How To Make Google Forms Ranking Questions [Beginner Guide]

Google Forms ranking questions are a great way to gather insights into the preferences of your respondents. However, the platform doesn’t have a direct feature for this yet.

Can you do ranking in Google Forms? The solution lies in multiple-choice grids. To start, simply open your form and add a new question. Choose “Multiple choice grid” from the question type dropdown. Enter the items to be ranked under the “Rows” section and specify the ranking order under the “Columns” section.

While the method mentioned above is effective, there are considerations to make when setting up your form. Follow along as we guide you through how to make a ranking question on Google Forms.

What Is a Google Forms Ranking Question?

A Google Forms ranking question prompts respondents to rank items in order of importance, preference, or other criteria.

For instance, a company may use a ranking question to understand how customers prioritize their purchases (e.g., warranty, price, reputation, quality).

At the time of publication, Google Forms still doesn’t have a dedicated feature that creates ranking questions directly — but there’s a clever workaround!

You can use the “Multiple choice grid” to create your Google Forms rank order question by:

  • Adding rows of items that you want respondents to rank
  • Using the columns to indicate the ranking order
  • Allowing only one answer per column to ensure proper ranking of the items

Related: How to Create a Survey in Google Forms [Step-by-Step Guide]

How To Do Ranking in Google Forms

Ready to try making one in your survey? Here’s how to do a ranking question in Google Forms:

  1. Go to Google Forms and open the form where you want to include the ranking question.
  2. If you don’t have a form yet, create one by selecting “Blank” under the “Start a new form” section.
Google Forms ranking—how to start a blank Google form

 

  1. Hit the plus (+) button on the vertical toolbar located on the right of the page to add a new question.
How to add a Google Form question

 

  1. Type your questions or instructions in the “Question” field.
  2. Open the drop-down menu in the upper-right corner of the question card (denoted by “Multiple choice” as default).
the Question type dropdown menu in Google Forms

 

  1. From the drop-down menu, choose “Multiple choice grid” from the available options.
Where to find "Multiple choice grid" option in Google Forms

 

  1. Enter the options that you want respondents to rank under the “Rows” section.
  2. Type the ranking order under the “Columns” section (as demonstrated below).
Entering values under Rows and Columns in Google Forms

 

  1. Click the vertical three-dot icon at the bottom-right corner of the question card to access more options.
Vertical three-dot icon to view more options in Google Forms

 

  1. Check the box next to “Limit to one response per column.”
Limiting one response per column for multiple choice grid

When To Use Multiple Choice Grids in Google Forms

Here are some scenarios where using multiple choice in Google Forms would be beneficial:

Gathering Ratings and Reviews from Customers

You can collect feedback from customers about a particular product or service. For example, you might ask them to rate various features of an app on a scale of 1 to 5.

Another way to do this is to use a Likert scale, which measures how much a person agrees with a statement. For instance, users can be asked to rate their agreement with the statement, “I am satisfied with the customer service I received.”

Identifying People’s Preferences

These ranking questions are also useful for understanding the preferences of your respondents. One good example of this is when distributing a registration form for a conference. By encouraging the attendees to rank the content they’re most interested in, you can accurately adjust their schedule, determine which content needs improvement, and so on.

Downsides of Google Forms Ranked Choices

As you may have thought, Google Forms has some limitations for creating ranking questions:

1. Complex Setup Process

Although the method we discussed earlier is easy to follow, the process is still somewhat complicated and could be simplified. While other applications provide a direct feature specifically designed for ranking questions (where you simply list the choices), Google Forms currently lacks this feature.

2. Non-Intuitive Interface

Ranking items often allow respondents to drag their top choices up and least favorite choices down. This makes for an easy and intuitive process.

Ranked choices in Google Forms, however, require users to mark several options per question (a single mark per row and column). Another reason it can be hard to use is the grid’s layout. They might just treat it as a simple multiple-choice question, not a ranking question.

3. Limited Integrations

It’s disappointing that Google Forms only supports a limited number of third-party software integrations. While it does work well with Google Sheets, it may be challenging to connect it to CRMs, databases, and email automation.

How To View the Ranking Question Responses

Once you learn how to create a ranking question in Google Forms, you must know where to locate the form’s answers. You can do this by switching to the “Responses” tab first.

The Responses tab in Google Forms

 

There are four different ways to check the answers to your ranked Google Forms survey:

Method 1: Using the Summary Tab

In the “Summary” tab, you can locate a number of charts that provide a quick overview of all the form responses. Each chart corresponds to a specific question, including the ranked order question. Simply scroll down to locate your ranked choice question among the others.

For ranking questions, an interactive bar chart will likely be displayed. Hover your mouse over a bar to view the number of respondents who selected a particular option.

Charts and graphs in Summary tab in Google Forms

Method 2: Browsing Responses Per Question

If you want to view the responses in detail, switch to the “Questions” section. In this interface, locate your ranked choice question by:

  1. Clicking the drop-down menu (in the upper-left corner) to view all the questions in your Google form.
  2. Selecting the ranking question you want to view from the list.
Viewing responses per question in Google Forms

Method 3: Checking Individual Answers

Google Forms also allows you to examine each respondent’s answers individually, which can be useful for understanding the preferences of specific individuals. Here’s how:

  1. Switch to the “Individual” tab.
  2. Open the drop-down menu on the left side to display the emails of your respondents.
  3. Select the email address of the individual whose answers you want to check.
Checking individual responses in Google Forms

Didn’t Get Survey Takers’ Email Addresses?

The drop-down menu can’t be displayed if you don’t request the respondents’ email addresses in your Google form. In this case, you can use the left and right arrows to browse through individual responses (as shown below).

Navigating through individual form responses in Google Forms

 

Related: How To Make Google Forms Anonymous (Easy Guide) 2024

Method 4: Linking to a Google Sheet

If you want more control over how you view and manage your form responses, you can choose to generate a linked spreadsheet for them. Just go to the “Responses” tab, then click “Link to Sheets.”

Linking forms to Google Sheets

 

Related: Easily Connect Google Forms To Google Sheets [2 Ways]

Final Thoughts

Google Forms ranking surveys are a valuable way to gather customer feedback about product or service preferences. By following the steps discussed in this article, it’s easy to set up your own ranking survey.

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