Some of the Biggest Website Turn-Offs
What Can Negatively Impact Web Visits?
Almost as important as determining what your website should do is defining what it should not do. Web designers work alongside business managers to end up producing a website that can match their vision, but sometimes even the best intentions can actually have the worst results. Maybe a feature of the site which seemed cool on paper is actually having a detrimental effect and turning users away. Here are some of the most notable turn-offs for websites.
Endless, Unavoidable Pop-Ups
Pop-up advertisements are not necessarily a bad thing. They are an effective way to immediately deliver an important message, often relating to a special offer, and by dominating the screen, the visitor is bound to see them. But there are sites which have these pop-up ads appearing over and over, occasionally as you are scrolling through pages and they arise without warning. This can lead to users accidentally clicking the links (many of which are to third party sites), and in theory, this boosts click-throughs and, consequently, website income. But in reality, it only serves to frustrate users who find it impossible to browse through the page without encountering these pop-up ads. And if they get annoyed to a high degree, they will leave the site and never return.
Unnecessary Media Plays
Have you ever visited a website where you’ve been scrolling through, only for a huge level of sound to suddenly trigger out of nowhere? That would come from an audio or video file built into the site’s algorithm that is designed to play automatically, whether or not the user has clicked upon it or even seen it. The more often that this happens, the more of a turn-off this strategy becomes, especially if the media files have no real purpose and are either unrelated adverts or are just the host company’s way of saying “hey, look what we can do!” What’s more, this tactic can also greatly reduce the loading speed of the web page, adding further problems to a seemingly-innocuous visitor journey.
Not Delivering On Promises
It is one thing for website malfunctions to be a deterrent, but don’t forget about the content. In particular, your site must deliver upon what is promised in search engine snippets, article excerpts and the like. If you are positioning your site as a platform to deliver advice, the website must provide guidance in these areas to what users would deem an acceptable degree of depth. But if your site has no information whatsoever about the topic, or the text is brief and lacking credibility, it will only make visitors feel like they have wasted their time heading to your page. If you want users to remain and regularly come back to your website, then it must justify their time by providing the information which, according to mini-bios on search engines, you have stated that you can offer to them.
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