14 (more) things that drive your readers away

One of my earliest blogging 'successes' was a blog post titled Eleven reasons why I won't return to your blog. It had a list of reasons why visitors may be put off by a blog, and possibly not return to them. I've been meaning to do a follow-up, and things have changed even in the span of a year. This time, apart from my tips, I'm including those of the people who responded to my question about their blogging peeves on Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter.

Here are 14 (more) things that could annoy your blog's readers:

1. Pop-ups - What is this, the 90s? Pop ups aren't dead, but they have to be used very wisely. Anything that obscures your page before the visitor has a chance to see your content is a dead end to them.

2. Mobile un-friendly - Responsive themes (which recognise and display according to screen size) are not hard to find, and at the very least you can enable a mobile version of your blog. Most of my reading is done on my handheld, so I really can't read blogs that aren't suited to it.

3. Unclear font - Small fonts seem to be a relic of the newspaper era. If you want your writing to actually be read, choose a font that's web-friendly as well as clear. Don't get too fancy with the body text, and choose a size above 12 points. Refer to this list of web-safe fonts.

4. Too small pictures - If you are using good pictures, please don't make me squint to admire them! Don't be stingy with the picture size, but make sure they are lightweight too.

Now, for the comments I received from fellow bloggers:

5. No reciprocation - I eventually stop visiting blogs if I feel ignored. Bloggers don't have to do it all but it would be nice to reply to comments, reciprocate comments or reciprocate or acknowledge social media shares. - Mandy, Emm in London

6. A million ads! Even if your content is good, we close the window on multiple blinking ads that only distract us as a reader. Clean lines and clear text is a good start, but epilepsy-inducing banner ads? No thanks! - Appy Kids

7. Too many garish colors and/ or blinking graphics in the background. - Patricia, Idea Crib

8. Scattered follow buttons - One thing that annoys me is when the follow buttons are there, but they are either camouflaged or spread out all over the page and it takes me forever to find them. I want them obvious and near the top of the page. - Susan, Pecked To Death By Chickens

9. The RSS feed is only a partial post (I rarely click through) and the text is difficult to read such as small or curly font and in most cases I find centre justified difficult. - Kate, DarkTea

10. Commenting restrictions - When I don't have the option to just comment with my URL. I prefer to link my comments to my blog and not to my Google or Wordpress profiles. Also if a comment interests me on somebody else's blog I want to be directed straight back to the commentator's blog. Catherine, Story Snug

11. Links which don't open in a new tab. Dull content. Too many affiliates. Blogs which are slow to load. - Lizzi, Considerings

12. If the layout of the blog is messy, I just can't read it. I like clean, simple, not too long posts with good quality pictures. I like all types of blog styles but I go by first impression! - Amelia, Chai A Cup Of Life

13. Too many reviews or sponsored posts. It takes the soul out of a blog! - Laura; Life, Love, Laura

14. And this can't be reiterated often enough - check your posts for spelling and grammar! And for the love of God, turn off CAPTCHA - it is universally hated.

What are your blogging peeves? Comment below or let me know via the #bloggingpeeves hastag!

This post has been linked to: Post Comment Love