5 Reasons Why Your Blog Is Annoying

Most people who start blogs are really dumbstruck as to why they’re not getting much traffic or why their bounce rates are so high…

I read a lot of blogs and whenever I come across one that provides real value and doesn’t annoy me – I follow it. However, even when I come across blogs that are full of great content – they usually annoy me.

They annoy me for the same reasons they annoy other people and those reasons are why most blogs don’t ever achieve a true readership, here they are:

1. You Don’t Reply To Comments

If someone takes their time to post a beautifully crafted comment, you better reply. If you don’t, it’s just rude. Do you have to reply to every comment? Nope – there are exceptions. If a blog comment is only a few sentences long and doesn’t really contribute to the post or conversation, ignore it.

In fact, you can ignore the majority of your blog comments. As let’s be honest, most people comment for the sole reason of getting a link back to their site. BUT – when people take their time to read your posts and leave comments, make sure you reply.

Many of the large blogs out there don’t bother replying to comments, I think it’s just not on. If readers post a comment and don’t get a reply, they probably won’t return to your blog.

2. Your Popup Sucks

This is probably the biggest reason why so many blogs have sky-high bounce rates. They have ugly popups that people despise. Most people just don’t like popups, it’s human nature. It’s undeniable that popups increase opt-in rates, but they also explode bounce rates.

I think opt-in forms are completely fine to use, but just make sure yours is good. Keep it relevant to your blog and give something really cool away. Also, don’t set it to appear when readers are halfway through your post. You DO NOT want your popup to get in the way of your content.

So have it popup as soon as visitors land on your blog or as soon as visitors are about to leave. Both work very well.

3. You’re Not Consistent

People like to know when they can check your blog for new content. If you post content at random times, your readers won’t know when to check for new stuff. You need to be consistent with your posting times. If you commit to writing once a day, write every day. If you commit to writing once a week, write once a week.

You don’t have to write daily, but it’s important to be consistent with your post frequency.

4. Too Many Ads

This one is obviously obvious, but countless bloggers still do it. The truth is that fewer ads usually make more money than lots of ads. If you have a group of 10+ banner ads, your readers will dismiss them as “ads” and ignore them altogether.

However, if you carefully position 2-4 large ads, they’re going to get a load of attention. Your content needs to be the most prominent factor of your blog. Not your opt-in form and definitely not your advertisements!

5. Your Blog Design And Color Scheme Sucks

Blog design is important for many reasons. If visitors don’t like your design, they’ll avoid your blog like the plague! Color scheme is also really important. You should avoid dark colors, and also avoid bright reds and blues.

It’s been proven many times that white works best. It’s clean, simple, and attractive – it also looks damn professional.

The Conclusion…

Avoid these stupid mistakes and you’ll increase your chances in the blogosphere (yes, I used that word).

In Prosperity,

David Wood

P.S. Leave me your thoughts, comments, and questions in the box below.

Comments (carried over from the previous site)

Tyronne Ratcliff, February 12 2012, 14:45

I don’t understand why people don’t reply to their comments, it’s not a good way to get repeat visitors.

Multinivel, February 12 2012, 15:13

You are right, many blogs just suck… I think the main reason why is they are so easy to run, so people just have it and do not love it. Hello from Mexico. Luis.

Benaiah Marshall, February 12 2012, 15:45

Dude – You are spot on. There is nothing more annoying than a blog that has around 10+ ads on it scattered all over the place. It screams “I don’t give a damn about what you want or need, I just want you to click on my links and buy my affiliate stuff.” Also, I never really thought about posting on a consistent basis but it really makes sense the way you put it. Thanks. Take care, my friend. – Benaiah

Melinda Caldwell, February 12 2012, 16:13

Okay. I’m very happy that I read this blog post. I think that my blog design might be a little annoying because it’s so dark. Could I get your feedback? I paid someone to create it for me and now I’m getting that feeling of “Oh, no, this design is drawing people away.” Please leave me an honest comment. I would appreciate it. MelindaCaldwell.com

Bill Gelwick, February 12 2012, 16:45

Crap that makes sound on almost every page is annoying too, and this site is a prime example of that. Save the autoplay for the TE’s. I don’t want to hear you start talking to me as soon as I land on a page. But, the #1 way to ensure I’ll never knowingly come back to your site is by having an exit script.

Micah, February 12 2012, 17:13

Awesome, Nothing worse than a blog with AdSense plastered all over it. I never return to blogs like that. There’s also a few decent blogs I won’t read because their popups are overly intrusive. It’s not that hard to set the popup to only show 3 or 4 times. If they don’t opt-in by then, they probably won’t anyway. Thanks Dave

Mr. Ven, February 12 2012, 17:45

Hi David Wood, Too many ads really annoy the visitor and bloggers must re-consider before opening a new ad slot as even Google had changed the way it looks at websites with too many ads.