Web Annoyances

I hit an author’s blog today that drove me nuts in less than a minute. The layout was nice, the blog post I was trying to read was interesting, but I hadn’t read more than a paragraph before the page automatically refreshed, sending my browser to her most recent entries page.

I wasn’t finished reading! What the hell?

I back clicked, read another paragraph, and again came a refresh and send to the front page entries.

Guess what? I closed the browser. I was done. I won’t be returning to that author’s site, I won’t be purchasing any of her books, all because I couldn’t be left alone long enough to read what I went there to read.

Trying to force your visitors to view content they may not wish to isn’t a good thing, people. Don’t do it.

Ads are another annoyance of mine. I know ad revenue is important to many people, but when ads pop up or slide over to cover the content I’m attempting to read, it ticks me off. I’ll leave such sites, regardless of how interesting the information might be, because my reading is interrupted and I don’t like being forced to view ads.

In my opinion, ads should be around the main point of interest, and the main point of interest should be your blog posts. That’s why I come to your site/blog: to read what you have to say. Not to view ads.

That’s not to say I won’t click on ads if I find they’re on something I’m interested in. But I won’t click on those that disrupt what I came to your site to do: read. I especially dislike the linked text ads, where a window pops up if you drag your cursor over a word in the post. Those aggravate the piss out of me!

Put them in the sidebar or at the bottom of your post, somewhere viewable but out of the way that doesn’t disrupt the reading. I’ll look at them before I leave. I may even leave via one of them, depositing a few cents into your ad revenue account.

But if they shove themselves into my face, I’ll just leave your site and not return.