Example of a Bad User Experience - Do Not Do This
Having a great User Experience when visiting a website is one of Google's top ranking factors. User Experience, also known as UX, is a hot topic among websmasters trying to provide value to their website readers and thus get on Google's good graces.
WHAT NOT TO DO
I was just recently looking for some content ideas for an upcoming blog I will post on my website and I clicked on a link in one of my Google Alerts. OMG!!! Right from the start my experience was like WTF is this crap?
I cam there looking for information and was immediately hit with Google AdSense galore just below the post title. Using Google AdSense can be a bit of an eyesore under normal use, but this webmaster went too far. Just take a look at the images below of the short but cluttered blog post.
This was just the beginning of the post. And though I do not show it in these screenshots, he or she had photo ads about politics and celebrities all along the right side bar.
This post was cluttered with so much Google AdSense and other photo ads and links, I didn't even bother to read what was written in the content. All I could do was take screenshots of this mass of distracting content to show you all what NOT to do. Plus the webmaster used the same non relevant photo at the top and bottom of post.
Always be tasteful in your presentation of your content. Do not clutter your website content with advertisements and affiliate links. Using a little is OK but using too much is definitely not going to project a good overall UX.
Would you even spend one minute on a website that looked like the one pictured above? Always remember to use good judgment and provide a great User Experience.
Ask yourself when looking at your content before publishing, if I am looking for this information but not ready to buy anything, would this content make me stay or bounce away?
Recent Comments
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Wow, that is way too many ads in one post! I would have clicked away as soon as I got there. I see so many websites doing this lately and have to wonder why on earth they think this will help their sites at all.
This is really irritating especially if the visitor is on a phone...I often do a bit of researching on my phone and these ads slow it down so much I often find it impossible to read posts that have too many ads.
By the time the ad gets done loading and the content finally comes up, I'm already irritated and lost any thought on why I wanted to read it in the first place.
I use AdSense on one of my sites, but very sparingly. Out of all the posts and pages I have on it, I think I only have 3 or 4 ads...lol, that's as many ads as you found in just this one post you came across!
Thanks for sharing, Robert! Definitely a good thing to point out! We should all take a look at our sites and think about how our readers would feel when they arrive.
Best wishes :) ~Sherry
I agree Sherry. I too have been noticing a lot of websites like these lately. And though the content looks promising from the title of the post, the proof of quality is in the pudding.
When a website has so many ads and pop ups, it is not just slow but distracting. I would have to think these websites are being made by people who do not have knowledge in how to produce quality content.
The only places I usually see this much CRAP is on some of the many political and/or news sites I look at!
I ignore most of these because of the content and the purpose of the site(s).
When I have seen this kind of thing on regular marketing sites, you are right, I click off immediately.
Me too. I went to the website to find out some info on marketing tips and I got this crap. I was completely and immediately turned off.
Robert,
because of your advise you gave me some many weeks back, I chose to not add Google AdSense to my site. Then I tried Infolinks. It was a disaster to my site and I quickly got rid of it.
For now I'll work on my site with my good content, videos, pictures, and skip the advertising.
Thanks for your help!
OMG, Infolinks is another kind of eyesore when it comes to advertising that I never put on my websites.
Absolutely true Robert! I will click away in a New York Minute!!! The other thing that really bugs me is pop-ups all over the place. Could you let me look at the page before you try to sign me up please???
Hope you have a clutter and pop-up free day!
Debby
Yes, I agree Debby. I hate websites that pop up a email or join form before I actually get a chance to read the content I came there looking for.
Good morning, Rob--
That was ugly. I hate when I click a link and get that crud. I click off as instantaneously as is humanly possible. You will never see that on any website I may build. I dislike clutter, period. Thanks for sharing that with us. And definitely sound advice for everyone. :)
Linda
I will never do something like that on any of my websites. I too do not like a cluttered looking website.
That is terrible. I get so sick of ads flashing at me on other's sites that I've pretty much avoided them on my site. I realize I need to add something to make some money. I have a strong desire not to repel my readers. So I'm looking to learn about placing ads effectively without repulsing others.
Using one or two ads per page and tastefully placed will convert far better than what was shown above. For one, an ad should never appear above the beginning of the content.
There is far too much of this going on and I really hate it. These days I always have my ad blocker on, and if a website is unusable with the ad blocker on then I just leave the website.
To be honest, I would actually rather pay more per month to my ISP if it meant ads were totally a thing of the past.
I try to avoid adsense. As a matter of fact, I have removed all adsense code from previous websites created too.
Unless I make a lot of traffic, I will not even consider going back. Most people have adblockers enabled, so what is the point really of having ads than? Wouldn't make money with it.
If I will have any ads at all, than it probably becomes a sitebar button for a while. But I doubt you make much with ads. Better than make an add from a referral or something, probably better paid too.
But I hate pages with only banners. Believe some people here at WA also have a lot of banners showing.
Oh yeah!! I hear you, Robert! I've come across so many sites like that and they drive me nuts - especially if you click the x in the corner and then google asks why are closing this ad in particular. Grrr.
Another thing that really grates me is articles where you read 1 paragraph or & then have to click to a new screen for the next paragraph & the next. I never bother.
Yes, those other websites you speak of Lauren, where you get a teaser one paragraph and then have to click to go to another page, I do not even bother. Very poor user experience.
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Great info, Robert! Jay, in his weekly live training classes has emphasized many times the fact that people who insist on littering their post articles with annoying and distracting Google Ads can't get it through their heads that the miniscule amount of money that they earn, (fractions of pennies per day) is greatly outweighed by the many visitors who easily are distracted to the point where they miss out on the gist of any article posted on their sites.
So many people in the world are distracted, having attention spans that barely last 10 seconds on any one thing as it is. A website that contains ads all over the place, often having nothing to do with the content on posts, surely does not produce the type of revenue compared to a site that JUST HAS relevant, enlightening and useful content for that visitor.
Looks as if the very same thing happened to you. You probably needed the sunglasses seen in your WA bio pic in order to get through the garbage ads seen on the site that you visited. You stated that very quickly you left the site gaining nothing out of your bad experience.
Guess who ended up losing in the end? That site owner as I'm willing to bet that you're not the only person who runs away from what is seen at that particular website.
Thanks for sharing this info Robert. To be honest a percentage of members here at WA, who don't listen to Jay in his training class, probably need to hear it coming from a very wise and successful online business individual as you are!
Jeff