Is YOUR Blog A Minefield That Chases Away Potential Customers?

Would I actually stick around, if this wasn’t my website?

You spend huge amounts of time, effort and money getting people TO your website … are making sure they never come back?

The other day,  I was doing something I had promised myself NOT to do.

Internet Surfing! Akkkkk

I followed a few links and ended up on a website that looked good … for exactly 30 seconds.

I clicked into the website because of a really great article title.

I was hooked,

I was interested,

I was ready to read,

And who knows, I may have made a purchase, signed up for a newsletter, or even become a long-term loyal customer.

Because I was hooked by the article title, I stuck around longer than I might have … I actually tried to read the article. In the end,  30 SECONDS was all it took to make me realize I would NEVER come back to this website again.

NEVER

As in NEVER EVER!

The site was a minefield to navigate. It had MORE ads than content.

Google Ads

MediaNet Ads

Click bait article ads

Some of the ads actually looked like content, I clicked on one, realized my mistake and immediately hit return.

When I could actually FIND text that WAS the article, it was filled with link after link after link.

So Here’s Where I Come From

I own over a dozen websites and know full well that a site has to pay for itself. The way it pays for itself is through ads, affiliate links, the site’s products and the site’s services.

But what many Blog owners APPARENTLY fail to realize, is there is a limit to the amount of advertising and promotion that a visitor will tolerate.

Because I am a site owner … I figure I am probably more tolerant of ads and promotions than most visitors.

But the page on which I landed, was BEYOND even my limits.

There were SEVEN Google AdSense Ads in various sizes and forms. Inserted in the header, the footer and the side bar, and an additional three times within the text content. I’m pretty sure the site owner was breaking Adsense rules.

There were also TWO MediaNet ads  within the content section.

There were TWELVE (yes I counted) affiliate links within the article text.

There was a pop-up asking for a subscription within the first 10 seconds.

There were two exit pop-ups asking for a subscription and for a sale. And guess what they tried to sell me? How To Make Money With Your Blog … sheesh!

Basically the whole page was a minefield that I decided I was NOT going to navigate.

As I tried (twice) to exit I thought to myself …

Why on earth would the owner of this Blog, think that visitors will stick around?

My visit to the Blog was NEGATIVE.

It left a bad taste in my mouth.

I knew that I would never go back.

Of course I broke my vow to not go back, because I wanted to count and document the number of ads and links I encountered for this article. LOL, now that I have counted … I will never go back!

When I exited this very offensive Blog,

I immediately clicked on one of MY Blogs and looked at it with new eyes.

I asked myself:

Will I Stay Or Will I Go?

1. Is the home page user friendly?
2. Can visitors figure out what this website is about by looking at the home page?
3. Can visitors easily figure out where to go?
4. Can they find articles or category topics relatively easy?
5. Are my visitors bombarded with so many ads they can’t read or even see the content?
6. Are there too many pop-ups? How are the pop-ups timed?
7. Will my visitors consider this to be an obnoxious experience? A minefield.

Then, I asked myself …

Will My Website PAY FOR ITSELF?

1. Am I asking visitors to sign up for my newsletter enough times … without being obnoxious about it? (a FINE line).
2. Do I have ads or promos on each page (except landing pages)?
3. Where are the ads and promos located. Do they get in the WAY? Yes, I know that many webmasters purposefully place ads so they get in the way and get accidentally clicked on. This is something I CHOOSE not to do.
4. Are the ads and promos RELEVANT to the topics.
5. Are the hyperlinks useful and relevant, or do they just serve to clutter up the article?
6. Are my own products and services prominent enough?  Easy to get to?

Go To YOUR Website Right Now

Look at your site with new eyes. Ask yourself this ONE question.

IF this was NOT my site, would I actually stick around?

Next … ask yourself the two sets of questions listed above: Will I Stay Or Will I Go? And Will My Website PAY FOR ITSELF?

My suggestion is to err on the light side … create an easy to navigate and elegant looking website.  Your website will NEVER pay for itself if your visitors jump away and never come back!