Reader survey results and life talk

Hi, my friends! I mean, you can’t do a reader survey and not share the results, am I right?

I have to thank everyone who took the time to fill out the survey I posted a couple of weeks ago, because it helps me understand what you want to see and how to make this blog more enjoyable and helpful for you. The good news is that you guys like what’s happening on A Lady Goes West. The bad news is that you guys like what’s happening on A Lady Goes West, and I didn’t get a ton of new detail from the survey, which is a good problem to have. But I did pick up some gems, which I’m already incorporating.

So let’s be real about what you want to see, what I can give you and all of that. And because some of the questions and comments got me thinking, I’ve put some additional commentary in with the responses, when necessary. 

By the way, only about 10 percent of my daily readers took the survey, so this data is representative of that, and I’m not big on statistical analysis either, but I think that’s a good survey size. (Any statisticians out there want to confirm this? Oh and that’s definitely the first time the word statistician has been used on the blog — I had to use spell-check, obviously.)

A Lady Goes West reader survey results

How long have you been reading A Lady Goes West?

More than 50 percent of you have been reading for more than a year, with nearly 30 percent reading for more than two years. Yay! Thank you!

How often do you read A Lady Goes West?

More than 70 percent of you read every single post. Wow! That’s awesome! And 25 percent of you said you read only when you’re interested in the topic. Fair enough. I’m definitely that way with websites and other blogs too.

How did you find out about A Lady Goes West?

More than 60 percent of you found out about this blog by reading another blog. You must like to read blogs. And 20 percent found out about this blog through a Google search.

Which topics do you most like to see on A Lady Goes West?

Here are the top 10 in order of the most popular …

1. Health and wellness tips (good, because that’s my bread and butter)
2. Day in the life (super boring these days, but sure, I’ll do it)
3. What I Ate Wednesday (of course)
4. Weekend recaps (on it)
5. Friday Favorites (bringing them back on the regular as of last week)
6. New baby/motherhood (for sure)
7. Health and food product reviews (on it)
8. Easy recipes (put one up last week and have another coming soon)
9. At-home workout ideas (working on this)
10. Group fitness class reviews (more coming soon)

You guys don’t want to read about blogging, which is good, because I rarely ever write about it. I was surprised to see that my “weekly workout” recaps were number 11 on the list, which makes me think I may stop doing them.

And another topic that almost made the list but didn’t was “fertility/hormones/hypothalamic amenorrhea” — however, I get a lot of emails about this topic and often get requests to talk more about it, so even though those people are in the minority, this issue was HUGE for me, and I wrote an ebook about it, so I do plan to cover it again.

What would you like to change about A Lady Goes West?

A lot of you didn’t answer this question, and some people said “more posts” as the answer to this one. But here are a few comments that I got, with my responses to them (my words are in italics) …

• “Whyyyyy are your posts truncated in Feedly? I used to read every post, but then awhile back they started showing up as the first paragraph only and you have to click through. If I’m reading blogs, I’m either on the treadmill and can’t coordinate clicking and enlarging your site and closing any pop-ups etc, or I’m rocking my toddler to sleep and clicking through kicks the iPad out of the nice inverted color mode that the Feedly app has and makes the room super bright so she can’t sleep. So I rarely read your posts anymore, and I miss them!” (I feel ya! Now that I read on my phone while rocking Brady in the glider, I can see the importance of this even more. The reason I started doing a truncated feed, is because I needed my blog emails to have ONLY a summary of each post rather than the full post, so that people click through to the website for the full experience. And when you show only a summary for emails, you have to do that for other feed/RSS services like Bloglovin’ and Feedly too — you can’t do it only one place. This was a change I made for the betterment of the blog to get people to be on my site for longer. I know this sounds silly, but it’s important. I may change it back one day, so I’m so sorry, but for now, it’s going to stay this way.)
• “Would love it if your full posts showed up in Bloglovin’. I hate when it’s just a preview and that prevents me from clicking through/reading everything 90 percent of the time.” (See above. Sorry!)
• “Personally, I’m not a mom or a mom-to-be so none of the baby related things apply to me. I know that’s now the biggest part of your life and I would never expect that to not be mentioned in your posts, I just hope it doesn’t ever become the focus since you have so much other great material I enjoy.” (I felt this way before having Brady when reading other blogs, so I PROMISE to have posts that don’t even mention Brady or mom-life.)
• “More Rudy!” (I’ll tell him you said this. While he’s still a spoiled dog who gets a lot of attention and sleeps in our bed, you can imagine he’s feeling slightly like a second-class citizen with the addition of Brady to our house.)
• “You do a great job! I personally am not as interested in California happenings like restaurants and events because I don’t live there, but I think your blog is well balanced and fun so no complaints on topics.” (Thank you! I try to write less and less about regional stuff these days, because I know my readers are all over, but the event stuff just seems to fit in, because I like to write about what I do. But yes, your point is taken.)
• “Nothing! I wish you would write more but will take quality over quantity any day!” (I appreciate that! I’m trying!)
• “I’m so excited baby Brady has joined your family! And truly appreciate your openness about your fertility struggles! (It’s nice to know we’re not alone.) But as someone who has struggled with infertility the past two years, it can be painful to view so many family posts. Perhaps a bit more balance between family posts and fitness posts would be good.” (Amen, sister. In the beginning, I was good about adding my disclaimer that I FEEL FOR YOU, and I KNOW THE PAIN, because I was there reading blogs of new moms in the past, when I was so struggling to conceive and find answers, and I need to go back to adding that all the time, before talking about mom and family stuff. Keep the faith, lady. And I appreciate your readership and your point. I need to walk a more caring line with the new baby stuff, and I will, and I will also make sure I include a balance of non-family posts as well.)

How frequently would you like to see new posts on A Lady Goes West?

Basically all of you want to see two or more posts a week, with nearly 50 percent of you wanting three or most posts a week.

I must be honest and say that putting up three posts a week will be a challenge for me. Insert disclaimer here — that this is a GOOD problem to have, and I’m lucky to be in this situation — but I don’t have any family nearby to watch Brady, I don’t currently have a babysitter, and Dave (the only other parent) works WAY more than a 9-to-5 job, often getting home super late on game nights and being gone occasionally on weekends, so the only time I can get blog posts done is when Brady is napping, and well, as you know, he’s not the greatest sleeper. Not to mention, I tend to spend too much time writing and editing and changing my work, so I can’t get a blog post done in a single nap. I really hope to get some sort of a babysitter one day for a few hours a week, but we’re not ready for that yet. So I’ll do my best to put out at least two posts a week and try for three as often as possible. Please know that I would write five times a week, if I could.

And as a note, I’d like to say that I know there are some brand-new mom bloggers and influencers out there who are churning out content. I don’t know any of these ladies personally, but I do know that many of them have family who help out or child-care and they never seem to disclose that very often. That’s why it’s important to me to disclose that I have no child-care. And for all of my mom friends out there doing it all, I commend you. Momming is a full-time job for sure. It’s FAR from easy, and don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that it is.

Are you male or female?

Big surprise — 99 percent of you are female. But a few fellows did answer the survey. Thanks, guys! You are welcome here, in spite of the fact that I tend to be very girly. 

How old are you?

I welcome readers of ALL AGES, by the way, but the majority of you — 80 percent actually — are between 21 and 39, which makes sense, because I fall into that age group too. There are also 15 percent between 40 and 49, so hellllo to everyone.

Do you like to see overlap on Instagram and Facebook and the blog?

Most of you don’t mind the overlap, and here are a few additional comments …

• “I follow on both Facebook and Instagram. I don’t mind the little bit of overlap that you have now. I actually like that you use Instagram to alert followers that a new blog has posted. And of course, cute puppy and baby pics are awesome too!” (Thank you for that, because that’s exactly what I try to do with social.)
• “I follow both but really only pay attention to your Instagram. I don’t mind overlap and I most enjoy your Instagram stories where you are talking.” (Point taken. Did you see my video talking stories last week and yesterday? I’m going to try to do more video, even though I usually look like a total mess. Don’t judge.)
• “With the algorithm these days, it’s probably best to post on multiple platforms so no need to separate.” (Algorithms suck. Excuse my French.)
• “Yes, I follow on Facebook and Instagram. I don’t mind the overlap. I find Ashley to be not as active on Facebook as Instagram, and I try not to be on Instagram too much as it messes with my head! All the “perfect” posts and pics and everything gets to me.” (Instagram messes with my head too. I guess that should be a future post idea!)
• “I did follow on Instagram but stopped because the food pics were repetitive and not that informative. Current restaurant meal is just not that interesting.” (Well, I don’t post as much food as I used to now, but thanks for the feedback. Oftentimes, my restaurant meals are the most photogenic though, but I see what you’re saying. And also, please see the next comment …)
• “I love the food outings/restaurant reviews … more cooking ideas would be great. Don’t mind the overlap.” (I can’t win. See above. hehehe)
• “I like your current feed. It’s a good balance of food (which is never a bad thing to see) and your daily life. It doesn’t bother me to see overlap between anything. Typically you go into further detail on the blog even if you post a sneak on social media.” (Appreciate you!)

What are some of your biggest health and wellness and life struggles you’d like addressed on A Lady Goes West?

So many great answers to this one, and here are some of the highlights …

• “I honestly enjoy the day in the life posts and the updates about changes in your life. I feel like so many bloggers have moved away from this and that is a bit saddening.” (I have thought about moving away from it too — to be more professional — but it’s clear that you guys want to see more of it, so it’s sticking around.)
• “Balancing motherhood and work! I’m also an entrepreneur who is just starting her business with a new baby, and man, it’s tough!” (Sooooo many props to you. More to come on this topic!)
• “Biggest struggles — realizing how physically hard motherhood is and it’s hard for everyone even if they look perfect.” (There’s NOTHING easy about being a mom. More to come on this topic.)
• “Being a mom. It’s really helpful for you to be upfront and honest about mom struggles. Realize with your platform you affect how other women feel about themselves and it may make someone’s day to be honest when things are hard.” (Yes, yes, yes. Things are hard. We all struggle. I’m with you! I will talk more about this soon.)
• “Balance of healthy eating and not giving myself as much grace as I should to enjoy life more — being too restrictive. Same goes for exercise routines, doing sometimes because I feel I have to instead wanting to … ” (I need to give myself more grace, just as I am about to tell you that you need to give yourself more grace. Thanks for this reminder. More to come.)
• “I love the Les Mills posts! I teach RPM and love BODYPUMP, it’s nice to read about another instructor’s real-life experiences. Please keep posting about group fitness! Thanks for creating such a fun blog!!” (You’re welcome. I SOO miss teaching Les Mills programs, but as you know, am still doing them at home while I wait for the opportunity to teach again. How do you like BODYPUMP 104? I haven’t done it yet! Ahhh!)
• “I am recovering from disordered eating, so I love seeing when women are doing life from joy (vs what they feel like they “should” be doing). That’s my current fitness goal. I love learning from you and have had the opportunity to do so in the past, so I’m thankful for those type of posts. No pressure. You do YOU. And you already do it well. Thanks for writing for us!” (Thank YOU for reading. And I think we’re all recovering from something — food, fitness, heart, mental, love, you name it — and we become stronger and better people after. I’ll be sure to address this in more detail one day soon.)
• “Staying active and avoiding injuries, eating healthy and fertility are all things I love reading about.” (Me too! Great topics!)
• “Beginning a life of fitness. It’s hard to get started. It’s hard to stay on track even when I’m seeing results. I know you have been in fitness and eating healthy for years now and it’s almost second nature for you now but, for people like me who are just getting started, its hard to know what daily habits to make and what move to make next. I loved your post about drinking water within 30 minutes after waking and other healthy habits! More of those would be great! I also love your food posts! Probably because I am a total foodie, but also because I love to see what you are eating to inspire me for my daily meals (and yes all three meals, lol). I was shocked to see how much food you were consuming daily compared to me but a huge part was what you were eating compared to me. I have made massive changes in my diet since following your blog (most being actually eating breakfast and choosing healthier lunch options with more choices — though I fall off the wagon time to time). I am sure there is more I just can’t think of it while on the spot lol. Do another survey in a week and I will have more in am sure!” (This was one of my favorite comments throughout the whole survey, because you are wordy and you keep it real, just like me. Motivation is hard for everyone, and I am no expert, but I appreciate your thoughts on this and will definitely address this again in more detail soon. Keep up the good work!)
• “Postpartum weight loss and fitness!” (Yes!)
• “My biggest struggle is strength training. Not belonging to a gym for financial reasons makes it hard to get the motivation of find good at home workouts that can be done. Plus not owning any dumbbells or equipment (no space) makes it harder to feel like I’m getting a good workout.” (TRUTH! I plan to address home workouts in detail soon. Keep working, even though you have doubts, it’s worth it.)
• “I’m currently studying to be a personal trainer, so if you have any post ideas on that career path/field, working as a trainer, what trainers should know, etc. I’d love to read those! THANK YOU!” (I have to renew and re-certifiy for my training certificate soon, so this is very timely. Yes! And good luck on your exam.)
• “I appreciate the content you’ve put out about HA including your ebook; it really helped inspire me to get my body in a healthier place. It would be great to see additional content about hormone health.” (Coming soon!)
• “I am really challenged by exercising TOO much most of the time. Learning to take it easy is not easy for me. So over time it’s helped to see you and other bloggers support the importance of BALANCE and rest.” (Take that rest day! And do some lighter workouts! Yes, I will address this more, so thanks.)

Okay, that should about do it for now. Wow, this turned into a long post, and I barely scratched the surface with sharing the comments. I truly enjoyed reading them, even the ones that weren’t overly positive.

What to expect on A Lady Goes West moving forward

So, moral of the story — if you like what you’ve been reading on A Lady Goes West, you will be happy to know that there won’t be huge changes. I may drop my weekly workout recaps, unless I hear otherwise, and I will definitely be addressing all of the topics suggested in more detail. And if you have more post ideas, feel free to put them in the comments or email me.

While being a new mom is a huge part of my life, you will also see posts that don’t talk about family life at all, and most importantly, you will continue to get researched wellness and health advice, with some real-time updates from what’s going on with me too. 

Thank you, my friends, for reading. This blog is a very small blog in the scheme of blogs out there, but it means the world to me. Every time you click on my site or tell a friend or like a post on social, it means you are supporting me in this endeavor, and I truly, truly, truly appreciate it all.

Have a wonderful day, and join me back here at the end of the week for some favorites.

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Questions of the day

How are you spending the last day of the month of January?

What was the best part of your month?

Is there anything that I missed covering with this survey recap?