What NOT to Do for Your Blog
January 16th, 2008 @ 6:28 PM in Rants, Web Stuffs…in my opinion, that is. Thanks to EntreCard, I’ve seen quite a lot of different blogs in the last few weeks, and the following made me want to leave as soon as possible without even glancing at the contents:
- Don’t make users scroll down for your contents by making your header too large. I’ve a 20′ LCD monitor set at 1600 x 1050, and if I still have to scroll down, your header or contents must be damn appealing.
- Ads are fine; in fact, I’ve them as well. However, don’t put a 400 x 400 ad within your entry / post. Not only does it make it difficult to read your content, but it also looks ugly and greedy. Instead, try to maximize the usage of your white spaces. Also, if it’s possible, make the ads blend in with your theme.
- Don’t put more than 2 third-party AJAX widgets as they make loading of your site very, very slow. Users will just leave if the site takes longer than 3 seconds to load. If you have to put more than 2, make them load after your contents; e.g. in your footer or the last thing in your sidebar. For the same reason, don’t put too many graphics and clutter your sidebar; if you absolutely have to, tidy it up by organizing those graphics into groups. Remember, not everyone has a 5MB connection.
- Users usually don’t care who else visited before them, so don’t put widgets up that show information on previous visitors. This not only adds to the loading time, but it also makes paranoid users even more paranoid.
What do you find annoying in other blogs? And even on mine?
Tags: advertisement, annoyance, blog, content, design, entrecard, load, site, time, wordpress
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By ShadowKnight on Jan 16, 2008 @ 9:34 PM | Reply
I hate autoload audio. It is the lamest idea ever and anyone thinking about it should seriously stop. It makes your site slow and adds nothing to the experience. I personally, and a lot of others, will just close your site down as quick as possible.
As for previous visitors, I do load these. I like to see them at a glance. I do however load them as late as possible.
By Sigg3 on Jan 17, 2008 @ 1:48 AM | Reply
Flash-dependent designs. If you can’t provide an html alternative you’re loosing out, mate.
Marquee.. I used it myself back in the html 3 days. It’s not used that much today, instead you’ve got Flash banners..
These widgets that pop up when you hover a link. They are cool for like 2 pages, then you want to kill the designer. Try surfing on compatible phones/pdas or lower resolutions and you’ll see what I mean.
In general: too many third-party services so you always have to “leave site”. Haloscan for comments, blogroll or whatever for a _list_ of links, flickr for photos and so on.
I recently got myself a flickr account because my phone can upload pictures with the click of a button. THEN I can have flickr upload the picture to my blog. You don’t want to send away your visitors as soon as they arrive.
By Sigg3 on Jan 17, 2008 @ 1:49 AM | Reply
Re: marquee and flash banners.
The thing is, moving content next to a “static” page of text and photographs is very annoying and shortens the attention span. It’s like having a fly walk around on your monitor while you’re reading a pdf.
By Ivy on Jan 17, 2008 @ 1:45 PM | Reply
I hate auto-loading music the most! Most people listen to music when they’re surfing. No one needs anymore noise pollution.
I also hate blog entries that are too long. Well, if it’s long and interesting that’s fine. But if it’s one of those life stories then please, come at me ONE TOPIC AT A TIME. I couldn’t really care about your agenda for the week.
By Sigg3 on Jan 17, 2008 @ 3:07 PM | Reply
But Ivy, I thought you cared?
*cute puppy look*
The background sound (whether MySpace streams or bkg sound) must really drive deaf people mad. “Wtf? My internets are slow again? And there’s only a GIF on this page!!!”
By Michael on Jan 17, 2008 @ 3:55 PM | Reply
I’m guilty of using an auto-load music on MySpace and the auto-popup script on this one. But then, who doesn’t use auto-load music on MySpace? And I used that auto-popup script to save some space. It’s not like there are many users visiting this site on their mobile phones anyway, at least not from U.S.
I’ve seen a so-called professional site designed completely in Flash with no alternatives and no mute button for the background music, and it was designed by a self-proclaimed professional web designer. Sure, it looked great and all, but I was outta there in 10 seconds or less.
By Connie on Jan 17, 2008 @ 9:52 PM | Reply
Music - hate it!
Ads - on the sidebars are ok but I don’t even like them near posts, never mind in posts
Ads - blogs that are full of ads everywhere, looking like a billboard
By Michael on Jan 18, 2008 @ 10:53 AM | Reply
Connie, then you must find the ads above and below my comments form annoying? I tried to separate them from my posts by using a divider.
By Ivy on Jan 19, 2008 @ 4:37 PM | Reply
@Sigg3 - Hahaha your posts are not long enough for me to not care. When I said long posts, I meant those that take 30 minutes to read. Those super long ones that ramble on and on saying just one thing.
By Michael on Jan 19, 2008 @ 5:15 PM | Reply
Siggy is a good writer with an ability to make anything humorous.
By Sigg3 on Jan 21, 2008 @ 8:29 AM | Reply
I’m not. People just think I am. But really, I’m not.
I’m a newt.
By Iva on Jan 24, 2008 @ 5:04 PM | Reply
I’m with you on this, auto-loading music MUST DIE. Especially when I can’t turn it off, so I have to switch off my speakers.
As for 5 Mb connection, heh…I had 28.8 Kbps until one year ago and I know that the most of the world still has it. I loathe huge PNGs and similar p00p with passion.
By Iva on Jan 24, 2008 @ 5:05 PM | Reply
By the way, aren’t these comments supposed to be threaded? I replied to Ivy’s comment and look what happened.
By Michael on Jan 24, 2008 @ 5:34 PM | Reply
That’s why I don’t do audio ads. I don’t like them personally.
Nope, sorry, it’s not threaded.
By Lis on Mar 10, 2008 @ 8:30 AM | Reply
Oh god yes, headers that take up my entire freakin’ screen. Big no no. I’m guilty of the visitor widgets though but I only have the MBL one.
By Michael on Mar 10, 2008 @ 8:50 AM | Reply
Your site loads fast enough, Lis, so it’s not a problem. Some AJAX widgets load so friggin’ slow on other sites.