether you'll post your poll on your personal Facebook page, in a Facebook group, or send it as a message. In the above example, you're probably polling a specific group of friends. Therefore, it's a good idea to send it as a message to those friends rather than post it on your personal page.^{[8]XResearch source}
Once you're finished with your poll, click "create poll." Your poll should post to your chosen page, or be sent to a group of people as a message.^{[9]XResearch source}
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Making A Twitter Poll

You can also post a poll on Twitter. This can be used as a form of social media marketing or just for your own personal fun. Keep in mind, however, Twitter polls tend to be brief, so you should probably not use Twitter for a serious project. To start, log in to your Twitter account or your company's Twitter account.^{[10]XResearch source}
Underneath the text box where you would compose a tweet, there should be a series of icons. Just to the left of the icon labeled "GIF" is the poll icon. It's a box containing a series of lines. Click on this box.^{[11]XResearch source}
3
Create your questions and answers. From here, you can create your questions and answers. Use your words very wisely, as Twitter polls can only be 116 characters total. Each answer can only have 20 characters.^{[12]XResearch source}
- Polls on Twitter usually default to two answers. If you want to add more, click, "Add answers." However, you can only add 4 answers for a Twitter poll.
- Trim down letters and use abbreviations wherever you can to stay within the character limit.
Twitter polls can only stay up for so long. They default to close after a day. The longest you can leave a poll up is 7 days. The shortest you can leave a poll up is 5 minutes.^{[13]XResearch source}
Once you've completed your poll, you just press Tweet. Your poll will go up and remain up for as long as you've chosen to leave it open. Check for results after your poll closes.^{[14]XResearch source}
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Tips

Using a free online poll maker can make the process of creating, sharing and collecting the results of polls much easier.
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Warnings

Any personal information collected in a poll (Such as their name and specific poll choices) should be excluded to allow your takers anonymity. You should only disclose the specifics poll takers if you have informed the poll takers of the intended disclosure before they take your poll.
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