I read blogs everyday because I love gathering information, entertaining myself and as a matter of fact, I appreciate every blogger out there writing high quality content for the world to read. From scanning all sorts of blogs as a blogger and as a regular user, there are certain things that piss me off about some blogs. This is the internet and we are all free to express our point of view so you don’t have to crucify me over this, I’m just saying my mind. I’m no saint and I have my faults too. I do not claim to have the best blog in the world neither does this post imply that I observe the best blogging practice. In fact, I took a critical look at myself before writing this and some of the points highlighted are things I’m guilty of.
1. I hate popups
When I visit your blog and the first thing that greets me is a popup asking me to like your Facebook fan page, follow you on twitter or subscribe to your newsletter, I may decide to close the tab I opened for you or just close the annoying popup. You should, at least, let me make that decision after reading your blog post.
2. Plagiarism is all I see
You know it’s a bad thing to copy other people’s work without giving them credit but you still do it anyway. People who do this are the worst category of bloggers and I tell you, if all you do is copy other people’s work and paste it on your blog, I’m not gonna read your stuffs ever again. You should give credit to whom it’s due when you use their content.
3. You’re anonymous
I believe everyone has a name but why do you choose to be the “ghost blogger” with no face? I can’t find an author’s bio on your blog and I can’t relate to you on a personal level. I may soon lose interest in your blog even if you have great contents. Your readers like to know you and you should consider being a little bit more open. I respect your privacy though.
4. You’re too serious and rather boring
I understand you take blogging as a serious business and you’ve got good writing skills but hey, you should lighten up once in a while. You don’t have to be so serious; develop a sense of humor to make your blog post interesting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking you to turn every blog post to a joke but you should make your readers eager to read your post even if the topic isn’t so catchy.
5. Your blog takes an eternity to fully load
Not everyone has a broadband speed internet connection and some of those loyal readers user dial up but did you consider this when you were adding all those images, flash and useless javascripts? If your host is the problem, perhaps you should find a better one.
6. Excessive ads
Every blogger wants to make money and that’s understandable but wait a minute, am I reading ads or a blog post? You run Google Adsense, Adbrite, Chitika, Infolinks and Addynamo all on a single blog and every now and then ads keep popping up, background windows open without me knowing it. It’s rather annoying and you may drive your readers away with this.
7. Poor design and navigation
You know your way around your blog but an average user doesn’t You should make this easier by designing your blog in such a way that it’s going to look good and make users spend more time checking other pages. Make it look like a friendly place that can be easily navigated.
8. You content adds no value
Even if you’re going to post just once a week, it should be something that can be of benefit to a quarter, if not all your readers. You don’t have to post everyday and when you have nothing sensible to post, you should shut up. I love blogs with high quality content and when I see one, I fall in love with it and respect the person behind the blog.
9. You make way too much typos
The truth is when I read some of my blog posts, I can’t help but wonder if I was drunk before my fingers started hitting the keyboard. I do make typographic errors and I’m trying to keep it to the barest minimum these days. I’ve come to realize that it’s always due to laziness. You should learn to proof read your writing before hitting the publish button.
10. You ignore readers comment always
I receive lots of comments on this blog and its almost impossible to reply them all but I always try to reply the important ones. My schedule is rather tight these days but when I want to reply comments, I may spend a whole hour sorting out spam comments, replying real comments and message. Do you even bother to read user comments at all?
11. You’re a spammer
Every blogger wants to get traffic by all means but that doesn’t mean you should do it the dirty way. Just because I subscribe to your newsletter doesn’t give you the right to bombard my inbox my useless offers. Spamming on my Facebook wall or tagging me in every post you make won’t make me visit your blog. Posting in every Facebook group we both belong also increases my notifications and that doesn’t mean I’m gonna check your stuff, it’s rather going to annoy me.
12. Uff…I hate dark templates
This is a personal thing and I don’t blame you if you use a black theme. I just don’t like it. Period!
Alright, I’ve said what I have on my mind and I’m pretty sure I’ve offended you because you must have been hit by one of the dozens reasons I stated above. Like I mentioned, I took a critical look at me, my blog, you and your blog. I really want to hear what you have to say on this and what you dislike about my blog as well. 😛