What is SurveyLock?

SurveyLock is a simple WordPress plugin that allows you to "lock" certain pieces of valuable content on your website with a safe, simple and authentic brand survey. When visitors complete the anonymous ~30 second survey, content is unlocked and you're paid.

You can lock an entire post, or you can lock a paragaph, a section, an image, a link, or anything else. Any portion of a WordPress post is fair game!

What kinds of surveys will show up?

The surveys that visitors see are from nationally recognized brands that users will be familiar with. Most surveys are simple multiple choice and can take just 30 seconds to complete.

Every survey your visitors see will be 100% brand safe and authentic, and will never ask for personally identifiable information.

How does it work?

There are currently two integrations:

Content Integration - Works on any WordPress post. Just place our shortcode around the content you'd like to monetize within the post editor. That's it!

Snax Quiz Integration - Works with the Snax plugin. Just enable the plugin and your Snax quizzes (both personality and trivia) will be monetized.

Can any WordPress website use it?

Yes! As long as your website uses a relatively up-to-date version of WordPress, you can use SurveyLock. To get started, submit your name and email above and you'll get a link to a quick application form if a spot is available. Once we review and approve your website, just install the plugin, input the unique Publisher Key we'll send you, and start monetizing your content!

How much money can I earn by putting SurveyLock on my site?

We can't provide accurate projections because content & visitor type vary between websites. However, the majority of publishers who implement SurveyLock find that it meets or even exceeds the revenue they generate from traditional display ads. We can't guarantee that will be the case for everyone, but it doesn't hurt to try!

This all sounds too good to be true?

We understand. We're publishers too and we built SurveyLock because of how incredible the results have been for us.

The fact is, SurveyLock works extremely well at creating new revenue and it's also something the vast majority of publishers don't know about. We're aiming to change that and decrease publisher reliance on clunky ads.

What types of content work best?

SurveyLock works best when visitors have a good sense of the value of the content they're trying to unlock. Some examples that work well are recipe blogs that "lock" the formal recipe at the bottom of a page, quiz websites that "lock" visitor results, and galleries and lists where the #1 item is "locked."

When visitors know the value of what they're going to see, they're more likely to take a short survey to see it. Additionally, through messaging in both the SurveyLock plugin and externally, you can inform visitors that surveys help you create more content, decrease the ads they see, and are 100% anonymous.

Where do the surveys come from?

We’ve partnered with some of the leading market research firms to provide surveys from national brands and advertisers. These brands and advertisers are willing to pay for real-time research into the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns on average internet users.

Will visitors have to share private information?

No! At no point in any survey are names, emails or any contact information ever asked for.

These surveys are 100% confidential and simply meant as a way for brands to measure the impact of advertising campaigns on a broad scale. That means they want aggregate data, and not the individual data associated with any one particular user. Your visitor’s private information is kept just that, private. It’s only their opinion as a human being that matters.

What happens if there is no survey available for a visitor to take?

If no survey is available or if there is an error, the content will be unlocked for the visitor automatically.

How many surveys will a visitor see?

Generally visitors will only see 1 survey within a 24 hour period. If they've already completed a survey and unlocked a piece of content, any other locked content will usually be available without taking another survey.

Won't visitors hate having content locked?

It’s a fair question, but the answer might surprise you. We’ve found that when you let visitors know they're seeing fewer ads and supporting a website they like, they're very understanding.

The fact is, these surveys are simple and quick to complete. They don’t tend to annoy most visitors, and the added revenue and other benefits makes them well worth implementing.

Why not just have my users pay me directly?

The fact is, unless your content is super valuable, you’ll probably find that not a lot of visitors are going to be willing to pay money for it.

Completing surveys with SurveyLock creates much less friction than asking for money, because the only currency needed is the short amount of time it takes to fill out a survey. Every single website visitor can make you money, given they’re 18+ and in a location we monetize.

As a bonus, if you do have loyal visitors willing to pay for content, you can disable SurveyLock for them and use it to monetize everyone else!

How do I become a SurveyLock publisher?

Submit your email to the form on the homepage. You’ll receive guidance on how to apply to be a publisher, and then the steps you need to take, including submitting your website details. If you have an invite code, you’ll be instructed on how to submit it at that time.

Because there is high demand, we need to approve publishers on an individual basis.

Once approved, can I use the SurveyLock plugin on any website?

You must receive approval for each domain you plan to use SurveyLock with. Using SurveyLock on an unapproved domain may result in earnings not being paid and potentially suspension of your account.

What are the requirements for my website to be approved?

At this time, we’re only accepting WordPress websites. Besides that, there is no set minimum traffic requirement because we recognize that sometimes even the best websites can’t scale if their revenue isn’t in place.

We do not accept websites that are geared towards kids or teenagers. The ideal audience is 18+. We understand that some content will appeal to every age group, so we take that into account. However, if the majority of a website’s content is clearly targeted towards visitors younger than 18 years of age, we will likely not be able to approve you.

We don’t approve websites with illegal or obscene content. We also don’t approve websites with poor quality content or any type of content people might find objectionable. We reserve the right to not approve any website we feel is unsuitable based on our own internal criteria.

In the end, we judge websites and publishers individually based on the quality of their content and whether we think SurveyLock would be a good fit. We use common sense and try to make sure it makes sense for all parties. If you think you meet that criteria, please apply and we’ll be happy to review.

What type of traffic can my website have?

We review the overall quality of the traffic mix your website provides, and reserve the right to disable SurveyLock on websites which show poor quality results in aggregate.

As a general rule, the best traffic is organic traffic from quality search terms, social traffic from quality pages or ads, or email lists that have engaged visitors. We do not want traffic from popup, redirects, or any traffic source that doesn’t consistently produce quality web visitors.

Can I compensate or incentivize users for taking surveys?

No. You may not offer to pay users to take surveys or incentivize them outside of giving them access to the content you’ve locked.

I am not incentivizing visitors to take surveys and my traffic is high quality. Should I be concerned about losing SurveyLock access?

Generally no. We’ve found that without incentivizing users, and by maintaining quality traffic sources, most publishers have no problem maintaining a high standard of survey takers who answer questions honestly.

However, at times publishers may be unaware that the majority of their visitors are younger than 18. In those cases, we may have to disable SurveyLock access. Credit for past earnings is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Can publishers be disabled from using SurveyLock even after being approved?

Yes. If we find publishers have violated our terms or if in our judgement they are no longer a good fit, we reserve the right to disable access to SurveyLock. Payment for accrued earnings is determined on a case-by-case basis. We reserve the right not to distribute payments for fraudulent or poor quality traffic/results.

How easy is it to integrate SurveyLock onto my site?

It's simple. Just install our plugin, enter your unique Publisher ID, and click to enable SurveyLock for WordPress posts and/or the Snax quiz plugin.

For normal WordPress posts, all you have to do is place the SurveyLock shortcode around the content you’d like to lock.

For our Snax quiz result integration, it’s even easier. All you have to do is click ‘enable SurveyLock’ within the quiz editor for each quiz you'd like to monetize.

Once enabled, you may have to clear your cache or CDN if you’re using one. Visitors will now be able to use your website just like they did before, with a simple speed bump that makes you money when they view your most valuable content.

Do I need to know how to code?

Nope! No coding required, the plugin does all the work.

Can I request a custom SurveyLock integration?

Absolutely! We’re always on the lookout for new plugin integrations. Contact us through the form on our homepage and respond to the email you receive with your idea.

Do you integrate with Android or iOS Apps?

Not at this time.

Will the SurveyLock plugin impact my site's SEO traffic?

It shouldn’t. The content locked by SurveyLock within a WordPress post will still be in the source code so Google can gobble it up. Also, using SurveyLock on the results of your Snax quizzes does not change what’s visible to Google.

Does it matter if my visitors are mostly mobile or desktop?

Nope! SurveyLock works well on every platform. Whether mobile web or desktop web or tablet web, these surveys tend to monetize very similarly, and there is no added development work on your part. (Integration with smartphone apps is currently not available)

Will SurveyLock slow down my website?

It shouldn't. The SurveyLock plugin is lightweight and should not have an impact on your website’s load time. In fact, the best integrations speed up websites because publishers are able to confidently remove heavy ad placements that drag down performance.

Do you provide any earnings guarantees?

Sorry, we don’t do guarantees. But, once integrated, you should quickly see if SurveyLock right for you and your website.

How can I view my earnings?

For the time being, you’ll receive a daily email summarizing the up-to-date daily and monthly totals. Daily reporting is done on GMT time. A publisher dashboard will be available soon.

What's the difference between the estimated earnings I see in my reports vs. finalized earnings?

The majority of a day’s earnings are credited within an hour or two of a survey being completed. Additional earnings are usually credited within 72 hours after the end of a given day. These are estimated earnings, but they normally do not differ much from finalized earnings.

True finalized earnings are not available until approximately 10 days after the end of each month. We reserve the right to modify finalized publisher earnings up until the payment date. In this case, it is usually due to fraudulent or incentivized survey activity or in the case of advertiser non-payment.

Which countries monetize the best?

Although SurveyLock can monetize users in many different countries, by far the best and most consistent revenue will come from visitors in the United States. If you don't have U.S. traffic SurveyLock may not be for you.

How can I get paid?

At this time publishers can choose to be paid by wire or through PayPal. For PayPal, the minimum payment is $50, and for wires the minimum is $500. Unpaid monthly earnings that don't meet the minimum payment threshold rollover into the next month until the minimum is met. For United States entities (person or business) we require a valid w9 to be on file. We’ll request this once you apply and are approved, but before you’re able to use the plugin to monetize users.

When do I get paid?

Publishers are paid net 60. That means that payment for any particular month is due 60 days after the final day of that month. For example, March earnings will be due to be paid by May 30th.

Can I get paid quicker?

Not at this time.