Updated: 4/19/2025

Create a Survey Link – Free Template, Guide

Definition: A survey link is a simple way to collect survey responses. It can be posted to social media, embedded in an email, or exported to a QR code. Survey links often include tracking information to help segment results. The link can also be customized to match your company domain.

Getting Started: Use this survey link template to create and launch a survey in seconds. The link appears at the top of the form, and the questions can be fully customized using our builder. If privacy is a concern, you can also create an anonymous survey that doesn’t collect personal data like IP addresses or timestamps—ideal for HR or internal feedback.

Creating Your Survey Link

  • Build a survey and go to the "Distribute" page, and click "Web Link"
  • The survey URL can be customized as needed, by clicking the "edit" button.
  • Copy and paste the link into an email, your website, or share it on social media to start collecting responses!
  • You can create an additional survey link by clicking "Add New Survey Link".

By default, only one response can be recorded per device. If you wish to allow multiple responses from the same device (like the examples below) you can enable multiple responses per device option.

Interactive Survey Link Example

Below is an example of a survey link. The end of the link is customized using 'custom_example'. The survey link contains two query strings: the customer state and order ID.

https://www.surveyking.com/survey/custom_example?state=MI&order=123

The query strings enable you to collect additional custom data, such as an employee department. This is useful when analyzing results. An unlimited amount of variables can be included in the URL. The variables are commonly referred to as a query string. The first variable in a query string should start with a question mark (?), and the subsequent variable should start with the ampersand sign (&).

The Survey Title

On mobile devices and social media platforms, shared links include a quick snippet of what the page contains. This snippet is usually the "Meta Title Tag" of the web page. By default, SurveyKing sets this tag as your survey title. You can override this by entering a name in the "Meta Title" input box.

Secure Your Survey Link

By default, your web links will be publicly accessible to anyone. For example, even if you only posted the link to your Facebook friends, those friends can share the link and give access to unwanted respondents. If the link is posted on a website or crawled by a search engine, then the survey might appear in search results or other web places.

If you want to ensure privacy, protect access to your survey with a password. This will ensure only people with the password can see the content. Search engines would not be able to crawl or index your survey. Securing your survey also ensures only those eligible to cast a vote or submit feedback can do so.

You can add a passcode element to your form to secure your survey link. Add this passcode element on the first page. You can choose to enter a one--, two--, or three-level passcode. Two-level passcodes are common for voting ballots, such as in HOA or union surveys (e.g., member number and birthdate).

Placing a Survey Link in an Email Receipt

One of the most effective ways to use a survey link is to place one inside of an email receipt. Easily capture customer opinions and track your organization's Net Promoter Score. Custom data variables can be included in the link to give your customers a tailored survey experience. These variables could include the customer ID or other customer custom data, enabling you to quickly filter and segment results. Click the red link below, and look at the URL of the survey!

 

Thanks for your purchase!

 
Here's your order details:
1 New Laptop $450
Billed To: Card Ending: 1958
Expiring: 02/22

John Doe
1300 Example Rd.
New York, NY

How did we do? Take our survey!

 
 

Generating Multiple Survey Links

If you wish to create a new survey link for your survey, you can do so at any time by clicking the "New Survey Link" button. This will create a new URL for you to share. You can give this link a name for internal use such as "Class 2". You could then segment your results by this link.

Using multiple links is a great way to track respondents and segment results. For example, a teacher could create 3 different survey links for the same survey. He or she would then give one link per class to rate the previous class session/topics covered.

Tips to Increase Response Rates

  • Use variables when you can, and pipe those variables into the survey to give a custom experience to each user (e.g adding their name like the example above)
  • Keep your survey short and less than 10 questions when possible. No one wants to answer an endless amount of questions
  • Don't use leading questions such as "How bad was my mother-in-law's meatloaf?". A question worded like that subconsciously sways your respondents to lean towards a negative answer.

Survey Link Options

Option Description
Customize the URL You can customize the URL of each link as you desire, up to 60 characters. For example if you were doing an employee feedback survey for a summer barbeque, you could set the URL to "surveyking.com/w/2019_companyx_bbq"
Meta Title If left empty, this defaults to the survey title. The "Meta Title" is the wording is shown to users on mobile devices to describe and preview the link.
Response Editing With this option, if a respondent clicks a survey they have already taken, they can edit their responses and re-submit a new, updated form.
Redirect URL You can enter in a URL for the respondent to be redirected to after they complete their survey.