The first reader survey most teams run is an email: a link to a long form, sent to the newsletter list. Some subscribers open it, fewer finish it, and the answers describe the publication in general terms, such as "I like the newsletter" or "more variety, please".
You get more useful answers about your articles by asking on the article itself. Email is still the right tool for a few questions, and the survey you already have can be split between the two.
The short answer
Ask on the page, at the moment the reader finishes. One or two short questions at the end of an article reach every reader, not only your subscribers, and each answer is tied to the article it is about. Keep email for the few questions about your publication as a whole.
Why email surveys don't work well for reader feedback
An email survey has a few problems built in:
- It only reaches subscribers. Readers who arrive from search or social media never see it.
- It arrives later. By then readers remember your publication in general, not the article they read last Tuesday.
- It has to be long. You only get one chance, so every team adds its own questions.
- It competes with every other email in an inbox that is already full.
- Its answers aren't tied to an article, so you can't tell which pieces the comments are about.
What changes when you ask on the page
A question at the end of the article reaches every reader who gets there, wherever they came from. It is answered while the article is fresh, and each answer is stored with the page it was given on. One tap is enough, so more readers tend to answer.
You also don't need an email address, which means there is no personal data to look after. And you can ask each section of your site its own question: something different on news, on guides and on reviews.
Alternatives to email surveys, compared
Publishers have more ways to hear from readers than a yearly email. Each one reaches different readers:
| Alternative | Who it reaches | What you learn | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Questions on the page | Every reader who gets to the question | Whether that article helped, and why | Feedback on articles and sections |
| Comment sections | The few readers who choose to comment | Opinions on the topic, often not the article | Discussion with readers |
| Polls on social media | Your followers on that platform | Quick reactions to one question | Testing an idea fast |
| Replies to your newsletter | Subscribers who write back | Detailed thoughts from loyal readers | Building relationships |
| Reader interviews | A handful of readers you invite | Why readers choose you, in depth | Big decisions, such as a redesign |
| Analytics | Every visitor, without asking | What readers did, not why | Finding the pages to ask about |
Most publishers use two or three of these together. Questions on the page cover day-to-day feedback on articles, analytics points to the pages worth asking about, and interviews or a short email are kept for the bigger questions.
When an email survey is still the right choice
Email is still the better tool for a few jobs:
- A yearly survey about the publication as a whole: how often you publish, what subscribers would pay, which newsletters they read.
- Questions you need to follow up on with a specific person.
- Questions for subscribers only, such as feedback on a paid membership.
For these, keep one short email survey a year. Move everything about individual articles and sections to the page.
Turn your email survey into page questions
Open the last email survey you sent and sort each question into one of four groups:
-
About one article
Move it to the end of your articles. "Was this article clear?" belongs on the article.
-
About one section
Move it to that section's pages only, with a survey of its own.
-
About the publication as a whole
Keep it in a short email survey once a year.
-
Nice to know
Delete it. If no decision depends on the answer, the question costs you answers to the others.
Example
Example: a local news site's yearly survey
Say you run a local news site and send a 20-question survey to your newsletter list every January. You sort the questions into the four groups.
Four are about articles, such as "Did this article explain what happened?" and "What should we follow up on?". They go at the end of every story. Three are about sport, such as "Which local teams should we cover more?". They go only on the sport pages. Five are about the newsletter and membership, and they stay in a much shorter January email. The other eight are dropped.
From then on, every reader who finishes a story can answer, including the many who never subscribed, and each sports answer comes from a sports reader.
Write questions readers can answer in seconds
Questions on a page have to be quicker than questions in a survey people chose to open. Ask the quickest question first, keep one idea per question, and use neutral words.
| Instead of | Ask |
|---|---|
| How satisfied were you with the quality, depth and accuracy of this article? | Was this article accurate? |
| How much did you enjoy this article? | How would you rate this article? |
| Please tell us about your experience reading our content. | What could we improve? |
| Which of the following topics, if any, would you be interested in reading about in future? | What should we write about next? |
Tip: Three questions at most, with the free-text question last and optional.
Where Asklet fits
Asklet puts the questions on your pages with one snippet in your article template, and path patterns such as /sport/* give each section its own survey. Answers come back per article, readers answer without an account or email address, and the widget sets no cookies. Emails and phone numbers that readers type into comments are removed before they are saved.
You can start on the Free plan: one website, 10 live pages and 100 responses a month, with no card needed.
Your next steps
-
Sort your last email survey into four groups
About one article, about one section, about the publication, or nice to know.
-
Move the article questions to the end of your articles
Quickest question first, three questions at most.
-
Give each section its own survey
Use a path pattern such as
/sport/*so new articles are covered as they go live. -
Keep one short email survey a year
Only for questions about the publication as a whole.
-
Read the page answers once a month
Look at the articles readers rated lowest and read their comments first.
Try these steps on your own site. Asklet adds the questions to every page with one snippet. Free plan, no card needed. Compare the plans.
Start freeCommon questions
What is the best alternative to email surveys for publishers?
For feedback on articles, a short question at the end of each article. It reaches every reader who finishes, not only subscribers, and each answer is tied to the article it is about. Keep a short email survey for questions about the publication as a whole.
Do on-page questions get more answers than email surveys?
Usually, yes. Every reader who finishes the article sees the question, and answering takes one tap. An email survey only reaches subscribers who open the email, click the link and load the form.
Can I put the feedback widget in my newsletter?
No. Most email apps don't show embedded frames. Link from the newsletter to the article on your site, where the question is.
What about readers who don't scroll to the end?
Show the question in a side tab, a button or a slide-in as well as at the end. Readers who leave early can still answer while they are on the page.
Do I need readers to give their email address?
No. Answers in Asklet are anonymous. Readers don't sign in or leave any contact details, so you have no personal data to look after.
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