Site survey results

Written by Philip Roy | 01 March 2008
Posted in Site News

It has taken some time for me to get the numbers all collated and to sit down and have a good read of the great comments that everyone submitted in the site survey that took place in January. As I said just after the end of the survey, many of the comments and very constructive criticisms confirmed things that I had in mind for the site already...and I'll try and put my head down this year and work on them....although it won't be a quick change...more a maturing of the site over the year.

I wanted to post some interesting stats from the survey and some of the great comments that I received from everyone. All comments have been greatly appreciated and many of them have impacted some of the things I'm keeping in mind for the site. Obviously, I want to keep those kinda secret as I work on them...but thanks again, and here's to a great year.{!jomcomment}

Did you know that of the users that responded to the site survey during the month of January, 2008...

  • 95.4% own and/or use a Mac
  • 50.5% own more than one Mac
  • 56% and 50% reported owning a Mac running Mac OS X Tiger and Mac OS X Leopard respectively
  • 84% had used a Mac for 2 years or more
  • 75.2% rated the site ease of navigation Excellent or Good
  • 85.3% rated the quality of information Excellent or Good
  • 71.5% Agreed or Strongly Agreed with the statement "The site is always up-to-date"
  • 77% Agreed or Strongly Agreed with the statement "The site is well maintained"
  • 76.2% Agreed or Strongly Agreed with the statement "Articles are well written and easy to understand"

What keeps people coming back....

  • "The community aspect and also I like to help people where I can. I find NZMac allows me to impart any knowledge I have very easily."
  • "The forum is a useful place to raise problems and get some answers. With macguide gone it is the only Mac national publication."
  • "Its a great Kiwi site dedicated to bringing current info to users on a subject that I am very interested in."
  • "The local content and knowing that it is Kiwi's that are interested in Mac's helping Kiwi's"
  • "news and update competitions and also the forums on how other users find problems and how they got around the problems is valuable information."
  • "It's an NZ site and it's comprehensive."
  • "The friendly & fun community, everyone helping each other out."
  • "pretty much the only source of local content for the NZ mac community"
  • "Excellent competitions and good place to start to research anything Mac"
  • "The great support from other users through the forums. As a new user this help has been of immense benefit"

What is it about this site that you would most like to see improved?
Note that many other matters have been discussed in my blog post about the survey or are not disclosed here, as I work on the site...I have to have some surprises!

  • "The site is great, what I would like to see is Apple acknowledging and appreciating what people do on their own to further the Apple movement"
  • "10 fold support from Apple. After all, they are a huge company making vast quantities of money from overly enthusiastic supporters!!"

Final comments from users in the survey

  • "Since coming to NZMac in 2005 I have to say I've come into an amazing online community that I keep coming back to day after day. In a time when New Zealand seems to be losing its resources it's always nice to know that there is someone who is willing to stand and provide a needed service. Thank you."
  • "I feel the new features (blogs, email accounts etc) that have been added this past year have really helped the site to mature and feels like the community is growing well. Thanks for all the work Phil and for the opportunity to respond."
  • "keep up the great work and I am enjoying the coffee out of my NZMac.com mug ;-)"
  • "Thanks Phil for keeping this site together. Really appreciated! You're a great guy!"
  • "This site is exactly what NZ needs, & I'm very glad that you've decided to stick with it, however I strongly support some form of subscription fee as I don't think you should have to bear the costs. I look forward to an excellent 2008 for NZMac.com & hope to get a little more involved where possible ;-)"
  • "What I have seen so far I like and will look forward to visiting this site further in the future"
  • "I think it's great what you have done on shoestring budget, I am always impressed!"
  • "I think you've done great things with the site and I'm going to make an effort to visit more often"
  • "New Mac user - want to belong to a community of users - the site looks a step in the right direction for me!"
  • "My new years resolution is to make the switch. I look forward to looking at NZMac on something tba at MacWorld in a few days. Keep up the good work!"
  • "thank you for the hard work and effort you have put in to this site. I would be lost without it, doesn't Apple realise that the machine is only part of the equation,and people and customers need people to talk to them"
  • "I think that the site is well run and considering the site is a love job by you Phil - I think it is a great asset to all those who use it."
  • "Thanks for all the hard work you've put in Phil - without you I doubt anything like NZMac.com would exist. I am constantly saddened that Apple NZ haven't recognised that by supporting the site more."

{!jomcomment}