The results are in – blog survey results

Thank you to everyone who completed our blog survey. We had hundreds of replies which will help us to provide more of the type of blogs our readers want to see, in their preferred formats and covering the most popular subjects.

Congratulations to our four winners who each won a £50 Amazon Gift Card for taking the time to send in responses to our survey. They were:

• Waj Khan
• Marcin Lekawski
• Brian Ricca
• Paul Wakeford

Whilst our blog is only just over a year old, the first blog was invented 20 years ago by a software developer in California. Since 1994 many blogs have come and gone, but the original blog, ‘Davesnet’ by Dave Winer is still going strong. He has achieved longevity with relevant and interesting blogs, which is why we wanted to check what our readers wanted to know. The overwhelming response was very positive:

“This is a fantastic blog! I have recommended it to several people and share your posts.”

Approximately 30% of readers have enjoyed what they’ve read, so much so that they have become regular readers for over four months. There are also many newer readers who have just discovered this blog, and who will hopefully join the other longer term readers.

“Really enjoy the blog and love the Facebook updates as well!”

Most readers visit the blog frequently, with a third visiting the blog every time a new post is published, implying we hope that they have become subscribers, something everyone can do here. Subscribers receive email alerts every time a new blog is published.

You told us that you liked frequent, regular posts and regarding volume the preference was for two or three new posts every week. We’ll do our best to meet this target!

“You cover a wide range of topics and I enjoy that you update the blog on a regular basis.”

The survey revealed that the top three topics for blogs are:

1. Understanding ATC
2. Airspace
3. Airports

Your preferred format of blog posts are those expressed as expert opinions, talking about the future for aviation or infographics (these accounted for 50% of the preferred styles). Also popular were videos or ’vlogs’, blogs about NATS’ services and those that discuss current issues, market trends and hot topics.

“The website is very clean, cutting edge and easy to navigate. I have found all the posts to be intriguing. Clutter-free!!! Love it.”

Interestingly a significant number of respondents did not work in the aviation industry. However, only 23% of those who did work in the industry said they were reading for work-related reasons; the others were reading for general interest.

And please note: the above figures do not include replies from NATS employees, although we were pleased to learn a significant number of NATS people also enjoy the blog – which is great to hear:

“Really like the blog. Gives a friendly face to the company and I think prospective employees get a lot from it”.

If you have any more feedback you’d like to share about our blog, please don’t hesitate to put this in the comments section below.  Thank you.