25,000th Poll Response

I just got this message (along with 200 points) from Squidoo: "Someone just took the 25,000th poll created by you!"  Woo-hoo!

(Wish I'd have grabbed a screen shot of the message, but here's a screen shot of the poll.)

The poll that put me over the 25,000 mark is this one, on my popcorn popper reviews lens. What really impressed me when I took a look at the poll is that there are twice as many responses to the poll as there are Squidlikes on that lens. What does this tell me? A few things:

1. To Squidlike a lens, you have to be a Squidoo member. Any reader can participate in a poll - and in this case since there are far more poll responses than likes, it's clear that non-lensmaster readers are participating.

2. I wrote this poll to get an idea of why people are visiting the lens. Do they already know what popcorn popper they're looking for or do they want more general information? Nearly one-third of the visitors answer that they don't know what kind of popper they want yet (that's why they're on the lens) while just under 3% choose the "Just passing through" option. Not scientific, but rather interesting.

3. The poll is placed near the top of the lens, a place where you really can't miss it, but it isn't terribly intrusive or in the way of the main information. People do continue reading after they answer the poll (based on the fact that the lens does make sales). Had I put a "Did you find what you were looking for?" poll at the end, I wouldn't expect nearly as much participation.

4. The poll is worded well enough that people don't have a difficult time choosing an answer. Sometimes I see a poll on a lens and there's no clear choice for me or I have to think too hard to choose an answer, so I skip it. It's good to have a choice for everyone, even if the final choice is "Other."

It really is important to engage your readers and a poll is a good way to do that. I appreciate that readers take a minute or so to read the choices and register their vote. The lens does make sales, but I'd like to see the click-through rate go up a bit. I'll be watching to see how the stats change with the holiday shopping season getting into full swing.

How do you use polls? Do you think they add value to your lenses? I'd love some input on the subject.