I recently hosted a book blogger survey, where I asked bloggers a series of questions. There were three parts: about you (age, gender, etc.), about book bloggers specifically, and then about all blog readers (whether they’re bloggers themselves or not).
Today I’m sharing with you the results of part 1 and 2: general statistics about gender/age/etc., and about book bloggers and their blogs. Check back soon for the second set of results!
About the Bloggers/Readers
What is your gender?
How old are you?
Do you have a book blog?
Book Bloggers – About Your Blog
How long have you been blogging?
These results are fairly evenly distributed, but they really go down a lot after 2 years. I guess that makes sense because it gets harder to stay interested after longer periods of time. People get bored or start university and have less time, etc.
What kind of books do you review?
What blogging platform do you use?
These results REALLY surprised me. Just from the blogs I’ve visited, it always seems like there are a lot more Blogger blogs than WordPress blogs. Maybe these results prove otherwise because of all the recent migrations to WordPress? Whatever the reason, I’m absolutely THRILLED to see that the majority of bloggers who took the survey are on WordPress!
Are you happy with your blogging platform
Blogger
WordPress
These results are also interesting. It does show that most bloggers are happy with their chosen platform. They may have a couple issues, but they’re mostly content. However, when I broke it down according to which blogging platform people use, it shows that WordPress users are generally happier with their platform than Blogger users (or they have fewer problems). And you can see that nobody on WordPress selected “No” at all!
Blogger Users: Do you plan on moving to WordPress?
I DON’T want to move because…
- I’m lazy. It takes a lot of time and energy to move to WordPress.
- I don’t know how.
- Blogger is simpler and more straight forward.
- I don’t want to have to relearn how to manage my blog.
- WordPress costs money / I can’t afford it.
- I’m not tech-savvy enough.
- Moving to WordPress is scary. It looks complicated and overwhelming.
- I tried WordPress once and I didn’t like it.
- I don’t want to lose GFC.
- I recently paid for a new Blogger design and now it would be a waste if I moved to WordPress because I wouldn’t be able to use the design.
- It’s not worth the hassle because my blog doesn’t have enough readers/followers.
- I don’t know if I’ll be blogging in the long-term and I don’t want to spend money if I’m not sure that I’ll be blogging a few years down the road.
- I don’t want to have to reformat all of my posts.
I DO want to move to WordPress because…
- I love all the plugins that are available with WordPress.
- I want more options for customizing my blog.
- You’re less likely to lose your content on WordPress. I’m scared of all the horror stories where Blogger users have had their blogs deleted.
- I want to grow as a blogger and take the next step.
- WordPress has a stronger future than blogger. Maybe Blogger is on the decline? But WordPress receives more frequent updates and has more room for expansion.
- I’ve heard nothing but great things about WordPress.
- Blogger has a lot of annoying glitches.
- WordPress looks more professional.
- I want to use the Ultimate Book Blogger Plugin.
- I enjoy coding and web design and WordPress seems like a better choice for that.
- WordPress is easier to use.
- WordPress blogs have better designs.
- I’ve had problems with Blogger not publishing my posts when it’s supposed to.
How many pageviews does your blog get per DAY?
Do you want to keep growing your blog, increase your readership, and earn more pageviews?
You feel insecure about the success (or lack thereof) of your blog.
What are the most popular kinds of posts on your blog? (The ones that get the most visits/comments)
Which of these are most important to you?
How would you rate the success of your blog overall?
It surprises me that so many bloggers are on my level and think the same. I always feel like I never do enough because I don’t have that many pageviews and nobody even looked at my own original features. (Which is why I put them on hold. If nobody participates in a meme, the fun is gone…)
I was surprised by how many WordPress blogs are out there, cuz like you, I see more Blogger blogs right now. But there has been a large move recently.
I am also surprised to find that my pageviews is not low but average to good. I always thought I had really low pageviews which made me sad, but looking at the stats, mine are pretty good.
I know, right. Maybe the numbers were skewed because my blog attracts more WordPress users or something (because I have so many WordPress tips). But at the same time, tons of people have been moving to WordPress lately…
Wow the result is really interesting. Not many bloggers keep their blog for years, as a full time employee I know how hard to manage time to read and blogging.
I think I’m the only book blogger who uses weebly as my platform. It’s funny when I saw only 1% who use other platfrom beside WordPress and Blogger. I hope I’m not alone.
Only 2 people selected “Other”. I guess you were one of them. I imagine the second one was probably either Weebly or Tumblr!
This is great Ashley, a lot of surprises though. I was surprised there are so few people in my age group lol.
I was surprised by the pageviews – interesting.
I love surveys! Great graphics. I love seeing how other blogs function and getting a sense for the YA/Book Blogger world. I’m not all that surprised by the results and feel like my blog is about where I thought it was. Always good to know 🙂 Thank you for doing this! Can’t wait for part 2
Ah, this is so interesting! I’m glad you’re compiling this, because it’s a great insight into things I think many bloggers may wonder about but had no real way of knowing. Most of the results don’t surprise me very much, but I was slightly surprised by how many people have been blogging for less than 1 year, like me. I so often still feel like I’m the newest kid on the block! And the page views was REALLY surprising. I feel like so many people get hundreds and hundreds of pageviews per day, but it looks like the majority of bloggers have daily views somewhere between 50-300.
Fascinating! The ratio of WP to Blogger users surprised me too. It does feel like there are a LOT of Blogger users out there, but I’m wondering if maybe we just notice them more because we’re biased toward WP? (And I have to admit, I’m pretty disappointed that most Blogger users aren’t planning to move to WP anytime soon. :P)
Thanks for posting this. It’s really interesting to see! I’m also surprised how many WordPress bloggers there are. Where are they hiding? Most of the blogs I see are Blogger.
It really surprised me to see the stats information, out of those who took this survey. Like…I think (to myself) that there are SO MANY “big name” bloggers with incredible stats, but then from this sampling, the majority of people fell more in line with my “good/average” stats. Very, very interesting.
Yeah I totally agree. I expected to see more people with higher page views!
Thanks for posting this! I really enjoyed seeing the pageviews of other bloggers. I have always wondered where I sit in comparison with other bloggers and it turns out that I’m right in the average number of pageviews. It’s nice to know that and think that maybe I’m actually doing something right. 🙂
This post is so beautifully presented, with all of the graphics and whatnot. I found the age results to be of greatest interest. I enjoy seeing a slightly older demographic compared to other blogs I have followed in the past.
Wow, this is really interesting! I always imagined that people were getting hundreds more views that me, but now I see that I’m actually only on the lower end of the middle range. Huge confidence boost for me!
I can’t wait to see the rest of the results!
Thank you for this, Ashley! Whew! Some of the results confirmed my observations. What really caught my attention is that Reviews are still the most popular posts. Makes me confident that my posting of 3-4 reviews a week isn’t a bad thing. Hahaha.
I hope other bloggers would see this very helpful post and use the data to improve their blog. <3
I'm excited to see the rest of the results.
The results were really interesting. Especially the Blogger vs. WordPress users and the reasons why people want/don’t want to switch to WordPress. Basically it had all the thoughts whirling around in my head about WordPress. The page views per day makes me feel more secure about my blog. I always thought I had low stats, but now I know I’m average!
Shit.. I’m getting older… 🙂 So I definitely belong now to the “older” category which sucks, but it’s just true all the same!
I was not so surprised by the WP/Blogger outcome. I read a lot of Blogs which are on WP now, or have moved during the past few years. Beginners tempt to start with Blogger because it’s easy and free.
So once you become serious enough about your blogging and want to move a level up many switch to WP.
What I found super interesting were the Pageviews! I expected more blogs to have higher Pageviews. And this actually makes me feel pretty good as I’m definitely in the upper quarter with my Pageviews.
I think there are not so many Big Shot Bloggers out there. I believe I could name you the Top 5 Book Blogger out there. But these are just 5 among so many…
Love this survey!
I’m surprised at how many blogs there are over a year old, but not so much at the pageviews. It seems that most bloggers have a few blogs they read routinely, and those faithful readers generate your pageviews. From experience, it seems difficult to gain those faithful readers, but that’s always the goal!
I think these stats are so interesting! I think what shocked me the most was the page views. It’s probably because every book blog I go to just seems so popular.
I really appreciate you doing the survey and posting the results. What the results tell me is that I’m not so far off in my blogging expectations of myself and I can quit being so hard on myself. Definitely an empowering survey results post!
I was so excited when I saw that you had the results of this survey put together! and the results are fascinating. I’m not too surprised about the number of blogs on WP – so many of the blogs I follow that were at blogger earlier this year are now on WP (including me), so I think the mass migration is showing.
I was surprised by how many blogs are less than a year old! I keep thinking of myself as a newbie, but I guess at lot of people are right there with me. Awesome post! Can’t wait for part 2!
This is a seriously great gathering of info. I love how you did it all, and those pie charts look great.
Super wowed by the page views. I thought for sure more blogs had higher page views that we did. It definitely makes me think we are doing something right!
Interesting results.
Overall, I wasn’t surprised about any of the results although more people are interested in moving over to Word Press than I thought.
Good job with the data analysis!
Really surprised by the page views. I’m not that shocked that WordPress is becoming more popular as it gives you lots more flexibility and Google is just being Google.
This was interesting and some of the results surprised me. Not surprised by the WordPress migration. Looking forward to part two.
Oh man, I wish I had seen this/had participated — I’m one of the few who has had my blog for 4+ years (hit 4 years in July). I have to agree with the comments about how after 2 years the novelty wears off — it’s why I try to change things up a lot, to keep it from getting stale.
Also, love love love the love for WORDPRESS!
I agree about it seeming like there are more blogger/blogspot blogs. Maybe those people are just more vocal/more noticed? Hmmm.
Either way, these are interesting results. I can’t wait to see the other half of the survey!
Great post. I actually feel a little better about my own stats now. I always thought they were really, really low. But they are pretty average. And I swear there are more blogger blogs than wordpress. But I think it’s because they stand out more for me now that I have WP. Also love the graphics. 😀
I think I’m most surprised by the average number of pageviews! It’s nice to know that most(?) other bloggers are somewhere around the same level as me. 😛
How many people answered your survey, btw?
Almost 300 🙂
Just saw your comment! I feel the same.
I think what I am most surprised about are the number of views the blogs who participated are getting. This actually makes me feel better. I thought there would be more blogs out there with 500 + visits a day and it doesn’t seem like that is the case at all.
Wow. I am very surprised at a few of these results. The wordpress results for one, but I guess I can see that a bunch of bloggers I follow are moving (which is great!). Also, wow! Most bloggers are my age. 😀
I can’t believe I missed participating in this. Looking forward to part two.
Very interesting, and good information to know. I’m approaching my two year anniversary, and I plan to keep it up. In the time I’ve been blogging, I’ve seen a lot of people quit. It’s time consuming, but I’m in a good rhythm and I like the connections I make via blogging. I LOVE Word Press- I migrated from Blogger about a year ago, and I have no regrets. For all those reasons listed. The page view info was comforting. Thanks for sharing your results.
I’m actually not that surprised with the results except for the 10% of bloggers who have been blogging for 4+ years, that’s so impressive! Thanks for sharing 🙂