When I come to a new blog, I look for clues as to whether or not I can trust it. Sometimes these clues are clear, other times it’s much trickier.
Is the design sane or something that looks better suited as a means of torture? Are there a lot of ads, and if there are, what are they for? Does the page load quickly, or is it bogged down? What is the author prioritizing with his or her layout? Was I sent here by someone’s recommendation, and was that a good recommendation or just a toss off?
These are all the questions I’m processing before I even start reading your posts, just from looking at the layout and what you’ve chosen to plaster around your blog.
It’s easier than ever to make a site that looks and reads legitimately, but is actually total crap. Between “free” WordPress themes that are corrupted, shady folks, and people who just don’t know better, the internet is a huge slurry of articles and websites that range from complete shit to pure gold. The trick is figuring out the difference between the two of them.
What kills me most though are the bloggers who are trying to run their blog like a legitimate business or as a source of trusted information, yet treat their readers like cattle they can slaughter for cash. These are the bloggers who use way too many ads, buttons, and weird pop-ups in the name of building a “business.”
When the first thing I encounter on your site is a pop-up asking me to sign up for something, before I’ve even digested any of the information you’re trying to share, I start thinking you’re shady. When did it become acceptable to bloggers and marketers to do this? How arrogant are you to think that you are so awesome people don’t need to know what you’re about to sign up for your crap? Legitimate businesses don’t do this on their websites.
If you invited people to your house for a party, would you ask each of them for their e-mail address as soon as they entered the door? No. You wouldn’t, because that’s insane.
Similarly, you can’t expect me to click the hundreds of ads you’re plastering around your site. How often do you click a banner ad, especially if it is completely irrelevant to what you’re reading about? I go to a blog to read or consume information, not to click ads.
I’m all in favor of bloggers making money from their work, but at the same time, you need to control what you’re advertising on your blog. If you’re blogging about liberal politics and allow any old ad, what are you going to do when the ad for “Vote Sarah Palin in 2012” shows up right on top of your site? Advertise for products and services you can stand behind, not just the whims of whatever Google AdSense thinks is appropriate.
If you want to make your blog into a serious business or be taken seriously as an author, you need to make your blog trustworthy. Invite readers into your blog without crushing me under your attempts to make money and exploit my data.
With most readers you only get one chance to prove your honesty. Will you blow that chance?