11 Sure-Fire Ways to Annoy Your Readers (Please Don’t Do This)
Thanks for being a return reader! If you haven't already, you may subscribe to our articles by email alerts or via RSS feed . Also you can follow us on Twitter !
This could be one of your blog readers.
Are you unknowingly annoying your readers? Well, if you are making these 11 mistakes, you might be turning them off. Keep on reading…
Annoyed reader photo by Jonno Witts
1. Writing in gigantic blocks of text
Big text blogs are easy to get lost in. They also strain eyes and make reading difficult.
Because it’s hard to scan. Let alone read.
In fact, a study shows that only 16% of your readers read word-by-word. The rest mostly scan. So at least make it scannable.
I suggest keeping paragraphs 1 to 7 lines long. Then your readers would read your post relaxingly and enjoyably. Ahhhh… 
2. Eye-straining text
No matter how good your writing may be, if you write in teeny weeny text, people are going to be annoyed and read with squinty winty eyes.
Or scan abruptly. Or not read at all.
Also, make sure the lines are not squeezed too tightly together, like…
This paragraph is an example of hard-to-read text, hard-to-read text, hard-to-read text. This paragraph is an example of hard-to-read text, which readers can’t stand and move on to the next. So, make reading easy so the poor eye can rest.
5 easy steps to make your text easy to read
1. Go to your theme’s CSS in your admin area. For WP users, go to the theme editor. Then, on the right, there’s a list of files. Make sure you are on style.css.
2. Find #content (the part of the blog post).
3. Add this line to the code. Below are the settings I use for my blog Gloson Blog, but you can customize it. 
font: 15px/25px;
“15px” = text size.
“25px” = space between lines.
4. Customize the sizes (if you want). It’s important to consider the blog width, the blog post width, the sidebar width, and the design. Then update the code!
5. Clear-cache-reload (Ctrl + F5) your blog and check out your comfortable text. Aaaahhhh…..
If you need any help, just leave a comment and I’ll help out .
P.S. If you have the WP Super Cache plugin, go to another page to see the changes.
Photo by Daniel Y. Go
3. MR. ALLCAPS X. MARKS!!!!!!!!
To most people online, ALL CAPS IS SHOUTING and if used with exclamation marks, it’s EXTREMELY ANNOYING!!!!!! REALLY!!!!
It also looks unprofessional and is hard to read. So don’t write in all caps.
Of course, you can use it occasionally and appropriately if you want to emphasize a word.
Photo by toddheft
4. Where’s the about-me page?
Your readers have read an ammmmmmmmmmmmmazing blog post on your blog!
And now, they are heading to your about me page – They want to know more about the awesome guy who wrote it!
But if they discover that you don’t have an about-me page, they are going to get confused, frustrated and annoyed, especially loyal readers.
So, make sure you have an about me page. It makes the blog more personal!
Don’t forget to put up an image of you too! It really helps the readers to get to know you better and also builds your name and brand on the Internet.
5. Writing like a robot with no personality
Readers don’t like to read writing without personality. It feels as if you’re reading from a robot! Or even a impersonal “professional” commercial site!
Instead, write with your style and personality–who you are. That’s blogging. Readers love to read posts that are written for them and by you.
In other words, don’t ever write like Wikipedia (We don’t read their articles, unless we badly want a certain information, right? Their long paragraphs strainnnn eyes too! Arrgh!). 
The cat photo? mis. tuh.-..purr. suhn. al. it. ee
And it’s taken by swanky
6. Reading…reading…reading…GAHH! Music!
Imagine you sitting at your computer then BANG! Music bursts out your 
speakers! Yikes! *Finds the stop button in panic!* Phew!
Music, especially autoplaying music, is extremely annoying to unsuspecting visitors.
I’ve read from many people that if they visit a blog with autoplaying music, they would leave immediately.
But if your blog really has to include music, just don’t set it to autoplay and you’ll be fine.
Photo by greggoconnell
7. Here an ad, there an ad, everywhere an ad ad
Advertising is really a very good way to monetize your blog!…if it is not overdone.
Too many advertising distract and annoy readers a lot, and they’re going to be turned off very quickly.
So, don’t fill your blog with too many or distracting ads (animated ones). Making money the smart way is much better than the “quick and easy” way.
8. Complicated, sophisticated commenting system
Don’t ever require commentators to login. No reader wants to go through all the effort to create an account for one single comment!
Mind-exploding Captchas are not a very smart way to prevent spam either. It drives away potential commentators more than it prevents spam.
Instead, install Askimet the spam exterminator. Mostly no spam gets past it.
If a blog requires people to login or enter a Captcha to comment, then it’s missing a lot of potential commentators.
Photo by mag3737
9. Really, really bad design
“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” they say, but that’s the problem. Most people judge a blog by its design.
If your blog has a poor design, it will give new visitors a bad impression and it isn’t very nice to look at, anyway.
So, make sure
- typography easy to read
- navigation easy to find
- design doesn’t distract reader from content
- design doesn’t look like a website from the 90’s
- colors look cool .
And lastly, make sure your design never ever ever looks like this:
Ouch… my eyes hurt.
For some inspiration, here are 50 Beautiful and Amazing Blog Designs compiled by Smashing Magazine.
10. Snail loading speed…
dot dot dot… *Yawns*
If your page takes 10+ seconds to appear, visitors lose patience and will click away before your page has even appeared.
To improve loading speed,
- reduce the number of posts on homepage
- reduce the number of images
- reduce the size of images
- reduce your coding
In conclusion, to improve loading speed a lot, remember the 3 R’s.
Reduce, Reduce, and Reduce.
To test loading speed, head over to Pingdom Tools. It gives a detailed breakdown on the loading speed of certain elements, so you know which one slows down the loading.
Here is one popular plugin to help boost your loading speed a lot > W3 Total Cache.
Photo by jpockele
11. Turn off comments, turn off readers
The blog community is made out of 2 things:
1. the blogger
2. readers
So, if you turn off comments, you turn off readers.
Readers like to voice out their opinions on your blog. It’s where they can converse, discuss, and have their say.
So, don’t ever turn off comments! (Unless you have serious spam issues and have put your reason in the comments section.)
Photo by Marc Wathieu
__________
Phew! That’s quite a list!
Don’t forget to share the things on blogs that annoy you in the comments below! If I think the point you shared is really annoying, I’ll include it here!
So, are you guilty of any of these?
Cheers!
Great Tips from Commentators (Thank you guys!)
Great tips! I would add that in addition to having an about me page, you should have some small blurb on your sidebar that describes you and your blog for new visitors so that people know what the overall gist of your site is.
Great post Gloson! But may I add:
Please don’t load your blog with so many ads that you have to scroll a full webpage to see the content
Gloson,
Awesome post man, these are some great pointers for anyone getting a blog started or needing to ‘spruce’ things up a bit.
I can’t tell you how many times I hate going to a blog that has an interesting title that loads sooo slowly.
Another thing that really annoys me is widgit overload! Too many widgits makes for a very busy page. Great Job!
Similar Posts:
- 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Blog
- How to Free Your StumbleUpon Inbox From “SPAM” Shared Messages
- 11 Guidelines for Improved Website Usability
- 15 Ways To Get Your Blog Comments Noticed
- How to Get More Comments on Your Blog
About The Author
johnmcelborough
Kristi Hines
Breeme - Affiliat...
Doc Campbell
Gab
"Gerald handles all of my SEO and web marketing needs. I seriously think he might work at his computer 24-7 because it never takes more than 30 seconds for him to respond to any question I might have. Within weeks of hiring him, he quadrupled my web traffic. He seems to be virtual friends with just about everyone on the Internet, and he knows how things work. If you have a website that you need optimized, he s your man." - Alisa Bowman 
"Gerald has deep knowledge of Search Marketing and a unique ability to understand the needs of each specific business. Gerald has helped my business and the businesses of my clients successfully!" - Craig Klein 
"I am impressed with the results of Gerald's SEO work he did for my website, with some keyword research and link building magic he moved me up to the first page in Google using a couple of keyword seaches in only 2 months. I also really like the tracking system that is sent to me weekly. Thank you Gerald!" - Elicia Woodford - 
"Since hiring Gerald to handle my SEO and link building needs, my website has taken a drastic leap upward in the search rankings. I'm now enjoying first page rankings for many of the most desirable keywords, and my website is getting more quality traffic and more conversions. I look forward to continuing the use of Search Engine Marketing Group's services!" - Eric Brantner 
I'm very impressed with how Gerald has increased my rankings in a short period of time. I have been stuck at the same spot for over a year until Gerald stepped in and helped me out. I'm excited to see what he can do for my other businesses! - Barbara Aquino
Great tips! I would add that in addition to having an about me page, you should have some small blurb on your sidebar that describes you and your blog for new visitors so that people know what the overall gist of your site is.
Kristi´s last blog ..Strengthen Your Article Marketing With CommentLuv Links
Hi Kristi! Yes, I agree with you. Some readers might miss the about me page so a blurb at the sidebar is a great addition
.
Gloson,
Great guest post buddy. You make some excellent points here.
The ones that totally baffle me is when people turn off comments on a blog post, require people to login or as you say require a mind blowing CAPTCHA
One I am actually guilty of is not having an about me page. Well I have an about Search Engine Marketing Group page, but not an about Gerald Weber page. (although most people that read this blog know me on a personal level) it’s still a good thing to have.
I think the reason is because my blog evolved from a static html business site into a blog over time. Still something I’m going to add so thanks for the reminder buddy.
Awesome thanks again for taking the time to put together this awesome post. You always “over deliver” my friend.
Thank you! You’re most welcome Gerald!
Yeah, I agree that an ‘About Gerald Weber’ page on your blog would be great. It really helps customers to know you more personally
.
Excellent article Gloson. Every item you mention in your list is vital. And I hadn’t known about the ability to control spacing between rows, so I’m going over to my own blog now and check that out.
And then I’m going to mention that issue any time I come across it on other blogs now. So thank you, in advance, for helping me look like I’m a genius.
Alan Bleiweiss´s last blog ..Meta Descriptions Now Count for SEO says Google?
Yeah, one of my personal beefs is when music starts on its own. I usually keep my speakers off, but every now and then I forget and BANG! it hits you. Cubicle dwellers probably hate them more than I do.
David Leonhardt´s last blog ..Pros and cons of country-specific domains
Great post Gloson! But may I add:
Please don’t load your blog with so many ads that you have to scroll a full webpage to see the content.
Haha, I love all the pictures. Great post Gloson. I agree with all of em, especially eye straining text. I wear glasses, and any kind of glaring text just HURTS my eyes so badly!
Kaila | Vertical Measures´s last blog ..Link Building Across the West Coast and Back
Alan – Haha! Thanks Alan!
David – Yeah, exactly!
Susan – Thanks Susan! The blogs that prioritize advertising more than content are really annoying.
Kaila – I certainly agree! White text on black background hurts my eyes! Light-grey text, though, isn’t that bad.
Great points, all! But I must agree the most with the music one. Ack! As much as I love music, I need to at least know how to turn it off so I can peruse a blog in peace!
Cheers and thanks Gloson for the suuper tips!
And yeah, Senor G…we need an “About Gerald” page – sheesh!
Thank you Gina! Gerald really does need an about me page.
Looking forward to it!
Gloson,
BTW my blog has threaded comments. Just click on “reply to this comment” next to the commentators comment and you can reply directly.
I find it’s easier to understand the conversation this way with the threaded comments.
Hi Gerald! I did do that, but it was not working. It’s working fine now
.
Some bloggers run too many ads, popups and i have seen it in few popular blogs as well, i like to stay away from these type of blogs and get RSS feed is best from these…..
Many of the points in this post are very justified and those will benefit the bloggers
Thanks Phil! I sometimes wonder if people subscribe to those blogs just to skip the design and everything and read the content. Haha.
This is surely great tips my friend. It’s been so long that you made a survey about this topic.
You surely made so much effort and value to all your post you have shared.
- Felix Albutra
Felix Albutra´s last blog ..Niche Profit Classroom 3.0: The Ultimate Review!
Hi Felix! Thanks for dropping by here! I appreciate the kind words!
What a refreshing piece
I love the style and the tips in here.
My generic advice here would be: don’t overdo. Don’t overdo with formatting, stylizing and “pluginning” your blog. Just keep it sweet and simple and your readers will appreciate that!
Ann Smarty´s last blog ..Huge! Search & Social + 10e20 Merge = BlueGlass Interactive
Thanks Ann! I agree with you! If you overdo with formatting then nothing will stand out. Too many unnecessary plugins may cause bugs and other stuff. Reducing those plugins makes it easier for you to manage, any way.
comments on a blog are highly overrated. Turning them off was hugely productive step. #irony
graywolf´s last blog ..$5 million spent on a domain? Here’s why.
LOL Really? Personally I think readers will be confused and frustrated if they see comments disabled on their blog.
I think comments are not unproductive, but rather the opposite, because it will make your readers happy, and that would generate more traffic.
Comments also can be used to determine a blog’s quality. They also generate discussion, which builds relationship with the blogger when he responds.
Enabling comments is a little price to pay, but it shows that you love your readers and it keeps them coming back.
Besides, you start a blog because you want readers, right?
Gloson,
Awesome post man, these are some great pointers for anyone getting a blog started or needing to ‘spruce’ things up a bit. I can’t tell you how many times I hate going to a blog that has an interesting title that loads sooo slowly. Another thing that really annoys me is widgit overload! Too many widgits makes for a very busy page. Great Job!
Josh´s last blog ..What Twitter is/What Twitter isn’t
Hey Josh! That really annoys me too! Interesting title but loads slowly. Yeah, too many widgets is cluttering and distracting and makes it look “busy”.
Nice points here, good job
I was glad to see you hit on one of my biggest pet peeves…surprise music! I’m a strong believer in letting people opt-in to music instead of having to search frantically for a way to shut it off.
Jen´s last blog ..It’s a Social Media World
Haha! Thanks Jen! It is also one of my biggest pet peeves. Why doesn’t everyone set it to manual play instead of auto play?
As a protest to number 11, I give you sethgodin.com. You don’t -have- to have comments. There are other venues for carrying out conversations. Twitter, email, facebook.
Do I use comments? Well, yeah, it’s a tutorial blog, but you won’t turn off your readers if you turn off comments. You can direct them elsewhere.
Corey Freeman´s last blog ..How to Put a Banner in the Headway Theme Header
Yeah. Seth Godin’s blog is really quite an exception because he writes short but great posts. And though he disables comments, he still has trackbacks.
I agree with you that there are other venues for carrying out conversations, but so far, to me, comments are the easiest and most convenient for your readers.
“but you won’t turn off your readers if you turn off comments.”
Well, perhaps you won’t turn off readers if they agree with you disabling comments, but for new blogs, I strongly recommend not disabling comments.
Great tips man! But again on the commenting part, many people turn off comments as , they tend to influence the way your write. Nevertheless, leaving it available is a great way to build an active online community.
Thanks Martin! Yeah. That was the exact reason Seth Godin turned off comments. And it worked quite well for him, I must say.
I’ll go ahead and drop in my opinion here real quick.
A blog is not a blog without comments. You are just talking to people and not engaging in conversation without the comment section on a blog.
Commenting not only encourages conversation but also community.
also many times readers can add additional tips and insight (knowledge) that was not originally presented in the post. If the blog owner feel this information is incorrect or not in line with his viewpoints it’s easy enough for him to reply and explain.
The opinion that I’m hearing that sometimes readers may give information that is incorrect I think is very narrow minded thinking.
My 2 cents.
Gloson, I liked the way you presented the article and I think you act like a very experienced blogger. You are one of the best young bloggers i have seen. good work!
I hate websites with eye straining colors, it makes the whole reading experience really irritating.
Readers usually ignore blogs like this
Gautam Hans@Blog Godown´s last blog ..How to build trust in your Blog
Thank you very much Gautam!
I indeed hate websites like those! I usually highlight the text and read it like that. haha 
#9 was my favorite. What’s scary is that designs like that are still around on the Internet today.
What are people thinking?
-Paul
Paul Piotrowski´s last blog ..Better Blog SEO – Proper Category and Tag Structure
LOL! Yeah. That is probably is worst web design on the planet! But I’m grateful that it exists for everyone to marvel at its ugliness.
What a really cool post.
I wish more bloggers would follow these tips, especially the ones who turn off comments!
What are they afraid of, baffles me.
Thanks for the tips, they were really helpful.
Need to check I don’t have a slow loading blog page now….
Sally
Sally´s last blog ..Is Social Media FAB or a FAD
Hi Sally! Thanks so much for dropping by and for the comment!
Way back in 1995 when I first started doing websites, I don’t think I ever produced an ugly site like that. I can’t believe 15 years later people still have crappy sites like that.
I think it’s because a lot of people still don’t really value their web presence. They would NEVER send out a wedding invitation that was ugly, or take a picture wearing raggedy clothing, but when it comes to their websites it’s like they don’t care.
Scary.
On the other end of the spectrum I also see a lot of really nice looking websites but that are totally useless.
They usually start with “Loading Flash…23% done”
-Paul
Paul Piotrowski´s last blog ..Better Blog SEO – Proper Category and Tag Structure
Scary indeed! Those “cool-looking” flash sites… lol. They should make the default version a HTML one and then have an option to switch to the “cool” flash
. Haha.
These are all great points to make note of when appealing to your readers. Unfortunately, I need to get on a few of these.
TechDubDoob´s last blog ..The Kodak Pulse 7-inch Digital Frame Guide
Hey Gloson, How old are you now? For a 12 year old, you’ve made a wonderful post for us, grown ups, by the way!