I surf the web a lot. Okay, maybe not as much as some people but I am on there checking out pages, reading blogs, looking up information quite a bit. And there are some things that just irritate me about some blogs and websites.

Layout:

A confusing layout, one that is hard to navigate, hard to find what you want. For crying out loud have a streamlined layout with the main menu navigation clearly visible. And if you do have a pleasing layout don’t change it. Why fix what’s not broken? I HATE the new Chapter’s layout. And I can’t stand the new Facebook profile page. Also not fussy on the new Twitter.

Colours:

Please, please, please, pick colours that are not only pleasing but don’t make me strain my eyes to read them. Bright colours with a funky font will guarantee I won’t be back to your website. Ditto for dark backgrounds with white or light writing. It’s too hard on my eyes. And make sure the font isn’t too small. My preference is to have black writing on a white or nearly white background. Go nuts with the rest of the site, the header, the outside background, even the sidebars to a degree. But keep the main content easy to read.

That said about bright colours and black backgrounds, there are a few that work for me, but again, the actual content is on a white (or light) background with black writing.

Karin Tabke

Melanie Atkins

Delilah Devlin

The Break-Up Diet

Comments:

Most bloggers love getting comments. And a lot of web surfers love to comment. So, some tips for you:

Allow readers to comment. If you have a blog and you’re spilling your guts about something let people comment. I’ve stopped going to blogs where all the person does is talk about stuff but won’t let people comment.

If you are moderating comments to filter out spam get a spam filter and turn off moderation. It’s annoying to comment on a post only to have the comment not actually appear until hours later. Sometimes the next day. If you’re worried about spam there are plugins you can use. If you’re worried about what someone might say, most blogs notify you that you have a new comment. Check it right away and if you don’t like it, delete it.

Make it easy for people to comment. Don’t make them have to become a registered user of the blog. Or make them have to have a Google account (Blogger people, I’m talking to you). If I try to comment on a blog and the only way I can comment is to sign in using my Google account ID I don’t leave a comment. And usually I don’t go back to the website. And yes, I do have a Google account. I shouldn’t have to use that though to post a comment. There is a place in Blogger where you can change that to allow anyone to comment.

Add a plugin so readers can be notified of future comments. It’s annoying to have to keep going back to the site to see if there are more comments. Let them get notified so they only go back when an email pops up saying someone has left another comment.

Contact:

Whether your website is a personal one or a business one have a contact page. On the contact page list all the ways people can get in touch with you. For businesses that means phone numbers, address, Twitter, Facebook, email address. For personal sites at least an email address. I went to a business site and there was no way to email the company. Sure I could call but during their business hours I’m at work. I went to a personal site because the person had on Twitter asked for guest blogs. I went with the intention of sending an email to express interest. No way to contact them through email on the site.

Of course all this is just my opinion. Some people may like the funky colours. The black background with bright lettering. The not being able to comment unless you jump through a million hoops. So, what are some of your pet peeves when it comes to blogs and websites?

Until next time…

Cindy