A Reader Survey: Results
A couple of weeks ago I asked for your help filling in a survey which many of you kindly did. I received nearly 60 responses which I thought a reasonable number for a small blog. It was a lovely surprise to hear from readers who normally never comment, when you took the time to fill in the survey and leave sweet, personal comments I was able to ‘meet’ many ‘new to me’ readers, so special.
I poured over your opinions, comments and suggestions. Not only was it interesting (yes I’m quirky that way) but now have a clearer vision for blog direction for the upcoming year. As promised sharing results with you, although not the more personal info revealed in the comments.
1. Which country do you live in?
Majority of readers (who filled in the survey) were from Australia, with the US slightly behind.
2. Are you female or male?
Three males responded, my champion supporter PC and two of our sons. I was rather ‘chuffed’ to read their comments, though not really surprised as they’re clear about what posts they do and don’t enjoy.
3. How old are you?
Majority of readers are in their 30-50s, my age, which makes sense. I was humbled that my writing somehow brings older and wiser women to my corner of blogosphere and touched that younger folk are interested in what I have to say.
4. How many children do you have? (This includes babe/s in the womb)
The largest group have 3-4 children, with even numbers of in the other age groups, those with ‘no children’ are mostly under 19. The resulting were rather fascinating as I wasn’t too sure who I would be drawn to here.
| 0 | 6 | 10% |
| 1-2 | 11 | 18% |
| 3-4 | 23 | 37% |
| 5-7 | 11 | 18% |
| 8-10 | 10 | 16% |
| 11+ | 1 | 2% |
5. What ages are your children? (Check multiple if applicable)
The majority of reader’s children are in the 4-12 age bracket. Though many with only under 3s, surprised here as I’m certainly not as entertaining and comedic as many of the younger mum bloggers. Many readers also have children in their teen years, which makes sense, I know I’m always seeking bloggers who chat about the teen years, though there aren’t a huge number. My readers with children over 20 years are often over 50, and I’m very humbled by that those wiser would pop in here.
The majority of reader’s children are in the 4-12 age bracket. Though many with only under 3s, surprised here as I’m certainly not as entertaining and comedic as many of the younger mum bloggers. Many readers also have children in their teen years, which makes sense, I know I’m always seeking bloggers who chat about the teen years, though there aren’t a huge number. My readers with children over 20 years are often over 50, and I’m very humbled by that those wiser would pop in here.
| 3 or under | 26 | 42% |
| 4-7 | 33 | 53% |
| 8-12 | 33 | 53% |
| 13-15 | 25 | 40% |
| 16-19 | 17 | 27% |
| 20 or older | 16 | 26% |
| Other | 4 | 6% |
6. My favourite posts at Seven Little Australians & Counting are about…(You may choose multiple items)
Whilst the demographic questions helped in knowing ‘who’ was reading, I was keen to know ‘what’ my readers were seeking. I poured and poured over this and the related questions. Nearly all wanted Family Life posts, good news as that’s predominately what I’ve been capable of lately. Many requested homeschooling posts, as I’m not really delivering there, time to chat homeschooling more. Of course you all had various favourites and not so favourites, really interesting and helpful.
Whilst the demographic questions helped in knowing ‘who’ was reading, I was keen to know ‘what’ my readers were seeking. I poured and poured over this and the related questions. Nearly all wanted Family Life posts, good news as that’s predominately what I’ve been capable of lately. Many requested homeschooling posts, as I’m not really delivering there, time to chat homeschooling more. Of course you all had various favourites and not so favourites, really interesting and helpful.
| Family Life (including Daybooks) | 52 | 84% |
| Homeschooling | 40 | 65% |
| Book Chat & Reviews | 22 | 35% |
| House/Extension Progress | 33 | 53% |
| Faith | 22 | 35% |
| Hearth & Home | 29 | 47% |
| Photography | 15 | 24% |
| Philosophical Musings | 10 | 16% |
| Other | 3 | 5% |
7. What do you wish I would write more about?
These answers were wonderful, lots of ideas for future blog posts, ideas are now percolating away:) Thank you dear readers, your comments are invaluable! You asked for posts on;
These answers were wonderful, lots of ideas for future blog posts, ideas are now percolating away:) Thank you dear readers, your comments are invaluable! You asked for posts on;
- Australian life and snapshots/tours of our area, an armchair travel on other side of globe,
- The daily life, struggles and joys of raising a large family, and a few requests for some ‘day in the life’ Daybooks, family life, photography,
- homeschooling, homeschool organisation, homeschooling camps, how All About Spelling and Reading translates to Australian English and curriculum chat
- How to get boys to read and not play computers, (You want me to tell you how! Oh my!)
- Crafts and activities (you’re reading the wrong blog my friend, you’re out of luck there)
- Children working together on projects, building/extension work
- Grain free and Paleo
and this sweet comment, “Aussie bloggers write about whatever and I like that” made me smile and agree, each country has it’s own ‘flavour’.
8. What do you wish I would write less about?
Whilst most are happy with what I write and wanted me to ‘change nothing’. I did receive a few requests for less book chat. So..whilst I simply must talk books, I must, I firmly resolve to space my book posts out a little more.9. How would you describe your religious beliefs?
I had no idea what response I would receive to this question and was interested to see the answers. The majority of readers are Catholic, followed by other Christian denominations. I’m pleased to also welcome readers from other Faiths and belief systems including; Orthodox, Mormon, Jewish, Agnostic and Atheist.
10. How did you find Seven Little Australians & Counting?
Mostly you ‘landed here’ via other blogs and search engines. A number also came from 4Real, friend recommendations or you know me in real life (and not just my family members) Pinterest and facebook received little votes but considering I’m only new to facebook I was surprised to receive any votes.11. How long have you been reading Seven Little Australians & Counting?
A big welcome to my new readers:) and a huge shout out to those who have stuck with me throughout the years:)
12. What are some other blogs you read regularly?
I was interested to know what other blogs you were drawn too, many I knew, some I didn’t. And thank for all your suggestions. I do miss the days when everyone shared their blog rolls on their blogs, a good way to promote each other.13. How often do you read Seven Little Australians & Counting?
Yep you are all checking in here at least fortnightly, if not weekly and every post. One very keen reader checks multiple times a day, that folks is my champion supporter PC:)
14. How do you read Seven Little Australians & Counting?
Most of you come directly to the blog, with a smaller portion reading via subscriptions and a tiny amount via email.
Yep you are all checking in here at least fortnightly, if not weekly and every post. One very keen reader checks multiple times a day, that folks is my champion supporter PC:)
14. How do you read Seven Little Australians & Counting?
Most of you come directly to the blog, with a smaller portion reading via subscriptions and a tiny amount via email.
| Directly on Seven Little Australians site | 44 | 71% |
| Via email | 4 | 6% |
| Via reader subscription (Feedly etc) | 12 | 19% |
| Other | 4 | 6% |
15.If I added a commenting system would you continue to comment?
I really needed to know your thoughts as I have been considering adding a commenting system here to foster more interaction in the comments. A wiser and more experienced blogging buddy has been encouraging me to add disqus but… I didn’t want to lose my readers.
| Yes | 17 | 27% |
| No | 10 | 16% |
| Other | 24 | 39% |
16. What contributes to you not commenting on Seven Little Australians & Counting?
Based on this question and the previous I concluded that those who don’t comment won’t be anyway, and those who do comment were happy to continue to do so if I added a commenting system. Therefore I will be adding disqus and trialing it. You never know, maybe those readers who have experienced blogger swallowing their comments may find disqus more friendly, I certainly hope so.
*When I do add disqus, if you don’t like it PLEASE let me know.
*When I do add disqus, if you don’t like it PLEASE let me know.
17. Do you have any other feedback to share with me? Thank you
- Welcome to my new readers:)
- Some really personal comments were shared and I treasured them, my dear readers who shared with me your heavy crosses that you carry, I have been praying for you{{}}
- Do not be intimidated by who I am today, once I too had one child and I too struggled, thankfully I was able to slowly stretch and grow as each child was added, one at a time.
- Yes I do have bad days, our family has its own share of flaws, crosses, and challenges. However it’s not all my story to share and I tend to be a glass half full gal anyhow.
- Glad you liked the new tabs, they were a learning curve but they make me happy and I find them extremely useful myself;)
- I’m humbled (and nervous) to know I’m an inspiration to you.
- You wrote such encouraging notes and I treasured them all.
* What questions would I ask/not ask if I were to do a survey again?
Writing a survey was fun, but I would change my questions slightly if I was to do it again. The gender question was superfluous, so it would be ‘axed’. And questions 13 & 14 could have been ‘cut’ too. If I re-wrote I would ask ‘Do you homschool?’ as not all my readers do and I’d be interested to know the percentages.Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I enjoyed the opportunity to ‘get to know you’ a little. Do drop in and say Hi, I promise to reply:)
10 Comments
Laura Pearl
Erin, I've been so buy being a full-time caretaker to my new grandson that I haven't been keeping up with my favorite blogs very well–and I wish I'd seen your survey and participated!
Hopefully, I'll be able to work with disqus. (Anything new, technology-wise, tends to throw me for a loop at first–but I can usually catch up!)
You are definitely an inspiration. And I'm like you, as far as sharing on my blog: I don't share the overly personal stuff that isn't mine to share, and focus on the positive. (Luckily, there's a lot of positive stuff to share–we are definitely blessed.)
You definitely are an inspiration! I'm so happy I stumbled on this blog a few years back. (The post was about making a kids' play kitchen out of a shelving unit–I still remember reading it and wanting to make one just like it for our granddaughters.)
Laura Pearl
Did you see I just wrote "you are definitely an inspiration" twice in that first comment? But in this case, I think being repetitive was a good thing, to drive the point home. 🙂
Erin
Laura, you are too sweet:) {} How interesting that post was what bought you here, and I had no idea you'd been reading that long!
Tessa White
First time comment coming via yours to me.. I was blown away to read you had 10 children but now I know you are living rural I can just imagine the bliss.
I would adore to live with more space, more children, more garden and of course more dogs. How blessed you are Erin.
I will be back for sure x
Erin
Tessa, Welcome:) Sometimes I surprise myself when I think about it in numbers, but mostly they're all just lovely individuals. We are blessed indeed:) Love to have you back
Anonymous
Thanks for the survey results! They were fun to read and I'm glad to know what they all were! It was very kind of you to share it with us! 🙂 God bless you all on this Australia Day and throughout this new year!
P.S. I will try and work out how to use the new commenting thing and try and comment more XD
Erin
Anon, Glad you enjoyed the results too:) Hope to hear from you too:)
Bron Maxabella
Yay, disqus! I really think you'll like it.
That was a really interesting read, Erin. It's made me smile actually because I'm not quite your demographic, but we fit so well together. I think an agnostic, city-dwelling, public-schooling, working mother of three fits in just fine over here. I'm just surprised that not more people are into your philosophical musings as I love it when you are at your pondering best! Also – women with I children seem an unlikely fit, but the your Carholic devotion probably draws many.
All in all, I think this survey only showcases what a warm and welcoming woman you are. x
Bron Maxabella
PS – I totes forgot to fill in your survey, didn't i!! x
Erin
Bron
That's the thing though, I'm certain not all my readers filled in the survey and those who didn't don't fit this demographic, like yourself. I seem to be having more and more lovely Aussie bloggers reading and commenting. and they're a new demographic and more than welcome here, love it when we can find common ground or happy acceptance. Ah thought you enjoyed my musings but then I enjoy yours too:) So kind.
btw alas and alack disqus and livefyre will not load, spend a looong time trying, no dice