[Latest version] How to use Google Forms. How to easily create a survey

When you think of getting responses from users or conducting surveys, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Google Forms. Google Forms is an inquiry form provided by Google, and it is used by many users because it is completely free.

In this article, we will provide an overview of Google Forms and explain its basic usage. We will also explain how to apply it for each purpose, so please refer to it if you are considering using Google Forms.

What is Google Forms?

First, let’s start with an overview of Google Forms. Google Forms is a form creation tool provided by Google, and can be created if you have a Google account. Google Forms can be used for a variety of purposes, including accepting applications for campaigns and conducting surveys with users.

In addition, it can be used in a wide variety of ways, including conditional branching, embedding on websites, and the ability to export forms by linking with Google services. It’s very easy to use, so if you’re not sure which form creation tool to use, why not give Google Forms a priority?

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Advantages of using Google Forms

There are many benefits to using Google Forms. Here we will introduce four typical benefits.

Let’s look at each in turn.

available for free

One of the benefits of Google Forms is that you can use them for free if you have a Google account. Therefore, it is naturally characterized by the large number of people who use it. A large number of users also leads to a large amount of information.

Instructions on how to use it and how to customize it are posted on the Internet, so you shouldn’t have any trouble using it. A major advantage is that there is no cost not only when using it, but also when collecting information.

You can quickly create surveys using the app.

Google Forms makes it easy to create surveys. Until now, creating surveys on the Internet required specialized knowledge. However, with Google Forms, you can create surveys using templates, so no specialized knowledge is required.

Also, since it is used in a browser, the device does not matter. Responsive design prevents layouts from collapsing due to differences in devices, so being able to create surveys on smartphones and tablets is an advantage.

Easily check survey question answers

As long as you have an internet connection, you can check your answers in real time. The responses you enter are automatically aggregated, so you can check the response status and results of your survey at any time. You can also add team members or managers as collaborators so survey creators don’t have to send their results for confirmation. Another benefit is that information sharing becomes smoother.

Surveys can be compiled using a spreadsheet.

Google Forms also works with Google Sheets. You can aggregate the survey results by exporting them to Google Spreadsheet.

You can easily aggregate data by question or participant, and analyze using bar graphs and pie charts, which will help reduce the time required for tabulation and analysis. Another benefit is that it improves business efficiency.

Disadvantages of using Google Forms

There are various disadvantages to using Google Forms. Here we will introduce three typical disadvantages.

Let’s look at each in turn.

There is no originality in the design

One of the disadvantages of Google Forms is that it lacks originality in design. There are few patterns, so you can tell at a glance that this is a survey created using Google Forms. Without knowledge of

HTML

and

CSS

, it is not possible to customize detailed designs, so it can be difficult to create original designs without knowledge.

If you embed a Google Form survey on your company’s

homepage

, you need to understand that it will not look consistent with other pages.

Anyone can access the URL

The downside is that there is a security risk. Since you can easily change the sharing settings, you can also set the sharing settings for aggregated data to “everyone who knows the URL.”

In that case, anyone who knows the URL will be able to access the data. When taking surveys, there are many opportunities to handle personal information. If data is leaked, it could lead to liability for compensation and loss of trust. It is necessary to understand the risks and carefully check the sharing settings before using it.

Google Drive has limited capacity

Google Forms uses the creator account’s Google Drive space. Google Drive has a 15GB limit on its free plan. If the creator’s Google Drive capacity exceeds the limit, the form will become unusable.

If it’s a simple survey, it won’t take up space. However, you need to be careful if the answer is in the form of a file upload. Please note that if the file is large, it will take up space on Google Drive.

If you have an answer that requires you to upload a file, you need to check Google Drive and the file capacity.

How to create Google Forms

Up to this point, we have provided an overview of Google Forms. From here, we will explain how to create a Google Form, so let’s look at each step in turn.

Create a Google account

Google Forms is one of the services provided by Google, so you need a Google account to use it. However, if you currently have a Google account, there is no need to create a new account. If you do not have an account, please create a new one.

We will thoroughly explain how to create a Google account with images!

Choose a template

Google Forms comes with around 20 different templates. The content of the templates varies, including party invitations, satisfaction surveys, and surveys. If you have a template that you are planning to create yourself, we recommend using one to save time.

If it is not provided, select “Blank” and create your own form from scratch. It’s not that difficult to create your own forms.

Add parts

Add parts such as the name and content of the form. In addition to questions, Google Forms also allows you to add “sections” that group large question items, and embed images and videos. Therefore, be creative about the parts you add depending on the content you are creating.

Create choices

Once you’ve added the parts, it’s time to create the question options. Google Forms allows you to create 8 options.

They can also be combined in one form. You can set whether or not to require a response for each question, so be creative depending on the answer you want to get.

Decide on the design

In Google Forms, you can change the form design using the palette mark. Especially if you can’t think of a design, it’s a good idea to choose your company’s main colors or colors that match your business content. When there are no big restrictions on color or for in-house surveys, adding some decorations to create a gorgeous look will convey the fun of answering.

public

Once you have completed your form design, click the “Submit” button at the top right of the Google Form. Here you can choose how to respond, such as sharing a link or sending an email. We recommend that you modify it to suit the content and respondents.

Aggregation and analysis of results

Click the “Response” button at the top of the Google Form to aggregate the survey results. The results are displayed as a graph, making it easy to understand. Based on the results you get here, you can reconsider the content of your next survey or use it to improve the content of your campaign.

Useful functions when creating Google Forms

Google Forms allows you to use various useful functions when creating a form. I will introduce some of them below.

Customize the form theme

Google Forms allows you to customize form themes. The main areas that can be customized are “header design”, “text”, “theme color”, and “background color”. To customize, click the palette icon (customize theme) displayed at the top right of the form editing screen, and a theme editing pop-up screen will be displayed.

Customize the form from this pop-up screen. You can upload your own header image, or choose from header images provided by Google for free. There are a wide variety of header images provided by Google for free, such as “illustrations”, “food”, and “for children”, and you can use them depending on the situation.

“Collaborative editing” for editing as a team

Google Forms has a “collaborative editing” feature that allows teams to edit. This feature allows multiple people to share the same form. Setting it up is very easy. Click on the three dots displayed in the upper right corner of the Google Form, then click “Add Collaborator” from the pull-down menu.

A pop-up screen will appear that says “Add editor to 〇〇 form.” Enter their email address in the input field and you will be able to collaborate. Additionally, by registering the email address of the person in charge of checking the completed form, you can simplify the approval process.

Collect documents and images from respondents

With Google Forms, you can not only exchange text, but also send files such as documents and images. With this feature, you can ask respondents to attach their resumes or work history, or collect photos and illustrations for contests, etc.

To do this, click the image icon displayed to the right of the question, upload the file from the “Insert Image” pop-up screen, and send it. Alternatively, click the triangular down arrow displayed on the right side and select “File Upload” from the pull-down menu to send.

This feature requires respondents to log in to Google, so respondents who do not have a Google account will not be able to use it.

Set up auto-reply emails with add-ons

Google Forms allows you to set up automatic reply emails using an add-on. This feature eliminates the need for administrators to manually send emails to respondents, streamlining their work.

The automatic reply email is necessary as a confirmation email that “we have indeed received the form input” and gives the respondent a sense of security. This feature is not a standard feature, so you will need to use an add-on.

How to add add-ons

1. Click the three-dot leader icon at the top right of the Google Form creation screen

2. Click “Get Add-on” from the pull-down menu

3. A pop-up screen will appear called Google Workspace Marketplace

4. Enter “Email Notifications for Google Forms” in the search box and search.

5. The installation screen for the add-on will be displayed, so click the “Install” button to install it.

How to send Google Forms

After completing your Google Form, click the “Submit” button in the top right corner to choose how you would like to submit your form. There are several ways to submit Google Forms:

email

The first method of sending is email. Click the Send button and from the “Submit Form” pop-up screen, click the email icon from the Send Method field. The “Destination”, “Subject”, and “Message” fields will be displayed, so enter the email address or name of the recipient.

When you enter your name, a list of users registered in your Google account will be displayed, and by selecting a username from there, your email address will be automatically entered. After entering the destination, enter the subject and message and click the send button.

Form URL issue

You can issue a form URL by clicking the Send button and clicking the link icon from the “Send Form” pop-up screen. Click the “Copy” button at the bottom right to enter the form URL into the clipboard.

In that state, place the cursor where you want to paste and select “Paste” by right-clicking the mouse, or paste by pressing “Ctrl+V” on the keyboard. This link is very long, so we recommend checking “Short URL” to shorten it.

Embed code generation

You can generate an embed code by clicking the Send button and from the “Submit Form” pop-up screen, click the “< >” icon in the Send Method field. The HTML tag is displayed in the “Embed HTML” field, so click the “Copy” button at the bottom right and the HTML tag will be input to the clipboard.

In that state, place the cursor where you want to paste and select “Paste” by right-clicking the mouse, or paste by pressing “Ctrl+V” on the keyboard. The width and height can be specified in pixels, so you can change the size freely.

Facebook and X (Twitter)

You can send the form URL from each SNS by clicking the send button and clicking the “Facebook” and “X (Twitter)” icons from the “Send form” pop-up screen.

Clicking on the Facebook icon will take you to the Facebook page where you can specify who will share the post. Specify the sharing range such as “Public”, “Friends”, or “Some Friends”, and click the Finish button to move to the “Create Post” screen. The form you have already created is displayed on this screen, so you can send it to the sharing range by clicking the “Share” button.

On the other hand, if you click the X (Twitter) icon, you will be redirected to the X (Twitter) page, and the post screen for the form you created will be displayed in a draft state. You can post by clicking the “Post” button at the bottom right of the screen.

How can anyone set a homepage icon?

How to share responses in Google Forms

Here’s how to share your answer:

1. Click on the three dots at the top right of the form

2. Click “Add collaborator”

3. Enter the Gmail address of the member you want to share with.

4. Click the “Finish” button

A Gmail address is required to share your answers. Please check the member’s Gmail address in advance.

How to apply Google Forms

So far, we have explained how to create Google Forms. Here we will introduce four ways to use Google Forms.

Let’s look at each in turn.

conditional branch

First is conditional branching. In general inquiry forms, there are cases where a question such as “Only those who answered ①, please answer ②” appears. However, this may feel like a waste to those who have not answered ①.

Google Forms has a mechanism that automatically moves you to the next question depending on the user’s answer. That is conditional branching. To create a conditional branch, select a dropdown or radio button, and once you have created a question, click Add Session.

Then, a message such as “Move to the next section depending on the answer” will appear, so it is a good idea to create branches according to the user’s answer.

Quantity limit

Google Forms also allows you to limit the number of checkboxes. For example, when you want to aggregate the results, if you select more than necessary for one question, subsequent analysis will take time and it will not be useful for improvement.

If you want to prevent such cases, use a checkbox limit. By selecting the “three-dot leader” at the bottom right of the created question, you can specify the “minimum number of questions to select.” Let’s change it to suit the content of the question.

Embed on website

Google Forms can also be embedded on your website. It can be used for inquiry forms that receive inquiries from users. By pressing the “Submit” button at the top of the created form, you will be able to obtain HTML that can be embedded into your website, and once you embed it in your website, you are done.

export

You can also export Google Form results to a spreadsheet for easier visualization. By converting it to a spreadsheet, you can save it as an image, which will be useful for creating materials needed for the next improvement.

To export, select Spreadsheet from “Answers” and select either a new spreadsheet or an existing spreadsheet.

Email notification to multiple people using GAS

Google Forms can send email notifications to multiple people by using “GAS = Google Apps Script”.

1. Click on the three dots at the top right of the Google Form and select Script Editor from the pull-down menu.

2. Enter the following source code using the script editor.

■GAS source code example

FUNCTION SENDFORM(E)

{ VAR ITEMS = E.RESPONSE.GETITEMRESPONSES();

VAR MSG = ”;

FOR (VAR I = 0; I < ITEMS.LENGTH; I++) {

VAR ITEM = ITEMS[I];

VAR Q = ITEM.GETITEM().GETTITLE();

VAR A = ITEM.GETRESPONSE();

MSG += Q + ‘: ‘ + A + ‘\N\N’; }

GMAILAPP.SENDEMAIL(‘Destination email address 1’, ‘Destination email address 2’, ‘Destination email address 3’, ‘Email subject’, MSG); }

3. After writing the source code, click the save icon button to save it.

4. Select “Trigger” from the leftmost menu

5. Click the “Add Trigger” button at the bottom left of the trigger settings screen

6. From the “Add trigger” screen, select “When form submission” from “Select event type”

7. Also, from the same screen, select “Receive notifications now” in “Error notification settings”

8. Click the “Save” button to save

Feedback to respondents

Google Forms can also be used to provide feedback to respondents. For example, this function is useful when providing feedback on test results to respondents themselves.

1. Click “Settings” from the top menu on the form creation screen.

2. Turn on the “Make it a test” item on the settings screen

3. Set the correct answer for each question

4. Finally, click Create Answer Key

5. Set the correct answer and score and click Finish.

6. Respondents can check their own scores by responding to the test form.

Cases when you should use Google Forms

Google Forms can be used in many cases. This time, we will introduce three representative cases.

Let’s look at each in turn.

test

Google Forms allows you to create tests for your users. You can create a form by clicking the “Test” button at the top of the form creation screen. For example, you can create a comprehension check for employee training or a final test for a specific course.

Participation forms for various events

You can also create an event participation form. By having participants respond with their names, email addresses, and phone numbers, as well as their address and reason for participating in the event, this will be helpful when organizing future events. It is also a good idea to use the participation form not only for events but also when holding seminars.

Campaign application reception form

You can also create campaign application forms using Google Forms. This can be useful when conducting gift campaigns in conjunction with SNS. In addition, Google Forms has templates such as “employment application form” and “order form”, so consider using them as well.

summary

In this article, we explained the overview of Google Forms, how to use them, and how to apply them. Google Forms is completely free and can be used in a variety of situations, as explained in this article.

Therefore, if you are unsure about which form to use, you may consider using Google Forms as your only option. First of all, why not try creating a form using Google Forms according to the case you are considering?