“How Did You Hear About Us?” survey templates and best practices

If you want to add a “How did you hear about us?” survey to your website, Getsitecontrol lets you create this survey without any coding. Start with a ready-made template, customize the question and answer options, and decide exactly when and where it appears. Target first-time visitors, buyers, or engaged readers and start collecting attribution data in minutes.

“How did you hear about us?” survey templates and examples

Inline form — post-purchase survey

Post-purchase pages are one of the best places to ask, “How did you hear about us?” because you’re surveying people who have already converted. Their responses reveal which channels, campaigns, or recommendations are actually driving customers, not just traffic.

Instead of appearing as a popup, the survey is typically embedded directly into the order confirmation or thank-you page, below the purchase message. Since the transaction is already complete, the question doesn’t compete with conversion and feels like a natural part of the experience. Customers are also more likely to respond while the purchase is still fresh.

Sidebar panel — new visitor survey

If you want to understand how people discover your business before they become customers, surveying first-time visitors can provide valuable attribution data early in the journey. Their responses reveal which channels are introducing people to your brand.

To avoid interrupting casual visitors, many brands display the survey only after someone has shown genuine interest — for example, after spending time on the site or viewing multiple pages. This way, you’re collecting responses from people who are actively exploring your business rather than passing through.

Expandable panel — sitewide survey

An expandable panel stays anchored to the edge of the screen and reveals the survey only when a visitor chooses to open it. Because the question remains hidden until someone clicks, this format offers a low-friction way to collect feedback without interrupting the browsing experience.

Since participation is entirely voluntary, response volume is typically lower than with proactive pop-up surveys. However, the people who do respond have intentionally engaged with the form. That makes expandable panels well suited to ongoing sitewide feedback collection, especially on blog posts, about pages, and resource hubs where visitors may appreciate the option to participate without being interrupted.

Why ask “How did you hear about us?”

Knowing how customers discover your business helps you identify which channels drive growth, so you can double down on what works and cut spend where it doesn’t. The problem is that not all discovery paths are visible in analytics, especially if you’re not deeply familiar with tools like Google Analytics. Even then, a significant share of traffic goes untracked or is misattributed due to privacy settings, cookie restrictions, and browser limitations.

And even when analytics does capture a source, it often only reflects the last click, not the real journey. A customer might arrive via a social post or ad, but actually have first heard about your brand through a podcast, newsletter, or friend recommendation. Without asking, that context is lost.

A simple survey fills this gap by capturing self-reported answers directly from customers. This gives you a clearer picture of how people actually discover your business — which is especially helpful when you’re running campaigns on multiple channels.

“How did you hear about us?” answer options

The right answer options depend on your channels, but most brands follow a similar core set. Aim for 6–10 clear choices, use simple language, and always include an open-text “Other” field to capture anything you didn’t anticipate.

Here’s a ready-to-use list you can copy and adjust:

• Social media (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube)
• AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews)
• Friend or family (word of mouth)
• Search engine (Google, Bing)
• Event or conference
• Blog post or article
• Email newsletter
• Podcast
• Reddit
• Other (open text)

A few practical rules: keep options short, place the most common channels first, and avoid overlapping categories. For example, don’t include both “Social media” and individual platforms unless you specifically need that level of detail. The “Other” field is often the most valuable part of the question. Review it regularly because recurring answers usually point to missing options that should be added to your main list.

Best practices for “how did you hear about us?” surveys

Keep the survey to one question

Multi-question surveys consistently reduce completion rates. This format works best when it captures a single data point in one interaction: one tap, one answer.

The only acceptable follow-up is a narrow clarification when it adds meaningful detail. For example, if a user selects “Instagram influencer,” you might ask which influencer in a second step. But this should stay tightly scoped to attribution, not expand into broader questions about preferences, experience, or intent.

Match the question to the moment

The wording should reflect where the visitor is in their journey. Context changes how the question feels, even if the data you’re collecting stays the same.

“How did you hear about us?” works best post-purchase. At that point, the customer has already converted, the experience is fresh, and a direct attribution question feels natural and low-effort. “What brought you here today?” is better suited for new visitors. It feels lighter and less transactional, which matters when someone is still exploring and hasn’t committed yet.

Choose target audience thoughtfully

Attribution isn’t limited to first-time visitors. Returning visitors are worth surveying too — they often reveal how channels reinforce each other over time, since people frequently encounter a brand multiple times before they convert.

This is why targeting matters. In Getsitecontrol, you can restrict the survey to first-time sessions, so it only appears to new visitors. If your website runs on Shopify, you can go further by using the Customer order count filter, which lets you control whether the form is shown to first-time buyers, returning customers, or both.

Use the data, not just the form

A survey that no one reviews is just noise. Set a regular cadence — monthly or quarterly — to actually analyze responses and look for patterns over time. The goal isn’t just to collect attribution data — it’s to turn it into something you can act on.

In Getsitecontrol, all responses are stored in the dashboard, making it easy to get both a high-level overview and a more granular breakdown. You can filter results by factors like country, device, traffic source, or page to see how attribution changes across different contexts.

Add a “how did you hear about us?” form to your website

If you want to understand which channels are actually driving customers, Getsitecontrol lets you create and publish website surveys in minutes. You can choose from multiple-choice, checkbox, or open-text formats, customize the question and design, and start from ready-made templates.

You can also control exactly when and where the survey appears. Target new visitors, show it on specific pages like the order confirmation page, or limit it to returning customers. Built-in display rules ensure the survey only appears in relevant moments.

Getsitecontrol works with Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace, and any other website. A free plan is available with no time limit and no credit card required.