Music, Walking Ads, and Other Ways to Drive Away Visitors

"12 Annoying Things About Your Website That Drive People Away"
Shelly Kramer, V3 (Vision. Voice. Value. V3 Integrated Marketing) (June 21, 2012)

"...12. Music

"Music blares the minute I visit your site. That is unexpected, disruptive, and downright rude, from a customer experience standpoint. And, in case you weren't sure, it ticks me (and most people) off more than just about anything. Wake up and smell the coffee! That is so 2001. Frankly, it wasn't cool even back then—but today, music on your website can mean the kiss of death....

"...9. Walking Ads

"[Cue scream here.] Speaking of pop-ups, walking ads stink even more. They are annoying, disruptive, and inconsiderate. I came to your site for information. You only have one chance to make a good first impression, and walking ads are not the way to do it. I don't care who sold you on it. It’s a bad idea...."

This is a well-written and useful look at what *not* to do: in other words, the Lemming agrees with most of the 12 points. Most, not necessarily all.

For example, annoying thing #5 says:

"...Black backgrounds and white or grey type are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to read. With very few exceptions (there are some sites done very well by people who know what they're doing, but they are rare), cut it out...."

A bit later in that paragraph the author urges folks to do marketing research before committing to a black background. That, in the Lemming's opinion, is good advice: certainly for a commercial website, and probably for most personal ones.

Marketing research - for a personal website?! That's another topic.

Getting back to 'down with black backgrounds:' The Lemming's experience is that low contrast between text and background is more of a problem than black backgrounds. This is where designers should remember that not everybody has the same sort of monitor, among other things.

The article's bottom line is - under the "Bottom Line" heading:

"...Great design is cool. And cool is nice. But that isn't enough when it comes to effective online marketing...."

The Lemming agrees: although it's great if a website or blog can be cool and effective.

(A tip of the Lemming's hat to Sonia Winland, on Linkedin, for the heads-up on this article.)

Related posts:

• "Top 10 Blog Design Mistakes"
  (December 14, 2011)
• "Good Website Advice For Everybody, Actually"
  (July 7, 2010)
• "SEO Optimization: What Not to Do"
  (March 2, 2010)
• " 'About Us' - Why It's Important, How to Design Yours"
  (July 30, 2009)
• "Website Design: Just Because Everybody Else is Doing it - - -"
  (February 4, 2009)