BC Survey results, Part I

First off, I'd like to thank the 86 people who took part in the Building Cincinnati survey. Your answers will help me take this from a humble blog to a full-fledged website.

Also, thank you for keeping it civil and for not wasting my time with spam comments.

Since you were so helpful to me, I thought you at least deserved to see the results. I have added my takes on what I think the numbers mean.

Next week, I'll dive into some of the comments that were left and give you some feedback on what I think about your suggestions.

* Age: Most readers are aged 25-34, while 71 percent are between the ages of 25 and 49. No readers were under 18, and 7 percent of readers are over the age of 50.
This is not surprising to me, though I would have expected one or two kids.

* Sex: 84 percent of respondents were male.
I'm not surprised by this either, being part of several urban-themed message boards that are overwhelmingly male. I would be interested in finding out why this is the case.

* Neighborhood: Slightly more than half of my readers are Cincinnati residents. All but six live in Greater Cincinnati. Six respondents live in Northern Kentucky and one lives in Indiana. Non-residents live in Columbus; Baltimore; Fullerton, CA; and Randolph, NJ.
Given that this is largely a pro-Cincinnati blog, this makes sense. I can see that I need to work harder for Kentucky content, though, and I promise you that I'm addressing that.

* Profession: Only 25 percent of respondents work in a field that is related to my content, the majority being non-profits, preservationists and architects. The majority of "other" answers were from interested residents.
Fantastic! I want this blog to have broad appeal, but I also like to have experts who read and who can offer specific insights. Please chime in more often!

* Family income: Very even for all catgories from $30,000+, with $75,000-$100,000 winning a slight plurality. Eleven percent of respondents make less than $30,000 per year.
Interesting - all walks of life. Development affects everyone, I suppose.

* Highest education completed: 98 percent of my readers have had at least some college, with 56 percent graduated and 20 percent holding masters or doctorate degrees.
I'm glad I attract such well-schooled readers! Perhaps this is why I never have to spend any time deleting idiotic comments.

* General opinion of Cincinnati: Half of respondents had a very favorable opinion of the City, while another 44 percent had a somewhat favorable opinion. Only 3 percent had a somewhat unfavorable opinion, with an equal amount being neutral.
You probably wouldn't enjoy this blog much if you hate the City, because it's not really for you.

* How did you find Building Cincinnati?: 52 percent found BC through another blog. Twenty-two percent found it through a search engine, and an equal 7 percent found it either through a news article, word of mouth, or from Urban Ohio.
The importance of a blogroll. A sizable chunk of my hits come from other local blogs.

* How often do you read BC?: 68 percent of you read several times per week, with 31 percent reading daily. Another 19 percent read once or twice per week.
I don't know why I asked this question, because I can see this stuff in my site stats. But I'm glad that people like the site enough to come back day after day - that's why I write.

* Have you referred others to BC?: 63 percent of readers have.
Why not? ;)

* Do you subscribe to the BC RSS feed?: Only 13 percent of you do.
This shocked me, but only because I can't live without my feed reader. I still remember the days of having hundreds of sites in my favorites list that had to check every day. No fun.

* Do you read any other local blogs?: 52 out of 86 readers answered this question, but there are far too many to list here. (Cincinnati Blog appeared most often in the responses.)
Most people read more than one blog. I read about three dozen. Luckily, we have a bunch of fantastic local blogs. If you're not reading them, you should be.

* Ease of navigation: 51 percent find BC very easy to navigate, while 38 percent said it was somewhat easy. Eleven percent had no opinion.
I think the hardest part about the navigation is the clutter, which leads to this question....

* Visual clutter: Half of you find the site slightly cluttered, and 5 percent find it very cluttered.
It's getting out of hand, especially the links. A redesign is coming, and I promise you it will be much, much better.

* Advertising: 87 percent of readers think that the advertising on BC is minimally intrusive, while the remainder think it's slightly intrusive.
I think we're all used to seeing ads everywhere, and we're desensitized. That being said, there is probably as much advertising - space-wise - as there ever will be.

* Content: 96 percent of respondents believe that development coverage on BC is comprehensive, with nearly two-thirds of those choosing "very comprehensive". The remainder say my work is average.
I try to fill in the blanks on what the local media doesn't cover and to give publicity to smaller, less sexy projects around the area. I kind of explained that in an article a couple of weeks back, but I'll just say that I still strive to put stuff out there that people want to read.

* Accuracy: 90 precent of respondents believe that my work is accurate, with four-fifths of those saying that it's very accurate. Ten percent find the accuracy average.
Ninety percent isn't good enough for me. I'll work harder. That's a promise.