Inspired by a post by Beautifully Invisible entitled ‘10 things about your blog that drive me crazy ‘, this weeks’ Fashion Beauty Friend Friday post is about blog pet peeves.
We were asked to list the five biggest pet peeves we have, but I couldn’t leave the last one off. Instead, here are six of my biggest blog pet peeves:
1. You have music automatically playing on your blog.
Seriously, that drives me nuts. When I open a website, whether it’s a blog, regular site, etc, it is super irritating that to have music blasting. What’s more irritating, is when I cannot find how to stop the music. If it’s not a quick find, I will click on the little “X” on the top of the browser tab and just close the site. That pretty much ends me ever visiting that site again.
2. Your header is huge and takes a while to load.
Headers are definitely important, but having a header that fills the monitor completely and takes forever to load, thus will not allow me to scroll past it to get to the content, drives me nuts. When I go to your blog, I want to read your content and view your pictures, not just your header. During the IFB conference this past February, I learned via the live feed, that your header should not take up more than 1/4 of the monitor screen. This of course varies per monitor (some of us do not have those super huge awesome wide screen monitors, some do), but it is still a very helpful tip.
3. Your blog takes a long time to load.
I love blogs that have a good amount of photos mixed in with text. However, sometimes too many photos can bog down the load time of the page, which is stinky. Sometimes, the browser cannot load the entire picture, so only the top section loads, and I can’t see the rest of the image. This leaves me frustrated and curious all at the same time, because I want to see your image, I just can’t, because it’s taking too long to load, or won’t load at all.
4. The text color is difficult to read on your background.
If my eyes start straining to read your post, or a headache begins a-brewing, I will close the site. I am already wearing contact lenses, I don’t want to do further damage to my eyes, and leave your site angrily with a headache. The easiest to read is black or dark gray text on a white or very light colored background.
5. I can’t find where to post a comment on a post easily or at all.
I have come across so many blogs that I’ve desperately (well, maybe really, really wanted) to comment on a post, and there is no “post a comment” or “comment” link in site. Here’s what happens when I cannot find that friendly little link:
-I will open the post individually in a new tab to see if a comment box or link appears
-If no link or box appears, I will then go back and search for a way to contact the blogger (usually via twitter)
-If the blogger has a twitter, I will tweet them that I couldn’t find a place to comment on their blog, and but that I enjoyed the post, or whatever I wanted to say (in under 140 characters, of course).
-If the blogger does not have a twitter, I will generally reconsider commenting, and just close to site. This makes me sad.
6. I want to follow you, but I there is no “Follow” button any where in site.
I know you are reading this and thinking, “she’s got to be kidding me”. Alas, I am not. Sadly, I have come across quite a few blogs with no way or only one way to follow. I like blogs that have different options to follow. Take my blog for example. You can follow my blog via google friend connect, bloglovin’, rss feed, subscription via email, or through amazon kindle. I wanted to provide as many options as possible, because each reader is different. Some like google reader and/or bloglovin’, some prefer to receive an email, some prefer an rss feed, and some may want to read on their kindle.
If my only option to follow is an rss feed, I won’t follow. I know, I know, harsh, right? I’m just sharing the truth. I do not like email subscriptions either, personally, but that is just me. I prefer google friend connect (google reader) & bloglovin’.
Do you have any blog pet peeves? What are they?
Friend Friday is a group that allows fashion and beauty bloggers to get to know each other and to share their thoughts and opinions on different topics. For more information or to join us, please visit ModlyChic. You can read all of my fellow bloggers’ answers as well as Katy’s answers to these questions here.
Oh, that’s such a good, honest and funny post!
Agree with you about a) music (I tend to open a few blogs at once via blogger window and if a few have music playing, the resulting cacophony just gives me an immediate headache) b) text colour (what’s the the light pink / almost nude shades??? I just don’t get it – if I have to tilt my monitor in order to see the text, I don’t bother reading…) c) test letters before submitting a comment (well, you know I am a human being because I just wrote a comment and so is a the person trying to send a spam message… but it’s just so annoying sometimes to be asked to enter a code word and sometimes you don’t get it right in a first place and have to re-enter and then blogger chooses to shut down on you or lose your comment… I guess, I’ve experienced it way too many times by now not to mention it)
Oh, yes, just in case you pay a visit to my blog…
Today’s post is filled with images, but hopefully you won’t have to waste your time waiting for them to load and the follow button is on the bottom of the page 
Have a great day!
xxx
The first and the last are my top 2 peeves, lol!
You are soo right!! We are definitely on the same wave length when it comes to this! Auto music is a given but also making it hard to comment. It’s like why are you making it hard for me to give your blog post some love?? LOL
I agree to all of them!! Absolutely!!!
Happy Friday love! xxx
haha love the photo! All great points
I don’t like when the comment button is up top because then I have to scroll back up, just leave it at the bottom so when I’m finished reading I can click it.
It seems like I’m always coming across blogs with no way to comment. It’s so annoying. Also, I hate when people follow my blog and ask me to follow theirs but don’t leave a link. Drives me crazy.
-Meagan
http://spunkychateau.blogspot.com
Well, you already know what my pet peeves are! LOL
I had no idea that this was the topic of discussion today until I started to get pingbacks to my original post. It’s been really interesting going through and reading everyone’s thoughts.
I think it’s very telling that so many have listed the same things (like music or design issues) and love reading the variations as well. You definitely listed some great ones!
I think music is the one that annoys the most of us!!!! Especially f you are at work during your lunch-break and all of the sudden a country song starts
I also agree on points 2, 3 and 4!
As far as my post is concerned, I got carried away…and ended up with 10!!!!!
I too hate it if I have to squint due to the font color!
Yes! Another thing I hate is the in the comments- “I’ll follow you- will you follow me back” ahhh!
Hi love, I love your post! Such great points, and I agree with you on all of them. I have stopped reading some blogs because they won`t load or play music or simply are too hard to navigate. I am always trying to take an objective look at my own blog, trying to see if I really am offering a welcoming and easy to navigate blog. If I find out that something is not good enough I change it, like having a header that I loved but that was way to big. I love your blog hon, and I adore you. Mwuah!
haha I love that photo!
I like blogs to be nice and simple and easy to navigate x
Stop it, you’re so cute! That picture is amazing and perfect and awesome. Love.
Okay, I agree on everything you said. #2 is very true. One of my earliest layouts had a header that took up about 3/4 of the screen, give or take, but people loved it. I got so many compliments on it which was great because I was quite proud of it, but I started to realize that I was getting more comments about the header than the actual posts. It was taking away from my content.
I also don’t like when a blog doesn’t have a header at all. I mean, granted, mine is just on the sidebar, but I don’t like when there’s nothing on the top half of the blog to indicate the blog’s name or “image”. It makes me feel disconnected in a way.
Anysnooch, great answers, dear!
I detest the massive headers too. Such a waste of space, and such an obvious giveaway of one’s lack of understanding when it comes to Web usability.
Haha, awww. I love the photo accompanying this post btw! Awesome! There’s no way to “follow” on my blog.. =*( … I haven’t figured out the technicals of that! lol. But now that you bring it up, it’s a fair critique and I should probably be more proactive about looking into how I can set it up on my WordPress site.
Agree with you on all the other points! What a fun, entertaining post!
I think we have to read about this topic for our knowledge .
really i like this photo, i am happy with reading your topic
thanks
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oh,I haven’t yet blog pet peeves. But I think everything you’ve said is correct. And I was totally entertained by your post, like I was entertained by this site colored contact lenses
I agree with these pet peeves. These are really the common problems of some of the blogs. The negative thing is that, not all blog owners are aware of these things. Without knowing that they already have these problems. Actually, these could really affect traffic.
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I’m glad to read this blog. This can be of great help to my blog in the future. Also, I’ll remember all the things or tips that this post discusses. Thanks for the honest, sincere and helpful blog Kirstin. Looking forward for some topic you have in your mind and I’ll surely follow.
Hi Brian! Thank you so much.