2014 CleanTechnica Reader Survey Results

I finally got around to scrolling through all the answers in our recent reader survey. I knew I was setting myself up for trouble by including completely open-ended questions — it takes a lot longer to go through all of them. However, I knew that would also be more helpful. I’m happy I did that this year. Below are some of the findings from the survey.

Why You Read CleanTechnica

Regarding the 1st question regarding why you read CleanTechnica, descriptors commonly used included: comprehensive, inspiring, insightful, informative, fun, uplifting, up to date, credible, cutting edge, international. A huge thank you for that overwhelmingly uplifting response! 😀

A lot of people also noted that they followed CleanTechnica specifically for solar or electric vehicle news. “Essential news about electric vehicles,” one person said. However, many seemed to be interested in the broad spectrum of cleantech, green, or renewable energy news that we covered. One kind respondent called it the “best blog on energy” as a whole. Thank you! Another commented, “Clean energy #1 issue. Clean Technica #1 informer.” Honored and greatly appreciative of that. We obviously think this matter is of utmost importance. And we’re very happy that so many people feel the same way and feel that CleanTechnica is the go-to site for this subject.

A number of people also noted that they followed CleanTechnica for investment-related reasons. I think that side of things is something we’re going to focus on a bit more, so I’m glad to hear that.

And here’s a big one for which I have many people to thank: many respondents noted how much they enjoyed and gained from the reader comments under articles. I do, too!

I also loved this comment, which I think captures the spirit of CleanTechnica well: “Watching advance of Clean Tech is greatest show on earth!”

What Could Be Better?

Of course, it wasn’t all fun and celebration. I was also keen to get feedback on what we could do better.

While a great number of the responses to what you would change about the site were “nothing,” we also got plenty of useful feedback. Though, it was much more varied than the positive feedback. One fairly common responses seemed to regard the structure of our email newsletters, in which clicking the first title takes you further down the email to a brief summary, where you again have to click the headline to get to the actual article. I’m not sure how we can fix that, but I assume it can be done, so I am passing it on to our back-room tech guys.

A small number of respondents also noted occasional bias on our part. Noted.

A small number of respondents also requested that we have more international stories, not be so US focused. That is, of course, counter to the notes of thanks (mentioned in section above) for our international coverage. But I think it’s just a further sign that people appreciate geographically broader coverage. Noted.

A few commenters requested fewer “pie in the sky” articles, while a few others requested a greater number of in-depth articles. Noted & noted.

Simpler/cleaner/faster pages was also a repeated request. Noted. And trying to make that so as much as possible.

Otherwise, we didn’t get many (any?) other repeat requests. Shocking. But I am taking the many individual requests into account and trying to make some adjustments where it’s possible and makes sense.

Here were a few one-off ideas that I think were particularly interesting and I would like to pursue:

• Guest clean energy report from an environmental reporter from a different country each week especially the small ones that rarely get a mention.
• I would like to hear some longer podcast interviews with experts in their field about 20-40mins.

If you don’t see us move forward on these soon, feel free to prod me! (My to-do list is insanely long and never gets completed, so prodding is sometimes a must to make something happen.)

And here was one funny one: “Do not stand next to the BMW i3 all the time. Have your photo taken with every EV you can find.” Thanks 😀 Yes, that is in the plans, but in the meantime, maybe I will try using that photo less. 😀

And one more funny one: “I like the format. Please do not make it all ‘tablet friendly’ or more graphically heavy. Text is good for those of us who know how to read.”

Charts!

Here are answers to some other key questions that I think may interest writers:

What cleantech topics most interest you?

Which type of stories most interest you?

Do you work in a cleantech industry?

If you work in a cleantech industry or industries, which one(s)?

How long have you been reading CleanTechnica?

Thanks to those of you who chimed in! Greatly appreciate it.