7 things that will make me leave your web site and write you a hate mail. Guaranteed

Ever wondered what is the quickest way to annoy visitors of your web site? Here’s 7 most annoying things, that will make me click the X on my browser faster than the speed of light. That’s right, Einstein was wrong, some things can be faster than the speed of light. Want to test it? Just place these things on your web site and ask me to visit…. 

1. Flash intro.

There’s a lot of text written about the use (and no use) of Flash on web pages. As with almost everything, it can be a great addition to the user experience if done in moderation, or it can kill user experience right from the start, if done in excess. But whether you use flash on your site or not – just do not use it as an intro to your web site. And if you absolutely must have it, at least offer a ’skip intro’ option. People decide whether to stay on your site or not within first few seconds. How do you think they will decide, if those first few seconds are spent watching some animated stuff, or even worse, a loading bar? I know what I am going to do. Bye bye.

2. Animated gif buttons and images.

This is so nineties. Remember those days, when a site with a nice blinking button, scrolling message and animated mouse trail were considered cool. Guess what – those times are over. It’s 2010 now. 

3. Adjusting user’s web browser to your site.

Did it ever happened to you? You entered the site and all of the sudden, your browser window changed without you clicking anything? That’s because someone used Javascript to fit the site into your browser neatly. But it is not neat! Do not force user to accommodate to your web site. Make your web site to accommodate to users’ browsers. And that goes to “Best viewed in Internet Explorer” or “Best viewed with 1024×800 resolution” messages too. It’s nothing but an apology for making a crappy site, and does not create much trust about overall structure and safety of your site. If you can’t make your site cross-browser compatible, hire someone who can. Or do you really expect users to switch browsers just to view your site? 

4. Play a background music.

Yeah, I know they use music in the stores, or restaurants to create a mood. But the only mood you create having a background music on your site is a anger. If we omit such little details as possible copyright infringement, no one really cares about your music preference. So unless you are a musician, or maybe a bridal store, please spare your visitors the need to listen to music. Otherwise, you may not have too many visitors to share it with anyways. 

6. Make users register to comment, purchase or interact.

So I am on your web site, and like what I see. Or so it seems, until I want to say something, or buy something, or just do something, but I can’t. I need to register first. Of course you want to collect user’s information for your list, but if you do it by forcing the user to register, your list will not grow too far. Plus, all you need to build a list is my email address, maybe a first name. The moment I see you ask for phone number or my address to graciously allow me to continue using your site, I am gone. Of course, there are perfectly valid exceptions where registration is a must, but for majority of sites, even e-commerce sites, it is just an added step before the conversion, thus lowering conversions. Don’t do it, if you don’t have to. 

7. Pop up windows.

Most people have them blocked, so put your marketing effort elsewhere. But granted, pop up windows can be used to communicate an error a user made (for example not filling the form correctly). But if you want to just pop up an ad when I am in the middle of reading your article, than just ‘forgetaboutit’. Its annoying, not convincing. And don’t get me started on those pop up windows shoved in my face when trying to leave the site. Do you really think this is going to make me stay? Well, it may, as these pop ups always use strange way to incorporate the “OK” and “Cancel” button. Yeah, I may make a mistake and click cancel hoping to leave your site and be instead taken back to the site. But you just made a mistake of losing me as a customer. Guaranteed. 

There’s plenty of other things that annoy users and create poorly performing web sites. I’m sure we all have our own ‘favorite”. What is yours?

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