Photo: Donnay

Taking paid surveys online is not a new concept, but the challenge has always been how to find the best paid survey site. Fortunately, there are quite a few good paid survey websites out there, which means that there is a chance that you can find ones that will help you make some extra money each month - which is something that most of us can use.

Often it comes down to what a paid survey website will do for its members and whether it consistently lives up to its promises. If you take the time at the beginning to find the good quality paid survey websites, you can make a lucrative income with surveys. By following some simple guidelines, it should take you no time at all to separate the good paid survey websites from the mediocre ones.

You should keep in mind that the best paid survey site is not necessarily the one that offers you THE highest paid survey. Consistency is often a better indicator of a good paid survey website than one that only gives you access to a high paying survey every now and then. Also keep in mind that the surveys that pay a lot better than others are usually quite rare.

A paid survey website that continually offers you surveys that fall into the medium-payout range, and even some in the low-paying range, is one that you should put on the top of your list. It is of course even better if this type of paid survey website also offers you the occasional highest paid survey.

Normally a paid survey website will offer various surveys each day or each week that are geared towards certain demographics. This means that you may not qualify for every survey. A good paid survey website would be one that takes the time to separate its members into demographics so that it can alert them of surveys for which they most likely qualify.

Unfortunately many paid survey websites only tell their members to visit the site once or twice a day to check the list of surveys that are available. This is fine when the site has categorized the surveys according to demographics, so you know for what you can probably qualify and for what you cannot. However if they don’t do this, you will often find yourself wasting a lot of time filling out application forms just to find out that you don’t qualify for most of these surveys.

The best paid survey site will make it easier for its members to find the surveys that they will qualify for, either by categorizing them on the website or by sending email alerts to the qualifying members. Many paid survey websites don’t do this, so it can take some time to find the few good surveys.

When you are searching through paid survey websites, have a look and see how they do business. Check the FAQ (frequently asked questions) section if they have one, this is often the best place to find out quick information about the site. Take notes if this helps you. Once you have a list of the paid survey websites that will work best for you, you sign up for some and make the consistent extra income that you’ve been looking for.