When to Avoid a Survey Site

You can’t trust every site that claims to pay you to take surveys. Always avoid survey sites if they:

Ask for payment. A legitimate survey site will never ask you to pay to join.

Ask for private information upfront. You should not be asked to provide your social security number unless you’ve earned at least $600.

Have no history or ratings. Well-established companies are more trustworthy. You can read what real users have to say about them and verify their history of payments and available opportunities.

Pay too little. Legitimate companies will have some higher-paying opportunities worth completing.

Have a glitchy or outdated site. Companies that don’t take care of their websites may not take care of their members.

Make it hard to qualify for surveys. Don’t waste time on a company if it consistently disqualifies you for surveys.

Tips to Earn the Most with Paid Surveys

There are a number of things you can do to maximize your earnings when taking surveys for money.

🗸 Stick with a few trusted sites. You don’t have to sign up with hundreds of survey sites to earn some cash. Focus on the best options like Swagbucks, Vindale Research, and Survey Junkie.

🗸 Fill out your profile completely. Completing your personal profile on each survey site allows the company to match you with relevant offers. Most companies require your name, relationship status, occupation, and other demographic information. Update your personal profile if you have a life change. Things like a new baby, new pet, or change in smoking habits could change your status for upcoming surveys.

🗸 Watch the time. Keep track of the time spent completing surveys. You’re not likely to earn a high hourly rate completing easy surveys, and it can be a mind-numbing task. If possible, do surveys when you have small windows of time, like when you’re standing in line to fill a prescription or waiting for a meeting to start. Complete a few here and there instead of doing the surveys for hours on end.

🗸 Answer consistently. Don’t fly through surveys, ignoring the questions to complete them faster. Read each question and respond honestly. Survey sites compare answers and can disqualify users who appear to be inconsistent in their responses.

🗸 Check for free offers. Some survey sites have a “free offers” section where you can earn points for signing up for free trials or newsletters.

🗸 Follow survey sites on social media. Watch for exclusive bonus opportunities throughout the day, and pay attention when better-paying opportunities pop up. Following these survey sites on social media may provide tips on earning more.

🗸 Take the highest paying surveys first. If you sign up with multiple websites, you might receive dozens of surveys to choose from. Take a few minutes to estimate your earnings per hour before you start a survey. You may be able to make more by picking the highest-paying opportunities first.

🗸 Refer friends to your favorite site. Send friends and family members your unique referral link so they can try surveys or offers for themselves. When they use your link, you’ll earn additional cash or bonus points. You can share your personal link on your social media sites or email it to people you know.

Follow These 5 Best Practices

Even if a survey site is trustworthy, there are still precautions you should take.

1. Use a separate email address

Creating a separate email address for survey offers will keep your work and personal inboxes clear of clutter. Plus, if you stop doing surveys, you can just stop checking that email account instead of unsubscribing from a bunch of sites.

2. Be mindful of what you share

Good survey companies will keep your individual identity a secret. But that doesn’t make it safe to provide them with your social security number, driver’s license number, or bank account numbers. Legitimate survey companies do not need this information.

3. Use anti-malware software

Anti-malware software can keep your laptop virus-free. If you visit multiple survey sites per day, it’s important to protect your computer from malicious spyware and viruses.

4. Take frequent breaks

Completing surveys can be tedious. It’s important to take frequent breaks throughout the day so that you’re not tempted to rush through surveys and provide wrong or inconsistent answers.

5. Fees and false promises

Any survey site that promises that you will earn thousands per month is either a scam or at least misleading. Make sure the sites you join make realistic statements about your potential earnings and the amount of time it takes to complete surveys. Also, a legitimate survey company will not charge a fee to join.

How to make the most money from survey sites

Sign up to them all. By joining as many panels as possible, you will always have surveys to answer instead of waiting for one or two to come along every month.