7.5 Reasons I Abandoned You Today
(What is it about the number 7? Apparently, 10 items is too many and with 5 we feel cheated. So I’ve found a happy medium with 7 and a half in this list.)
I am not going to name names, but when surfing blogs there are some things that make my cursor head straight for the ‘x’. And that’s to close, not kiss.
1. Misleading titles
If your post is called ‘How I Made a Million’ and then it goes on to detail your Monopoly prowess, then - actually, that’s kind of funny but there are some annoying ones.
2. Spelling mistakes in titles
I know I am a grammar nana, but really… if the title has mistakes I just don’t have the heart to continue.
3. Posts that are off-topic and clearly sponsored
If your blog is about dog toys and suddenly you’re telling me why I should vote for Obama it’s like, what the PayPerPost.com is going on?
4. No comment option
I have opinions and I want to shout them from the rooftops, or at least type them below your post. If you’ve written about Why The Sound of Music Is The Best Movie Ever and I don’t concur, I want to respond! Please don’t turn off comments. 
It’s not one of My Favorite Things.
5. A zillion widgets
I admit to ODing on Plugins etc occasionally but if your page doesn’t load because you have a lot of Care Bears Fan Club tiles in your sidebar then I can’t get past the fanfare to your actual posts.
6. Low stats displayed
If you have 5 subscribers then maybe think twice about displaying a Feedburner stats button because size does matter. Wait for at least 10.
7. Tiny font
Seriously, are you trying to kill my eyes? Again, size matters.
7.5 Partial feed or partial post display
Because when you have to click for more it gets really fu…
Note: I’ve been following ProBlogger’s 31 Days To Building A Better Blog project, which includes more of his handy blogging advice and links to reader tips too. Join in!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Posted
on
Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
under
My personal favorite is number 7.5 ;). As for the rest, they’re all true, they can discourage readers from commenting. I am one of the writers that doesn’t have a perfect grammar ( I admit that ) but my writing is, overall, pretty OK and as someone told me :
“If you were to write like English teachers, then only they would read your blog”.
There’s a bit of truth in that sentence actually.
Regards,
August 9th, 2007 at 1:00 amCristianR.
One of my most profitable posts (in terms of adsense) was a post about James Bond. Unfortunately, I spelt James Bond “James Bone” in the title, thrusting me into the upper echelons of ranking for “James Bone”. I still get James Bond ads, and a few clicks from it, so I wouldn’t change it.
3,4,6,7 and 7.5 I agree with. I bitched about a certain blog that switched of comments (I don’t want to name names, but it rhymes with gash breasts*) in one of my sunday speedlinking things. I just don’t see the point. You kill a community, and I think the blog in question realised it was a mistake.
*I’m using it for a post that. In fact, I’m going to link to that blog with those words. Nice bit of google juice
August 9th, 2007 at 1:03 amI’m an English teacher, but I doubt I write like one… I LOVE The Sound of Music, and am delighted that I get to say so in the comments!
August 9th, 2007 at 4:45 amClimb Every Mountain, Bloggrrl
Rhys: Gash Breasts! Hahaha. Yes, I read your post about that. It did seem an odd decision that the Blogger Formerly Known As ‘Eureko’ removed comments after building such a successful community - and that they continue to drive traffic by leaving comments on other blogs. Oh well.
Christian: I didn’t mean to say I wouldn’t read a blog that had less than perfect English. And as Rhys said, typos can work well for clicks. But if I read one more ‘How to increse you’re subscribers’…
August 9th, 2007 at 8:45 amGreat content here, and your site presentation is enticing to boot!
You made me laugh with your monopoly example, and I agree with points 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.5 in particular.
Keep up the great work : )
August 10th, 2007 at 12:18 pmThanks for the tips. I must admit, I’m guilty of that Feedburner thing.
August 19th, 2007 at 9:36 pmWhat’s wrong with partial post display, on the homepage at least?
Point 4 is that you like to comment, so you’re going to have to make the extra click anyway.
August 19th, 2007 at 11:47 pmSo if I’m innocent of these, you won’t abandon me?
I think ‘Eureko’ just wants to be contrary on the occasions she’s not slavishly following ‘Don Plow’….
August 20th, 2007 at 12:37 amGreat post! My personal number 8 would be: Difficult/impossible to subscribe by email (which I just did-not difficult here). Lots of folks don’t want RSS feeds, lots don’t know what it is or care, and no email option says “too bad” to these people.
August 20th, 2007 at 12:58 amGreat article and well written. Thanks.
August 20th, 2007 at 2:31 amGreat post!
I like the 7.5 but partial post is a help to avoid duplicated content because it makes some difference between the article page, home page, category page and achieve page.
I bookmarked the article on Delicious and SU.
Thanks!
August 20th, 2007 at 6:53 amI agree with most of your list. I am like you in that I am disappointed when I have a comment and no way to leave one. I also don’t like having to log in and have a password to someone else’s blog in order to leave a comment. That is way too much trouble. Next time, if I return, I won’t remember the password. Simply is better.
August 20th, 2007 at 3:23 pmI hate the tiny font too. A lot of teenybopper sites use it. It pisses me off.
August 20th, 2007 at 3:26 pmCute, I go to comment about writing style and the anti-spam word is write
August 20th, 2007 at 3:39 pmI’ve never been a star speller. Heck, on achivement tests, I was in the 98% for everything BUT spelling (can we say 23%?), that’s why I got into computers in the mid 80’s SPELLCHECK!!!
While I do better with spelling these days due to spellcheck, I still blog in either an authoritative tone (serious info type stuff) or in more of a 1st person tone (I’m from Western Kentucky were ain’t IS a word). Writing style is part of what makes a person’s point of view different from others. Everyone can select the same subject for an article, but it’s what they say and how they say it that matters.
ACK! Brainfreeze! Too much ice cream!!!
Thank you for all the comments, new visitors via ProBlogger!
August 21st, 2007 at 5:44 pmClever post! I agree with all but the small font. My thing is that I hate seeing font that is too big. I guess I am lucky to have decent vision, but I think small fonts have their place on the sidebar and in a secondary role, just not for the main body of content. Great site and its been cool watching you grow it.
August 25th, 2007 at 12:38 amI love this post. Seriously. You hit the nail right on the head.
August 27th, 2007 at 2:11 pmMan, I couldn’t of said it any better myself!
Darin
September 4th, 2007 at 1:27 pmYour blog is nice and infomatic…I really enjoyed it.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:41 pm