As a blogger,  I understand how hard it is to maintain a high quality site.  There is such a long to do list: coming up with fresh idea, writing great content, researching new topics and trends, finding stock images and thinking up witty, punchy titles.  Add to that list a strong desire to make money from your blogging venture and it is easy to lose track of the most important aspect of blogging: the visitor experience.

Here is a list of the top culprits that make me click off of a blog, never to return again.

I know I'm sometimes guilty of many of the sins that make my list of pet peeves for blogs; are you?  See what I hate, and why it can drive visitors away from your blog.

My Biggest Blog Pet Peeves

1. Too many ads. 
   Where is the content? What is that flashing away at the top of my screen?  Oh, now there are pop ups springing to life!  I feel like I am playing whack-a-mole just to get back to the page I was trying to look at.  Still looking for the content.  I'm scrolling, I'm scrolling. Am I really the lucky 1,000th visitor?  What did I come here for again? Never mind.  Click.
   
   
2. Links open in the same window. 
   You have probably worked really hard to attract visitors to your blog.  Why send them away with a single click?  Set all of your external links to open in a separate window so that your site still stays open. Sure, I can right-click>open in new tab, but why make your visitors do the work? Once I am away from your blog, will I remember to come back?  Click.
   
   
3. Irregular posting.
   I know how difficult it is to update your blog if it isn't near the top of your list of priorities,  but a blog that you haven't posted to in over two months might as well not be there at all.  No update for over a month tells me the author has lost interest and isn't commited to communicating with his readers.  Why would I come back?  Click.
   
   
4. No "About" Page. 
   Who IS this guy anyway?  What is he selling?  Is he qualified and/or experienced to be talking about this subject? Where can I find more of his work/ buy his products/ hire him? Click.
   
   
5. Me, me, me, me, me.
   Wow, how interesting.   Click.
   
   
6. Me, my kids, and I.
   I know that blogging was originally intended as a form of online journaling, but unless the purpose of your blog is to be a cathartic diary experience, there is only so much that I want to know about you and your personal life.  Give your readers what they came for. Sure, it is fine to throw in the odd anecdote that lets me see that you are a real person, and if it dovetails in nicely with a relvant message, that's great.  Otherwise please keep all 'So my daughter is off school today with a fever, and I have spent the whole morning cleaning up her sick" posts to a minimum.  Click.