RESULTS ARE IN: Making Home 2013 Reader Survey Results

I recently invited you to participate in a survey so that I could learn more about Making Home blog readers.

It was so encouraging to receive your feedback.  You guys are very kind & yet still gave me specifics when I asked for ways to improve the blog.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts... it has helped Doug & I to think through how I should be spending my time, and where blogging/writing ranks among my priorities.

First, let me share the basics I learned about YOU:
  • Nearly 95% of Making Home readers are married females.  
  • Nearly 2/3 of you are under 34.  (Makes sense-- I'll turn 34 next month.)
  • Nearly 70% of you have a baby 1 or under. (More than I would have guessed.)
  • More than 1/3 of you have been reading for 4-5 years.  Another 1/3 have been reading for 1-3 years.  (I am so thankful for you long-time readers that have stuck with me through blogging lulls!!)
  • About 1/2 of you come to my blog to read, and about 1/2 of you read through RSS feeds.
  • 2/3 of you said you have recommended my blog to others. (THANK YOU SO MUCH!)
Here are the blog topics in order of appeal (it was a multiple-choice question, so the percentages won't add up):
  •  75% chose Child Rearing & Discipline
  • More than half of you chose Biblical Womanhood & Feminism
  • More than half of you chose Homeschooling
  • More than half of you chose Marriage & Sex
  • 40% of you said Discipleship & Spiritual Growth
  • 30% said Suffering & Contentment
  • 20% said Bible-Study
  • 20% said Politics
  • 15% said Newborn sleep & breastfeeding
  • 7% said Writing/Honing talents
This information is extremely helpful for me, as I want to write about things that are useful to you.  Here at Making Home, my goal is to write about:
  1.  Topics within the sphere of what God is teaching or has taught me, and 
  2.  Topics within the sphere of things YOU want to read & hear about.
Now that I've heard from you, my goal is that those two things will line up more often than not.

And then, more than 50 of you left me personal comments about specific ways to improve my blog.  Some of the helpful comments left were:

  • Many of you said I need to write more consistently/more often-- I have adjusted my schedule and priorities and I am now posting every Sunday night & every Wednesday morning (with an occasional bonus post at some point in the week).  I hope this will help you all know more of what to expect... every week, the same routine, rather than my sporadic writing habits of years past.  And-- I am enjoying the blogging frequency.  Doug says it's good for me, and he can tell a difference in me when I'm regularly writing.  So for you as a reader, and for me as a writer, this one is a win/win.  :)
  • Many of you suggested specific blogpost topics.  I have those saved in my blogger dashboard & will try to address those in coming weeks/months.
  • EASIER NAVIGATION was another comment.  Can you tell I've been tweaking my blog?  I'm kind of in love with the new, simple design.  I increased the font size for easier readability.  So I changed the blog to a two-column format, and have listed out "most popular articles" in one sidebar feature.  For how to search past articles, there is now a search box embedded in the side bar.  Simply type in the subject you're interested in.  I am also working (this will take longer) to simplify my categories (there are nearly 600 articles on Making Home, stretching over 7 years, so while I want to keep things simple, I also want the specific categories to serve you well, so that relevant information is accessible to you).
  • Two of you said you wish I'd keep sharing links on the blog.  :( I'm sorry.  While I may *very* occasionally share a video or link here, I will no longer do those mega-link posts.  I've moved to Twitter and Pinterest.  Feel free to follow me...  I am sorry to let readers down, but I just can't devote the time here to that anymore, when it is so easy and immediate to share links in those two places.
  • One of you suggested that I make contacting me more simple.  So I've put my e-mail address right by my picture in the sidebar.  
I hope these changes will improve your experience as a Making Home reader.  I greatly enjoyed hearing from you all!  You had some good ideas, and now that we've done one, I'll look forward to hearing from you in surveys in the future.


One final thought: 

YOU GUYS (AHEM, YOU *GALS*) ARE THE BEST READERS!  

I felt so encouraged after sifting through your comments... so many kind encouragements, but also lots of ideas for new topics.  I'm excited to keep writing & growing alongside you all.  Thank you for your feedback!


Image courtesy of: 89studio/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

8 comments:

Jamie Butts said...

Hi Jess! I totally forgot to do your survey, but I've been reading forever. Dustin's always like, "Who is that again?" when I tell him about something I read on your blog. He keeps forgetting. And, I answer, "My friend Doug who was in my youth group married a great girl, not sure I've ever even met her, but I found her blog, and finally made the connection, and she's just great!" We have this conversation about once a month. :)

Renee said...

You have such a great Blog. Off to check your Pinterest!

Jess Connell said...

Jamie,
I'm pretty sure we met at the white farmhouse for someone's birthday party (was it Olivia's?). We talked briefly and I liked you then. I like you now too. :)

And I TOTALLY have online friends I do that with. "Remember, she's the one who __________?" which immediately jogs his memory and we move on.

Jess

PS-- BY THE WAY-- ANYONE WHO WANTS TO TAKE THE SURVEY STILL CAN. I don't think the survey closed. So if you want to take it, please click through and do the survey. Here's the link:

2013 MAKING HOME READER SURVEY

Jess Connell said...

http://makinghome.blogspot.com/2013/08/please-take-my-2013-reader-survey.html

Jess Connell said...

Renee,
I feel the same way about yours. I love going to catch up on you and your sweet family. I couldn't believe how much Eben & Joel had grown the last time I visited... feels like not that long ago that they "came home".

Thanks for your comment!
Jess

Christy said...

I am laughing at Jamie Butts' comment above because anytime I'm sharing something with my husband from your blog and he asks where I read it, I say (again), "Oh, you know, the girl from Turkey." I know you're not there anymore, but that's where you were when I first "found" you online. So I've been reading for a while...still being encouraged by your writing. And I finally completed the survey because after I complained that your link wasn't working, I forgot to go back and do the survey! Oops! But now it's done. :-)

theStovers said...

Hey jess,
Your blog is looking great! Your sidebar is kinda long from all the great stuff you have over there, I'm wondering if you would benefit from setting up some different "pages" for some of that info (like links to most popular posts, or recommended resources)

Just an idea! I really appreciate your blog and your wisdom! Hope we can meet up in real life again soon!

sheila

Erika said...

Laughed at the under 34 percentage. When I was filling out the survey, I realized that it was the first since I had turned 35--checking that "older" category was weird!

And here too, I refer to you now as "the blogger that was in Turkey, that homeschools, etc." Thanks!!